Crow?

[malleefarmer]

You guys often speak of removal of crow can some one enlighten me.

It was some sort of subsidized rail frieght?

So how does the grain move now still on rail but at a rate set by rail company?

In my neck of the woods im lucky we still have rail but much of our state rail has been removed and its all road ransport to port terminal of closest main rail storage facility.

And im aware you guys have the tyranny of distance it must be a huge cost to each and every farmers bussiness but unfortunately thats life

[agstar77]

The railways were given land and mineral rights along the Railroad right of ways.In return transcontinental railways were built. Railway companies CN and CP, also agreed to move prairie grain to port at a fixed rate or the Crow rate , named for a railway pass through the rocky mountains. As time passed the crow rate becme further away from the the real cost of moving grain . the government acted to kill the crow in return for some lump some payments given to farmers. The railways gave up nothing. They kept all the land and mineral resources they were granted. They could have at least been forced to open up rail access to other operators. They now move grain under a regulated cap. Just a barebones of rail in Canada.

[Burbert]

Yeah, butt the rail companies are real
good Comedians. They rip off Comedian
farmers, each and every year, sayin poor
service is the result of bad weather,
hence it costs more and more and more to
ship our grain. Yup they gotta a bottom
line to protect, move 100 cars a grain
at a time only, spilling out just as
much as ever along the rails, butt
blaming Comedian farmers fer the
problem, cause they don't wannta haul
grain anyways. Yup the railroadies are
our friends, no doubt about it.......

[Fransisco]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow_Rate

[furrowtickler]

Like the wheat board, way too many older farmers could not see *** all. They thought anougther check from the gov't was great. Retards could have had three times the money just a few years before the crow crashed but no that was not enoughso they setteled for less with little more than a wimper, unfortunatley the majority ruled so to speak (or not) and the younger generation will pay forever. Many farms would still be in business today if the crow was here. But now the corperate farms are trying to swoop in on the left overs and the older generation is pointing fingers - DUH. Not all but most BTW.

[mustardman]

liberal gov't was lobbyed as always by railroads,and Alberta Conservative gov't to end the crow. The Grant Devine conservatives were also complicit as they thought the streets would be paved with gold when it was gone. Kind of like how they think about the cwb
Here's an irony the NDP had an election platform to fight to keep the crow and the farmers voted them out. Go Figure

[Hopperbin]

Not that ironic. At the time the idea was to value add here in Western Canada instead of shoving food down someone's throat that did not want it.
Should we crush canola here and ship the oil to China or just ship the raw canola? No need to say more I hope.

[BTOfarmallll]

My vote is to crush the canola here, pump the oil downa hole to China, & float the meal across the pond in those new white grain bags!!!!!

[malleefarmer]

so agstar it sort of seemed the farmers got conned.

my frieght is $10 to local silo/elevator then another $14.10 rail to port. Total KMS about 170/180.

guess some of you guys have frieght of what 300 even 400 kms?

presume railways are now privately owned and managed or your govt still does it?

the wiki expalnation wasnt as good as agstars thanks.

hope i havent started another argument between you guys......

[freewheat]

Mallee, my freight is around 2000 km. I
am at the furthest point for freight in
Western Canada.

I can not believe farmers are still
whining about the crow. Having farmed
briefly during its existence, and
getting a 500 dollar payout when it was
killed, I hardly miss it.

Since the crow disappeared, two things
of interest have happened in our area.

Nearly immediately thereafter, several
hog barns were built. Instead of
shipping feed wheat and barley to
Alberta, it stays here with competitive
pricing. A bad thing??? Hardly.

And now, with the crushers in Yorkton,
guess where some of the highest canola
prices are on the prairies? Yorkton!!!
In nearly the center of the east/west
freight area.

In a nutshell, we don't need no stinking
freight subsidy. I hope some of the
others get over it! They got more than
my 500 buck payout after all. What pray
tell did they do with the money? Buy
iron I suppose.

[agstar77]

We are facing thousands of km to port, thus the fight to cross the U.S. border with wheat and the elimination of the CWB. Shorter distance to a lucrative market, but only for a chosen few.

[Fransisco]

Everyone will benefit from a voluntary wheat board. Everyone.

[RShields]

One thing maybe not emphasized enough in t
he explanations was the lack of movement. The railways had no interest in moving grain as the more they moved the more they lost. They never dedicated any capital expansion to it. No money, no service.
Some rail lines never ran a train all winter. Elevator agents went to work for months at a time to watch over full bins that the CWB paid storage on.
The grain gathering system in those days made communism look a way over on the right.

[agstar77]

And if you are wrong, oh I forgot you are never wrong. I will admit I could be wrong and life will be so much better. The point is there is no turning back, just like the crow.

[TOM4CWB]

Agstar77,

The only constant in our lives... is change!

You may as well decide to be Happy!

Certainly being grumpy... and trying to push the rope of life...up the road of time... will be frustrating!

Pull the rope... this is an opportunity!

I know... I can see a noose being tied ... just for me...