freewheat frieght

[malleefarmer]

Was blown away with your frieght.
So is reflected in the value of your land just wondering.
In eastern australia think the furtherest frieght may be 500 kms maybe further and its good land but cheap as it costs so much to get anything there and away from there.
will get a canadian map up so i look for yorkton? And your port is where?

[TOM4CWB]

Mallee,

We farm in east central Alberta.

Our rail freight to Vancouver or Prince Rupert ocean port terminal position is about $35/t single car rate. Distance is about 1100km

It is hard to determine just how much the grainco's get off for loading unit train spots of over 105 cars... but is about $6/t.

I actually believe we are getting cheap rail shipping... but the cost is often it is hard to get the shipping when it is needed.

[freewheat]

Mallee;

Because we are smack in the middle
between ports, our grain goes east or
west. Because I refuse to grow CWB
grains anymore, I am not even sure what
freight charges are nowadays, but I
think in the 50 to 60 dollar range.

In terms of land values, I believe we
have the most productive, (when we don't
drown...lol) yet cheapest land nearly
anywhere, but that is more related to
two main things, not freight:

We have had a string of unprecedented
weather troubles since 2004, as well as
the locals being realists regarding
farming, meaning most guys around will
pay for farmland based on actual
production values, not some pie in the
sky 2000 bucks an acre.

Our land prices are 5-600 bucks an acre
here still, in an RM that is in the top
ten in Sask for producing CONSISTENTLY
(until the past few years), heavy
canola, flax, oats, wheat, and barley
crops.

There is NO urban pressure, no oil money
pressure. But we have moisture, often to
excess. Usually the dry years are when
our area shines. If Kindersley is in a
drought, we are rockin'. We also have
moisture in the fall, and so the harvest
window can be tiny. Therefore, there is
also less BIG farmer pressure, due to
limitations with how much one can
physically farm and get away with it. If
you have rain in the fall, a million
combines won't do a thing for you.

We are north west of Yorkton 90 miles,
in the Kelvington/Wadena/Linlaw area.

[stubblejumper]

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/econ1523#2000

[stubblejumper]

http://www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=f2bf45bf-7a4a-4b69-83d6-c7d47679d3c0

[malleefarmer]

thats cheap tom freight here in SA furthest point from port is i think $26 and its not even 300kms

[charliep]

Likely already considered but the transportation costs talked about are
rail only. Most farmers will pay trucking costs to an elevator. Will vary
by individual and distance from their shipping point but will be
$10/tonne ish. Like costs of carry (interest and storage), some farmers
in Canada don't include these costs

Domestic feed grains are shipped farm bin to feedlot/feedmill. Guys
here can give you a cost/loaded mile (or kilometer) for moving grain by
truck. Bad memory and poor calculator but movement Saskatoon area
to Lethbridge (800 to 1,000 kilometers) will cost $30 to $35/tonne
depending on negotiations/backhaul potential. Our normal trucking
grids and feed grain movement are screwed up this year because of the
production disasters in some regions that are normally surplus and
bumper crops in others.

[charliep]

Off topic but western Canada's highest feed grain prices are in Manitoba - the longest distance/higest freight rate to port. Area supply demand fundamentals are the factor driving prices.

[Hopperbin]

Aside from frieght we are also stuck with the elevation charges to load the rail cars. And in the end reducing the value of our land. Perhaps the investors buying land here now are forgetting about frieght and handling charges :-).