Monthly railcar loadings

[farming101]

This should create a little heat on this cold day! Sorry if you are on a phone. might be too big.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc421/farming101/Monthly%20railcar%20loadings_zpsvse5mbpv.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Monthly railcar loadings_zpsvse5mbpv.jpg"/></a>

[bucket]

Can you overlay production for that time frame with the same commodities.?

Just to add perspective.

I suspect production is much higher than railcar movement.

[farming101]

Annual production for prairie provinces. Sorry not overlayed.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc421/farming101/Prairie%20Crop%20Production_zpsprpmnx0g.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Prairie Crop Production_zpsprpmnx0g.jpg"/></a>

[farming101]

Rats, first year should be 1999. Last year should be 2014.

[bucket]

Did you include all commodities like in the first graph or just crop production?

I think there may be some inconsistencies if you are trying to defend the railways performance?

Not arguing just want it apples to apples.

[bucket]

Just for a 50 mmt crop to move railways would have average 42000 cars a month not including secondary processing.

[farming101]

Yes, all types of crops included in the annual crop production chart.
All raw material for mill and crusher output would mostly have come from prairie farms. There is maybe some canola imported and crushed in Western Canada I guess.
I think what the first chart-rail car loadings shows is the great variability within the crop year. If the system that exists is going to be used to its greatest capacity that has to be smoothed out.
For example, if the railways would have stepped up and hauled something like what was done in the May-August period this year instead of November and December numbers falling off a cliff, there would hardly be a backlog.
If I recall November was great weather, December maybe not so much.

[farming101]

One can also easily see how slow things were in 2013. And this happened with the largest crop on record to market at good prices. A disaster for sure.
45,000 plus cars in Oct/13 down to a little over 29,000 in Feb/14.

[bucket]

Your railcar loadings in the top graph includes secondary processing.

If the is tracked with crop production it should be easy to conclude someone isn't keeping up.

1. Railways
2. Graincos

Farmers always grow thanks to mother nature a surplus. The problem is no one grows to accommodate the surplus.

That's the whole point of trend line yields in the states. Infrastructure is built to accommodate changes.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out going from 50/50 to continous cropping what would happen other than the railways and graincos sat idly by aided by governments to do nothing.

[bucket]

A perfect example is this.

While they were digging in the pipeline for the riverhurst irrigation project the railways were allowed to tear out the branchlines to service an area that was going to increase production and diversify the crop mix.

These people in government are buffoons.

[farming101]

The majority of processed grains leave the country in a rail car. So farm production gets trucked to a mill or crush plant, but it ultimately has to be railed out of here.
I'm in total agreement with you on the disconnect between the big push to increase prairie crop production and the lack of investment in infrastructure.
Actually, some of the biggest investments in rail improvement were funded by the prairie economy. The tunnels in the mountains-income from grain and settlers. Mount MacDonald tunnel initiated the same year as the WGTA was passed. Coincidence?
Farmers were let down by the system in 2013 and 2014 has turned into a hangover.

[bucket]

If you look at your second graph and use the trend line yield formula that the usda does - what would that tell you about rail and grainco infrastructure?

Also realize the US government invested in warehouses for excess.

It's not a hangover it's incompetence by those in government that have facts and figures by statscan and fail to a dress the issues.

They simply don't care to do what they identified prior to getting into office.

And yes that is you Anderson Ritz Hermanson and anyone else lurking and sitting on their hands.

That isn't pointed at you Farming101 unless you are one of those people. Lol.

[farming101]

Ha hardly! Just another small farmer staring retirement in the face in a few years.

[bucket]

But your retirement package requires the primary industry to be healthy.

It's not.

Big or small operator these issues have to be fixed or primary production will stagnate or be reduced.

That shouldn't be up to graincos or railways to decide whether our end users discontinue doing business. Right now they are and eventually it will hurt their bottom line as well.


WIT was a first example maybe PH is next or Patterson. Eventually some one is going to come gunning for richardsons if they continue to **** the primary producer.

[TASFarms]

Need more short lines to move rail cars. Order cars on Friday load Tuesday. Why can't CN or CP do that.