From crop to port to plate
T TIM KALINOWSKI
here is no more important market supply chain to the well-being of a nation than its food economy. So when part of the system breaks down, or bottlenecks, the effects resonate far and
wide. Case in point: The grain handling crisis of 2014.
“In reality, the only time food looks easy is when it is on my plate,” says Barrie Woods, GM of the Parrish & Heimbecker terminal in Medicine Hat. “No one sees the work behind it and what’s all involved in it. In the end grain will go in the path of least resistance. As an elevator we are a link in the chain from production to end user. The path of least resistance is how we grow our crop and get it to the customer’s plate in the least possible restrictive manner.”
To do this efficiently and well takes constant negotiation between all the stakeholders, says Woods. The grain has to have a buyer. Most of the time that buyer has specific protein or grading requirements.
Parrish & Heimbecker needs to procure and collect this grain at spec from farmers near its terminals and elevators. They then need to ship it to the end user, whether that’s a domestic processing plant or an overseas buyer, who will transform it into a consumer product.
“I would say increasingly both ends of the fork are moving a lot closer together,” says Woods. “A lot of our polices and farmers’ thinking and marketing strategies are geared more toward what the end user
is looking for in their spec requirements. Ultimately the producer is taking all the risk in what he grows, but he is turning more and more to a grain elevator all the time for advice on what the next customer is going to require from us up the value chain.”
Once the necessary grain is accumulated the Medicine Hat Parrish & Heimbecker terminal waits for a call from Canadian Pacific Railway.
“Realistically we have to export 80 per cent of the grain we grow in western Canada and trucks just can’t do it,” explains Woods. “So we have to rely on the rail primarily. At this level of the value chain we take direction from the results of negotiation with the rail and our logistics people. That is part of the chain from an elevator standpoint we really have no control over.”
Mark Hemmes is president of Quorum Corporation. Quorum monitors the grain transport industry in Canada on behalf of the federal and provincial governments. Hemmes says the main problem with the dicey relationship between the grain handling industry and the railroads is the grain companies’ absolute dependence on the CN and CP rail “duopoly” in Canada.
“It is the single biggest limiting factor to commercial growth in the agriculture sector,” states Hemmes. “You have 30,000 farmers out on the Canadian prairies who are funneling grain into 386 elevators. And those 386 elevators are essentially trying to stuff it down two pipes. That’s what the railways do. When you look at it, of all of those 386 elevators, there are only four right
continued on page 12 our communities ❚ our region ❚ our people 11
Parrish and Heimbecker GM Barry Woods and employee Tina Barrett perform quality control at the Medicine Hat grain elevator.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY PARRISH & HEIMBECKER
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