December 31, 2013 – Ottawa, ON –
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
With record high yields this year, overall grain production is well ahead of last year’s crop. Canadian farmers produced 95.5 million tonnes of grain to date this year, a significant increase over last year’s crop of 75.4 million tonnes. Despite a late start to spring seeding, weather conditions that prevailed throughout the summer were ideal, creating almost perfect growing conditions and record production for both canola and wheat, especially in the West.
Quick facts
Canada’s world-class grain industry is an important driver of the economy and jobs, which is why the Government of Canada is creating new opportunities for the sector through concrete measures.
The government has taken steps to improve the performance of the entire rail supply chain in order to help farmers get their crops to market. This includes:
- giving Western Canadian grain farmers the marketing freedom they want and deserve,
- passing the Fair Rail Freight Service Act, which creates a process to establish service agreements,
- establishing a Commodity Supply Chain Table,
- investing $25 million to support grain shipments through the Port of Churchill,
- the creation of the Crop Logistics Working Group (CLWG),
- implementing marketing freedom for western Canadian wheat and barley growers,
- investing over $150 million in innovation through the grain research clusters, and
- opening a market of half a billion consumers to our farmers across Canada through the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Quotes
“The bumper crop that we’ve seen this year shows how farm performance continues to remain strong as the industry becomes more competitive, innovative and profitable.”
- Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz
“Grain movement remains ahead of last year’s pace, despite the unique challenges presented by this year’s bumper crop. Our government continues to work with all parts of the logistics supply chain to find efficiencies to ensure our farmers get their products to market.”
- Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz
src:news.gc.ca
img src: science.nationalgeographic.com