麻豆视频

Four years ago, grain producers in Saskatchewan and other provinces were facing a tough situation.

They had a bumper crop in 2013, and had to get the grains to market. Yet they couldn鈥檛 transport it as quickly as they wanted, because there weren鈥檛 enough rail cars to ship it.

Estimates indicate the bottleneck wound up costing farmers in Saskatchewan and across the country billions of dollars. And just like other industries, when farmers feel the pinch, other industries are hurt, too, because farmers don鈥檛 have the income they have earned.

History is repeating itself again. Granted, last year wasn鈥檛 a bumper crop to the same degree as 2013, but farmers still have a lot to get to market. But they can鈥檛, because there aren鈥檛 enough rail cars to ship the product.

It鈥檚 so bad this year that railways have apologized, and the head of CN Rail stepped down over the mess. The federal government has rebuked the rail companies, and the good news is it appears that grain is going to get moving again.

But it鈥檚 going to be the farmers who are hurt in the situation. In an industry with little margin for error, the lack of grain movement is another problem beyond their control, and it is ultimately hurting their bottom line and their profitability.

It鈥檚 bad enough that many went through a significant drought last year that affected their yields. Now those who did have a strong crop have to worry about the rail companies once again hindering their ability to turn a profit.

Was nothing learned from what happened four years ago? If we were going to have this conversation again, it should have well into the future, not just a few years after the last crisis.

You can鈥檛 blame the farmers. All they did was their job: growing a crop in a responsible fashion so they can meet the food needs of the world. They do it year after year, hoping that they will get enough rain to grow a crop, but not so much that the crop quality is reduced. They have to worry about spending money so they can keep pace with the latest technological advances with their expensive equipment.

On the list of things that farmers should have to worry about, a sufficient number of rail cars should be near the bottom of their list.

Anyone who is in business will tell you they would be furious if someone鈥檚 inability to do their job properly cost them a significant amount of money. Farmers are no different.

It comes down to rail companies not being prepared to meet the needs of their customers. They have an idea of the crops that are being grown in Canada, and how much is being grown. They receive the estimates during the year. And so you would expect they would plan accordingly.

But instead they鈥檙e caught with an insufficient number of rail cars, and now they have to deal with politicians and angry farmers, over a situation that could have been avoided, for the second time this decade.

And now you have to wonder how long it will be before we get to hear of this situation all over again.聽