Record Grain Crop Stuck on Prairie as Railways Tap Oil
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Rising shipments of crude oil by train are tying up railway resources in Canada, leaving as much as 3 million tons of grain stuck on the Prairie after a record wheat and canola harvest.
Grain shipments to export terminals are two months behind due to a shortfall of rail cars, said Keith Bruch, vice president of operations for Paterson GlobalFoods Inc., a 106-year-old Winnipeg, Manitoba-based company with more than 30 grain elevators. Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. are hauling more oil while engines and crews are needed elsewhere to move grain, he said.