The assistant vice president of marketing and sales for bulk with CPKC took part in the Transportation Elevator and Grain Merchants Association meetings last week in Kansas City.

Elizabeth Hucker says the drought in Western Canada was a key topic of discussion.

"The overall theme though and I got a lot of questions about it, was corn to Alberta.  CPKC  is ready to move corn to southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan to help feed the herd down in those locations, as we did in the 2021- 2022 drought year."

In preparation, Hucker says, they are out talking to both sides of the supply chain.

"The farmers that are producing the corn in the United States, as well as the cooperatives and other grain companies to understand what their sales are so far into Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. Then on the other side of the supply chain, we're talking to the elevators that would normally receive this corn in those direct areas, and also looking for opportunities to reload those trainsets with grain out of Western Canada to Vancouver to help with the overall efficiencies of the grain supply chain."

She notes that south of the border it sounds like there's a good crop across all commodities,  adding there was some discussion around competition in soybeans from Brazil and what that could mean for trade flows and US crush demand.

Overall, Hucker says they are preparing to move this year's crop from harvest to port adding they continue to manage their resources as the industry works through the backlog created by the BC Port Strike.

To hear Glenda-Lee's conversation with Elizabeth Hucker, the assistant vice president of marketing and sales for bulk with CPKCclick on the link below.