On March 22, the federal government announced it would develop such a strategy, calling it “an opportunity to discuss how we can address freshwater-related threats and opportunities,” protect freshwater ecosystems, and secure water for communities and the economy, according to a news release.

The Canada Water Agency, which was repurposed in 2024 as a stand-alone freshwater management agency separate from Environment and Climate Change Canada, will spearhead the strategy’s development.

While the announcement was scant on details of what such a strategy might look like, it said the agency will work with provinces and territories, First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners, “stakeholders across sectors” and the public.

Farmers should be among those consulted, the CFA said in a statement to Glacier FarmMedia.

“Water security is absolutely critical for the future of Canadian farmers. Farmers in different regions of Canada have been devastated by water issues over the past few years, such as the floods in B.C., or the ongoing long-term drought in the Prairie provinces,” a federation spokesperson said.

“A lack of water has severe negative impacts on any type of farm, no matter what they grow or raise.”

Prioritizing food security, agriculture

The strategy should protect farmers and mitigate the effects of water-related events. It should also secure predictable access to water so farmers can maintain food production — for example, through effective water management policies and investment in water infrastructure, CFA said.

“Farmers need to make it clear that food security and agriculture production should be prioritized if there was any issues with access to water.”

“Farmers are also on the front-line of climate change, dealing with the on-ground realities of water-related events,” CFA added. “They have experience and knowledge that will be critical in developing this strategy.”

While the announcement made no specific mention of the agriculture industry, the sector will have an opportunity to share its views during the public engagement process, “recognizing that freshwater is fundamental to our economy, powering industries, agriculture, and the growth of communities,” a federal spokesperson told Glacier FarmMedia.

The federal government has not yet set timelines for consultations, but said those will be announced “in the coming months.”

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Of the total, grain movement was up by five per cent on the year, hitting 10.4 million tonnes, with Canadian grain up by more than 11 per cent.

“Again in 2023, the St. Lawrence Seaway demonstrated its resilience and reliability, as well as emphasizing its role as an essential component of the Green Shipping Corridor,” said Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the SLSMC.

“Marine commerce on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway plays a key role in supporting 246,000 jobs and US$36 billion in economic development activities across North America,” added Adam Tindall-Schlicht, GLS Administrator.

Dry bulk movement of agricultural supplies and construction materials topped 12 million tonnes, which was up by five per cent on the year. Liquid bulk traffic was up by 3.4 per cent at 3.6 million tonnes.

After the longest scheduled shipping season in history, the Montreal/Lake Ontario section of the seaway closed for the season on Jan. 5 with the Welland Canal closing on Jan. 7. Annual winter maintenance and infrastructure renewal programs are currently underway.

Looking ahead to 2024, the SLMC and GLS will focus on further developing the Green Shipping Corridor to leverage the environmental and economic benefits of marine shipping to regional and global communities.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin is an associate editor/analyst with MarketsFarm in Winnipeg.

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“By increasing our export capacity at Port Windsor, we’re helping our farmers get Canadian grain to international markets, which is good for economic growth and for global food security,” said Pablo Rodriguez, the federal minister of transport.

The federal government will pitch in up to $26.3 million toward the company’s terminal expansion project, it said in a news release.

The expansion will include increased grain storage, greater loading capacity, new grain drying equipment, and the development of “an automated truck kiosk system to expedite complex traffic flows,” the release said.

It’s projected to “significantly increase” the Great Lakes terminal’s export capacity, and alleviate current bottlenecks.

The release said the expansion should “address issues such as idling trucks, waiting times for marine vessels to dock, and locomotives shuttling around railcars for temporary grain storage on-site.”

—Geralyn Wichers is associate digital editor of AgCanada. She writes from southeast Manitoba. 

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Unifor members represented by Locals 4211, 4212 and 4323 in Ontario and Locals 4319 and 4320 in Quebec “have all delivered strong strike mandates,” the union said in a release Wednesday.

Locals 4211 and 4319, which represent the seaway’s supervisory and engineering group of workers, had already voted Aug. 1 to reject a tentative deal, Unifor said.

The maintenance, operations and administrative unit, represented by Locals 4212, 4323 and 4320, announced Oct. 12 its members had voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action if a deal isn’t reached by a deadline of Saturday (Oct. 21).

“Employers have seen that workers will absolutely use their right to strike when they feel it’s necessary, and our members in all units at the Seaway have had enough,” Lana Payne, Unifor’s national president, said in a release Wednesday.

“It’s time to come to the table with a serious wage offer or the employer can watch what happens when workers stand together and demand their fair share.”

“This employer has shown no willingness to address the workers’ concerns in the workplace or approach them with a respectful wage offer,” Unifor Quebec director Daniel Cloutier said in the same release.

Unifor said such a strike would “effectively shut down transit through the Seaway.”

SLSMC concurred in a separate release Wednesday, saying that “should the unionized workers proceed with strike action, the St. Lawrence Seaway will be closed to all traffic.”

The not-for-profit corporation, which handles movement of marine traffic through Canadian Seaway facilities — that is, 13 of the waterway’s 15 locks between Montreal and Lake Erie — said it has started to implement its plans for an “orderly and safe shutdown of the system” within the 72-hour notice period.

Meanwhile, SLSMC said it “remains committed to obtaining a fair settlement, and will continue to bargain in good faith with the assistance of a federally-appointed mediator.”

“Cargo movements through the Seaway are an important part of the North American economy
and supply chain,” the corporation said Wednesday.

“In particular, this labour action would impact grain movements during a period when the world is in dire need of this essential commodity, even as supply has been affected by the situation in Ukraine and the greater frequency of extreme weather events being experienced around the world.”

A separate U.S. government corporation, the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. (GLS), operates seaway facilities within U.S. territory, including two locks at Massena, N.Y., about 120 km southeast of Ottawa. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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A team of international researchers reported that some of the world’s most important freshwater sources — from the Caspian Sea between Europe and Asia to South America’s Lake Titicaca — lost water at a cumulative rate of around 22 gigatonnes per year for nearly three decades. That’s about 17 times the volume of Lake Mead, the United States’ largest reservoir.

Fangfang Yao, a surface hydrologist at the University of Virginia who led the study published in the journal Science, said 56 per cent of the decline in natural lakes was driven by climate warming and human consumption, with warming “the larger share of that.”

Climate scientists generally think that the world’s arid areas will become drier under climate change, and wet areas will get wetter, but the study found significant water loss even in humid regions. “This should not be overlooked,” Yao said.

Scientists assessed almost 2,000 large lakes using satellite measurements combined with climate and hydrological models.

They found that unsustainable human use, changes in rainfall and runoff, sedimentation, and rising temperatures have driven lake levels down globally, with 53 per cent of lakes showing a decline from 1992 to 2020.

Nearly two billion people who live in a drying lake basin are directly affected and many regions have faced shortages in recent years.

Scientists and campaigners have long said it is necessary to prevent global warming beyond 1.5 C to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. The world is currently warming at a rate of around 1.1 C.

Thursday’s study found unsustainable human use dried up lakes, such as the Aral Sea in Central Asia and the Dead Sea in the Middle East, while lakes in Afghanistan, Egypt and Mongolia were hit by rising temperatures, which can increase water loss to the atmosphere.

Lakes in Canada’s Arctic were part of the drying trend, the study found, “partially because of changes in temperature and PET (potential evapotranspiration), which is in line with broader climate changes toward increasing evaporative loss due to higher lake temperatures and reduced lake ice extents.”

Water levels rose in a quarter of the lakes, often as a result of dam construction in remote areas such as the Inner Tibetan Plateau.

Declines seen in naturally occurring lakes were in part offset, the study found, by “precipitation- and runoff-driven LWS (lake water storage) gains” in others such as the Great Lakes and Lake Winnipeg.

In all, the study said, between 1984 and 2015, satellites have observed a loss of 90,000 square km of permanent water area — an area equivalent to the surface of Lake Superior — whereas 184,000 square km of new water bodies, mainly reservoirs, were formed elsewhere.

Trends and drivers of global lake water storage have remained “poorly known,” the study added, which “impedes sustainable management of surface water resources, both now and in the future.””

— Gloria Dickie is a Reuters climate and environment correspondent in London. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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Minneapolis-based Ceres Global Ag announced Wednesday it has sold the well-known terminal at Port Colborne, Ont., about 30 km west of Buffalo, N.Y., to London Agricultural Commodities (LAC) for US$4 million.

The flour mill, built at what was then known as Humberstone to produce Robin Hood Flour during the Second World War, was shut down in 2008 by its then-owner, Horizon Milling (now part of Ardent Mills).

Ceres took over the facility in 2010 and repurposed its two million bushels of storage capacity as a grain export terminal. In 2019 Ceres began a long-term storage and handling services agreement with LAC, committing most of the terminal’s capacity to LAC traffic.

Ceres’ employees at the terminal will now transition to work for LAC, the companies said Wednesday.

“This strategic move to take ownership of a facility we have previously leased further demonstrates our commitment to the industry and exercises our ability to efficiently plan for more internationally bound cargo shipments,” LAC president Richard Smibert said in a release.

LAC noted its deal to buy the site comes in the wake of a $45.3 million project announced Jan. 11 by the federal government and St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. for reconstruction and rehab work on three wharf sites at Port Colborne.

Port Colborne is at the south end of the Welland Canal connecting Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. The federal government, which put up $22.7 million for that project under the National Trade Corridors Fund, said the project will help relieve “supply chain congestion” in the region.

“It is expected the facility will in time see increased cargo volumes to export markets served by southern Ontario farming exports of soybeans, wheat and corn,” LAC said Wednesday in its release.

The Port Colborne terminal’s storage capacity is the equivalent of about 50,000 tonnes of grain, with capability to handle truck, rail and vessel traffic as well as corn drying capacity of up to 1,200 bushels per hour at 10 points moisture removal.

London-based LAC, operating since 1985, runs a cash grain trading business focused on corn, wheat, food-grade identity-preserved soybeans and feed ingredients and byproducts. Along with Port Colborne, it owns two southwestern Ontario inland grain handling and processing sites, at Thamesville and Tupperville, and partners with 15 other inland grain handling facilities in the province.

On Ceres’ part, the deal “aligns with our long-term strategy of optimizing our footprint around our core products and the locations where we operate,” CEO Carlos Paz said in a release.

Ceres has recently dialed back on some of its business plans. Last summer it indefinitely shelved its previously announced plans to build a canola crush plant in southeastern Saskatchewan as it “re-examine(s) the economics” of that project.

The company last June also closed a deal to sell its special crops handling facility specializing in bird food at Ste. Agathe, Man., to Orenda Commodity Services. Ceres reported a gain of $3.7 million on the sale of the former Delmar Commodities site.

Ceres’ assets in the Canadian crops sector today include Manitoba-based Delmar Commodities’ other grain handling and soybean crush facilities, plus a U.S. border grain terminal at Northgate, Sask.; a former Cargill grain elevator north of Tisdale, Sask.; and minority stakes in Canterra Seeds and Saskatchewan shortline Stewart Southern Railway.

Last March, Ceres also extended its reach into North Dakota, picking up a 50 per cent stake in Berthold Farmers Elevator previously held by Columbia Grain. The Berthold business has grain handling sites at Berthold and Carpio, N.D., about an hour southeast of Northgate. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Aside from the Rocky Mountains and some areas around the Great Lakes, the U.S. was largely still snow-free heading into that country’s Thanksgiving holiday.

Meanwhile, nearly all of Canada is already blanketed with snow and preparing for Christmas, aside from some areas in the Maritimes. Satellite imagery shows a line running right below the Canada/U.S. border, with snow to the north and bare fields to the south.

Manitoba has the lightest snowpack of the Prairie provinces, with only one to four centimetres across most agricultural areas, according to satellite data. The southeastern corner of Saskatchewan has similar conditions to Manitoba, while the rest of the province reported snow levels in 10 to 19 cm range.

For Alberta, the snow depth ranges anywhere from two to 22 cm across agricultural areas.

Eastern Canada was seeing a major snowfall Monday, with southern Ontario seeing as much as 20 cm of snow. The storm was tracking through Quebec and into Labrador, with the forecast calling for as much as 75 cm at Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

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Last year the seaway’s opening was delayed until the beginning of April, due to the amount of ice in the system, according to Bruce Hodgson, director of market development for St. Lawrence Seaway.

The seaway will have two opening dates this year, with the Welland Canal opening on March 21, and the Montreal/Lake Ontario section opening March 23.

“Certainly we’re ahead of last year, which bodes well for the shippers,” Hodgson said.

International ships will likely come into the system earlier, he added. “They typically hold back when there’s ice in the system; they don’t like to come in when it’s like that.”

Limited ice also allows ships to move more quickly than they otherwise could once they’re in the water.

“Last year we had ships in the system, but once they got to Lake Erie they literally couldn’t go anywhere, so this year we don’t anticipate that,” Hodgson said.

Hodgson’s early estimates for the amount of grain the seaway will be moving in the upcoming season is somewhere in the 7.5 million- to eight million-tonne range, but that could change as farmers start harvesting.

“I guess you could say there’s going to be a reasonable carryover from last year. So we expect the year to start off not strong, but not weak; it’ll be a medium start, I guess.”

Last year the St. Lawrence Seaway moved 10.8 million tonnes of grain.

— Jade Markus writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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The seaway navigation season’s official opening had previously been set for March 27, but officials opted in early March to put off the opening to Thursday, given factors such as ice conditions “affecting safe navigation and effective system transit.”

The CWB Marquis, operated by Algoma Central Corp. on the former Canadian Wheat Board’s behalf, is the first of two Equinox-class lakers CWB ordered “purpose-built” for seaway travel, a total investment valued at about $65 million when announced in 2011.

Seaway officials noted Thursday that various Great Lakes/Seaway carriers have budgeted about $4 billion for a 10-year fleet renewal plan between 2009 and 2018, CWB’s boats included.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC) said Thursday it’s also in the midst of a $5 billion five-year plan to modernize the seaway’s locks and other infrastructure, while the U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. has budgeted $99 million for asset renewal over the same period.

Transport Canada said Thursday it has pledged over $4 billion for projects in Quebec and Ontario “to help create competitive transportation systems that support Canada’s trade initiatives.”

Among those projects, federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said in a separate release Thursday the government “will continue to invest in the seaway, to help us build and maintain a strong, competitive, safe and secure marine transportation system for Canada.”

CWB’s laker investment “underlines the importance of the St. Lawrence Seaway to Canada’s agricultural industry,” SLSMC CEO Terence Bowles said in the corporation’s release.

“As agricultural technology boosts production and global demand for grain intensifies, there is great opportunity for the Seaway to be increasingly at the center of Canadian and U.S. efforts to broaden exports.”

“Blowout volume”

“The future success of our company is dependent on reliable, cost-effective transportation networks going east, as well as west,” CWB CEO Ian White, the event’s keynote speaker, said in the same release.

“Our new vessels, along with our terminals in Thunder Bay and Trois-Rivieres, will allow us to reach our customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa quickly and, at the same time, get the best returns for farmers.”

CWB has directly owned shore space on the Great Lakes and Seaway since 2013, when it bought the grain handling and port terminal assets of Upper Lakes Group’s Soumat arm, including Thunder Bay’s Mission Terminal facility and Les Elevateurs des Trois-Rivieres.

According to Transport Canada, the seaway in 2014 booked its best annual grain handle in the 21st century to date, at over 12 million tonnes.

Bowles, speaking of the volume outlook across all commodities for 2015, said he hopes for a repeat of the “strong results” seen in 2014, when the seaway handled 40 million tonnes of cargo.

“Tonnage forecasts are always difficult, especially with continued volatility in the global economy,” he said.

Seaway officials said in January that the overall cargo levels in 2014 were up seven per cent from 2013 levels, due mainly to a “blowout volume” of grain pushed through the seaway as merchants sought to move the backed-up 2013 bumper crop. — AGCanada.com Network

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“Right now, we’re looking at a near-normal season for ice conditions on the Great Lakes,” said Scott Weese, senior ice forecaster in Ottawa with the Canadian Ice Service, a department of Environment Canada and a member of the North American Ice Service. “Near normal, in comparison with last year, means less ice,” he added.

Long-range forecasts studied by the Canadian Ice Service point to a near-normal temperature regime, which means progressive low pressure systems moving across the region bringing cold outbreaks, followed by warmer conditions, said Weese.

In 2013-14 “we had a pattern that anchored the cold air over the Great Lakes and led to progressive and steady thickening (of the ice… we just didn’t see the warm-ups to slow the growth of the ice,” said Weese. “We see more variability in a normal regime.”

This year, “we did have some early and unusual ice development in some of the northern areas of Lake Superior,” he said.

However, he said, as a sign of the return to more variability in temperature after the initial cold outbreaks, conditions have warmed up, slowed the ice development, “and in some cases led to destruction of that early ice.”

In 2014, the last of the winter ice was still melting in June, “which was quite late,” while a return to normal would see all of the ice gone by late April, Weese said.

The shipping season at the Port of Thunder Bay, on the northern shores of Lake Superior, typically runs from late March through December, but thick ice conditions on the Great Lakes during the 2013-14 winter meant that the first boat didn’t move until late April in 2014.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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