Forms
Farmer instructions for CWB administered producer cars
Information for farmers who have applied for or are considering applying for a producer car through the Canadian Wheat Board.
New for 2007-08: Effective August 1, 2007, Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) will eliminate the per-tonne grain freight rate currently in effect and implement new per-car rate tariffs.
- Ordering a producer car
- Loading a producer car
- Delivery of wheat - Declaration of variety
- Bill of lading/settlement form
- Recording producer car deliveries
- Unload
- Administration fees
- Per-car rate tariffs
Ordering a producer car
- Completing a producer car application form. (PDF format 13 KB)
Forms are available from the CWB through the CWB Web site at www.cwb.ca, Fax on demand at 1-800-275-4292 or by calling the CWB at 1-800-275-4292.
Please check the applicable CWB administered or self administered box in Section D of the form. This is needed for payment of freight. Sign and date the application.
- Submitting a producer car application form to the CWB
- fax to 1-204-983-8031
- mail to the CWB, Farmer Operations, Box 816, Station Main, Winnipeg, MB R3C 2P5
- call 1-800-275-4292 to complete an application. You will need your CWB producer ID number and your CWB Personal Identification Number (PIN).
- The CWB will:
- verify the information on the application, and if required, contact you to correct any information
- forward the application to the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC)
- approve applications based on car supply and grain/grade requirements at port position and advise the CGC accordingly
- The CGC will:
- send you a letter acknowledging receipt of the application along with a green “I-90” Tag and a Bill of Lading/Settlement form
- mail you a letter with your CGC Authorization Number. When you receive the letter, you are responsible for contacting the railways (CN at 1-877-208-5019 or CP at 1-800-704-4000) to confirm the final train run dates, as these dates are subject to change.
- authorize producer cars only at a designated railway producer car loading sites
It is in your best interest to ensure the accuracy of your grain by having it tested at a CGC Service Centre, before loading the rail car.
Loading a producer car
You must ensure that:
- the car is empty and clean inside, in good condition and the door hatches close properly. If there is a problem, contact the appropriate railway center to have the car rejected and re-ordered.
- the green “I-90” Tag is completed and stapled to the loaded car notice board
- indicate that the CWB is the Shipper (c/o your name)
- if the CWB offers a High Fusarium Program and you have high fusarium grain, mark a large “T” on the I-90 tag
- the grain is not infested with bugs. If the grain is bug infested, you will be subject to fumigation costs on infested cars.
- you ship the correct grade. Farmers who ship the wrong grade may be assessed terminal storage and have their settlement payment held.
If you are requesting the CWB to release your car and the release will occur on a weekend, please notify the CWB by 3:00 pm CST on the Friday before you load.
Fumigation
At no time can a rail car be treated with a fumigant. The railways strictly prohibit the use of all fumigants, such as Phostoxin, in all railway cars loaded in Western Canada. If you car contains a fumigant, you may be subject to substantial financial penalties. Rail cars containing a fumigant place those accessing the car at risk of severe or even fatal injuries.
Overloaded cars
It is important that you load to the correct weight and fill compartments equally.
- If a car is overweight, the railway may require you to partially unload the rail car prior to reaching its destination. This can result in considerable expense to you in terms of a penalty assessed by the railway as well as the cost of unloading.
- You may be assessed demurrage charges on the car.
- Overweight cars may be set aside for some time before they are unloaded or moved.
- For rail line weight capacities and overload questions contact CN at 1-877-208-5019 and CP at 1-800-704-4000.
- Refer to the CN and CP Web sites at www.cn.ca and www.cpr.ca for further information.
Excreta
The CGC, which sets quality assurance standards for export grain shipments and certifies their quality and consistency, has a zero tolerance policy for excreta.
- If excreta is found in a producer car at port, that car cannot be unloaded for export as a food product.
- If a producer car with excreta is unloaded into a terminal or a ship, the entire shipment would be contaminated and could not be sold as a food product under Canadian law. The ship must be unloaded and reloaded with uncontaminated grain, adding extra cost to the system.
- If it is determined that your producer car contained excreta, you will be required to pay any costs related to the contamination.
Delivery of wheat - Declaration of variety
On your first producer car application of a crop year, a Delivery of Wheat - Declaration of Variety form (PDF format 67 KB) must be completed and faxed to the CWB along with the completed bill of lading form. This declaration for the producer car is the same as the declaration of variety being made at primary elevators with respect to eligible varieties of wheat for delivery. A declaration form is provided as part of this information package.
Bill of lading/settlement form
- Completing a Bill of Lading/Settlement Form
- Complete sections 1, 2 and 3 of the form for each producer car.
- Your CGC authorization letter will provide some of the essential information required to complete your bill of lading form.
- Steps for submitting a Bill of Lading/Settlement Form
- Send the completed form via the Internet to CN or by fax to CP. You should do this immediately upon loading the producer car to ensure the car is released in a timely manner.
- CN via their Internet site at www.cn.ca
- CP via fax to 1-800-704-3000
- You must be registered as an e-Business subscriber with CN to transmit bill of lading information. New subscribers can register with CN at www.cn.ca/register to receive a secure username and password.
- If you do not have Internet access to send your form to CN, you must fax the bill of lading form to the CWB. The CWB will e-mail the information to CN on your behalf. The CWB will charge a service fee of $25.00 per car for providing e-mail service to CN on behalf of farmers.
- Complete section 4 - the settlement information (for CWB records only)
- If the settlement calls for a split, enter the appropriate CWB producer ID number and percentage split for each landlord. Also, on a separate piece of paper list each landlord’s address and attach to your Bill of Lading/Settlement form.
- Enter the necessary deductions from settlement (e.g. CWB cash advance).
- If the settlement cheque is to be deferred, list deferral date and crop year.
- If you choose to defer settlement to the new crop year, terminal storage will be your responsibility until settlement is made by the CWB.
- Fax the completed copy of the CWB Bill of Lading/Settlement Form to the CWB at 1-204-983-8031.
- Send the completed form via the Internet to CN or by fax to CP. You should do this immediately upon loading the producer car to ensure the car is released in a timely manner.
Note: There is a $400.00 fine per car imposed by the railways for failure to send a Bill of Lading/ Settlement form to the railways immediately after loading a car.
Example: Completed Bill of Lading
Recording producer car deliveries
You are required to record the producer car delivery in your delivery permit book. This preliminary entry should show the grade of the grain (in the Grade column), the shipment date (in the Date column), the gross weight in tonnes (in the Net tonnes delivered column), and the car initials and serial number as they appear on the railway car (in the PPO column).
When you receive your unload information, you should adjust the preliminary entry in the delivery permit book by entering the net weight in tonnes (in the Total deliveries column) and initialing the entry (in the Mgr. init. column).
Example: Delivery Permit Book entry
Record of deliveries
Company name |
Delivery point |
Grade |
Date |
Net tonnes delivered |
Total deliveries |
Mgr. init. |
PPO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
05.02 |
Laurier |
1 CWRS |
Oct. 29/07 |
89.502 |
88.606 |
JP |
CNX 024680 |
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Unload
Once the car unloads at port, the CWB will send you your settlement cheque and statement.
- The CWB will contact you with the CGC unload information.
- If discrepancies exist (e.g. grade, dockage, moisture or protein), you can request a re-inspection within 15 days of unload. Re-inspection fees are:
Level 1 CGC Re-inspection Fee (re-inspected at Port by CGC) [$7.50 + GST] Level 2 CGC Chief Inspector (sample sent to Chief Grain Inspector in Winnipeg) [$15.00 + GST] Level 3 CGC Appeal (sample inspected by the Tribunal) [$25.00 + GST] - All applicable administration fees, CGC fees or CWB fees will be deducted from the settlement cheque. You are not required to send any money to the CWB or the CGC for these fees. The CGC fee is non-refundable if the application is cancelled.
Administration fees
| CWB Administered Cars (where CWB pays the freight) | [$90.00 + GST per car] |
| Self Administered Cars (where producer pays the freight) | [$90.00 + GST per car] |
| CGC Fee | [$20.00 per car] |
| CWB Fee for e-mail services to CN (where applicable) | [$25.00 per car] |
| All applicable administration fees, CGC fees or CWB fees will be deducted from the settlement cheque. You are not required to send any money to the CWB or the CGC for these fees. The CGC fee is non-refundable if the application is cancelled. | |
Per-car rate tariffs
Effective August 1, 2007, both Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) will eliminate the per-tonne grain freight rate currently in effect and implement new per-car rate tariffs.
CN made this switch on non-CWB handled grains on August 1, 2006. CN will now publish freight tariffs for CWB handled grains as a per-car rate. CP will simultaneously convert all their grain freight rates to a per-car rate starting August 1, 2007.
Freight rates under the per-car tariffs will still be subject to the Western Grain Railway Revenue Cap. The CWB will carefully monitor to ensure that the railways are in compliance with any increases allowed under the Composite Price Index by the Canadian Transportation Agency.
With the rates now being calculated per carload - not per tonne - the freight charges will not be affected by the actual unload weights. Instead, a flat rate based on the car origin and destination will be charged according to the published railway tariff, available on the railways’ Web sites.
Now that freight rates are changing to per-car rates, you will need to be extra cautious to ensure loading to full visible capacity will not result in exceeding the hopper car weight limit. All hopper cars have a gross, tare and load limit weight stencilled on their sides. If the stencils are not visible, please contact the railways’ customer service department to get the railcar’s specifications. You should check these weights carefully, and pre-weigh truckloads to ensure they are as close as possible to, but not over, the load weight limit. This will mitigate your freight costs per tonne.
For more information on conversion factors and tariffs, visit
- www.cwb.ca – under Hot topics
- www.cn.ca – click on Grain, then Tariffs, then Export Grain for the tariffs on port movement
- www.cpr.ca – click on Customers, then Tariffs and bulletins, then Grain Tariffs database
If you have any questions about the conversion from per-tonne to per-car rates, please call the CWB at 1-800-275-4292.
The Canadian Wheat Board - Farmer Operations
423 Main Street
P.O. Box 816, Station Main
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 2P5
Telephone 1-800-275-4292
Fax 1-204-983-8031