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From combine to port
In any given year, Canada exports about 25 million tonnes of grain to overseas destinations. A carefully coordinated effort must be made to move the grain throughout the year. There are three areas at the CWB who have responsibility for getting the grains from combine to port.
Seaboard Operations ensures that the right grades and grain move through Canada's major ports at the right time so the CWB can meet its domestic and export sales commitments. The grain is moved east through Thunder Bay, west through the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert and north through the Port of Churchill.
Grain Operations (Western) manages the transportation of grain from the farm to the export terminals, domestic processors or U.S. destinations. In doing so, Grain Operations (Western) strives to maintain fair delivery opportunities for producers in Western Canada and minimize transportation and handling costs.
Planning and Coordination determines, by grade and protein, the supplies of western Canadian grain available for sale. Information on grain supplies is analyzed from a number of sources such as CWB contracts and special questionnaires completed by country elevator managers. Factors such as railway and port capacities are taken into account in determining monthly export capacities for each port.