IMPLICATIONS OF A NORTH AMERICAN GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM FOR PRAIRIE TRANSPORTATION AND ELEVATORS

The United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Canadian ownership of United States rail infrastructure, United States investment in Canadian and Mexican rail, all are evidence of the move toward a synthesized North American system for marketing grain in the world market. As this region's agriculture industry seeks further efficiencies, the migration toward a borderless North American grain marketing system may be encouraged or discouraged by regulatory and economic forces. If the impetus to gain efficiencies in the system continues to support greater coordination within the North American marketing system, there are implications for the infrastructure and market structure for both U.S. and Canadian producers. For agriculture in the upper plains region of the United States, it seems deregulation of the rail industry initiated the compendium of change, including a move toward unit-train rail shipments, rationalization of the elevator and rail systems, and the emergence of the short-line rail industry. Procurement efficiencies have allowed producers the opportunity to deliver competitively priced products. Canadian agriculture has begun to position itself to recognize some of these same efficiencies. The re-positioning is the focus of this project. To allow United States agricultural producers to be proactive in their market, it is important to understand how changes in Canadian infrastructure and marketing may impact the grain marketing system and how these countries compete or interact in the market.

• Record URL:
  https://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/details.php?id=406
• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/15529
• Corporate Authors:

  Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute

  North Dakota State University
  1320 Albrecht Boulevard
  Fargo, ND  United States  581052

  Department of Agriculture

  1400 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20250
• Authors:
  • Vachal, K
  • Bitzan, John
  • Baldwin, B
• Publication Date: 1997-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 80 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Deregulation; Grain; Grain elevators; Grasslands; Marketing; Railroad equipment industry; Shipments; Short line railroads; Unit trains
• Geographic Terms: Canada; North America; United States
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00744571
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: MPC Report No 97-84
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 21 1998 12:00AM