Grain movement since the last harvest has been slow, through a combination of different factors which have come together at a bad time for farmers.

That includes the existing slowdowns brought by supply chain woes and the closing of railways headed to British Columbia at the end of 2021.

Most recently, a lockout by CP Rail caused railways to shut down completely, though those weren't long-lived.

Sask Wheat Development Commission Chair Brett Halstead says the current problem has been dampened by under-performance by crops last year.

"it's been a difficult winter for rail movement. It just totally hasn't been caught up, and I think it's been a little bit masked by the fact that we've had a smaller crop, sort of half a normal crop would be and therefore the demand hasn't been as heavy. I think if we'd had a normal crop, you'd have heard a lot earlier."

While the work stoppage only officially closed the rails for one day, that had an effect on a lot of the grain being moved.

"For any kind of work stoppage like that, there's a bit of ratcheting down of services anyhow. Obviously, you can't have a train left in the middle of the mountains with a perishable commodity on it," said Halstead, "So if it's gonna get caught in the stoppage, it just doesn't go."

Another problem with the decreased amount of grain movement is that many ranchers are relying on feed being delivered following local sources having low stock.

"That becomes an animal humane issue, you know, they can't run out of feed. You've only got so much room to store that feed when they're used to buying it directly off of Canadian farms," said Halstead, "Then obviously the drought hit, and you need to import corn from the United States to feed the large feedlots."

Halstead also says that grains actually saw more movement during the pandemic, as other commodities were being moved less freeing up space for grain.

He says time will tell if 2022 turns out any better.