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By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Thursday January 9, 2020

Jan 9, 2020 | 2:01 PM

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail) said it moved a record quantity of grain in the final three months of 2019.

CP Rail moved 7.9 million tonnes of grain and grain products breaking a record set in the fourth quarter of 2018 by 400,000 tonnes.

The company said it set an all-time monthly record in November by moving 2.74 million tonnes, October was the second-best month at 2.66 million tonnes and it had its best December with 2.5 million tonnes.

As of Dec. 31, CP Rail moved 12.17 million tonnes of grain for the 2019-2020 crop year up 2.1 per cent from the prior year.

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A vice-president of the group Beef Farmers of Ontario said many producers are in dire straights because cattle ready for market often have no place for processing.

Rob Lipsett said beef farmers have increased production to meet world-wide demand but processors and packing plants have not kept up.

He said with farmers having to keep cattle on the farm long after they’re ready for market means they are losing up to $300 a head.

Lipsett said a big problem is the labour shortage. He said one solution would be for the federal government to ease restrictions on foreign workers.

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The U.S. dairy industry is under severe pressure as the consumption habits of consumers shift.

Borden Dairy filed for bankruptcy protection, the second major U.S. dairy to do so in as many months.

Borden produced nearly 500 million gallons of milk each year at 12 plants.

The challenge is American refrigerators are increasingly stocked with juice, soda and milk substitutes made from soy or almonds. Protein bars and other on-the-go breakfasts have replaced a morning bowl of cereal.

The amount of liquid milk consumed per capita in the U.S. has tumbled more than 40 per cent since 1975.

The U.S. dairy industry is the largest in the world.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF