Tracking grain movement across Canada is now easier than ever.
This month Statistics Canada released the Grain Supply Chain Dashboard, an interactive map that details, among other things, segments of the railway network, the number of cars, and a car’s last known location. The dashboard is updated on a daily basis – with a one-day lag.
The Dashboard was developed in partnership with the Ag Transport Coalition.
Greg Northey, Vice-President of Corporate Affairs with Pulse Canada, one of the members of the Coalition, says conversations with Stats Canada about this started last June, and development took nearly a year.
“While it looks fairly simple as far as, you know, mapping features…the data behind it is extremely complicated as to how it works, how it moves through the system,” Northey said. “It was a long process but we think it was worth it.”
He says the map will show elevators in Canada, ports such as ones in Thunder Bay and Vancouver, but what it doesn’t show is which company owns the train cars for confidentiality reasons. While it’s version one, Northey says any feedback is encouraged.
“We’re hoping we receive feedback from all stakeholders and it can be done through the Stats Canada website but also directly with the Ag Transport Coalition as well, so myself or any other partners. Any kind of input, good or bad, is good is welcome with this kind of thing.
“We really think this is the future around transparency and everyone working with a common set of data and understanding what’s happening out there.” Northey added.
You can see the dashboard here.
