Record 8 Million Tonnes of Grain Delivered in September

Canadian farmers delivered a record 8.05 million tonnes of major grains in September 2026, up 10.8% from a year earlier and the largest monthly total in 25 years of Statistics Canada data.

Canola deliveries jumped 43.5% to 2.75 million tonnes, while all-wheat deliveries held relatively steady at about 4.1 million tonnes.

Saskatchewan farmers supplied 46.7% of September deliveries, ahead of Alberta at 31.5% and Manitoba at 16.1%.

Source: Farmtario, Statistics Canada data

Canadian farmers delivered 8.05 million tonnes of major grains in September, up 10.8% from 7.26 million a year earlier, per Statistics Canada. Biggest single month in 25 years of data.

Canola was the life of the party: 2.75 million tonnes, up 43.5%. Wheat held roughly steady around 4.1 million. Barley nudged up 2.2%. Oats and rye slipped out early.

Saskatchewan did the heavy lifting with 46.7% of the haul. Alberta brought 31.5%, Manitoba 16.1%, and everyone else presumably brought chips.

StatCan reports tonnes, not motives, so this part is our read, not theirs: after a wet, stop-start fall, plenty of operations needed bin space and cash flow at the same time, and canola is the crop that pays the bills fastest. When the combine and the bank both want room, the grain goes to town.

A record haul is only a record if it keeps moving. Elevators can only take your next load if the last one left on a train.

Which is why the rail numbers below matter more than they look. Your contract delivery window does not care about anybody's car supply excuses.

Need the long version on why logistics beat headlines? Rail and Port Capacity for Prairie Grain.

Ag Transport Coalition, Week 11: CN and CPKC combined filled 91% of shipper orders, a second straight week at 90% or better. Sounds fine. Now split the bill.

CPKC: 99%. Near perfect, up from 94%. Gold star, extra cookie.

CN: 82%, down from 86%. That's a fourth straight week under the 90% line, and CN has cleared it exactly once in three months. In the middle of a record delivery month. Timing is everything, and apparently so is not showing up.

So what: if your delivery point sits on a CN line, the empties that free up elevator space are arriving slower than the trucks in the yard. Plan your hauling around the elevator's car situation, not the calendar.

Arctic Gateway Group, which owns the Port of Churchill, signed a memorandum of understanding with CentrePort Canada and DP World to explore port operations, logistics services and an integrated corridor linking the Hudson Bay Railway, CentrePort's inland hub and DP World's global shipping network.

Dollar figures disclosed: zero. Timelines disclosed: also zero. An MOU is the infrastructure version of "we should grab coffee sometime." Still, it's a nicer coffee invitation than Churchill usually gets.

Arctic Gateway's Chris Avery says this year brought the most diverse mix of commodities ever shipped through the port, which already moves grain, potash and critical minerals.

So what (our read): a northern outlet with a global operator attached is another door for Prairie grain when Vancouver and Thunder Bay are jammed. It won't fix this fall's car supply, but more doors beats more lineups.

SARM's board spent last week in Ottawa: 28 scheduled meetings with ministers, senators, MPs and officials, plus one surprise run-in with Prime Minister Carney on Parliament Hill. President Bill Huber missed that one, which is the most rural municipal thing that could possibly happen.

The list: transportation corridors, port capacity, rail service, labour rules that affect commodity movement, roads and bridges to market, and rural policing that can actually back up federal bail reforms.

Huber says more than 90% of SARM's member municipalities are tied to agriculture, and tariff headaches are coming from China, India and the U.S. all at once. A full set.

The verdict: Huber says Saskatchewan's relationship with Ottawa is the best it's been in a decade, but it's unclear whether the commitments turn into action. Ottawa's favourite answer remains "we'll see."

In a Manitoba Co-operator op-ed published Monday, Glacier FarmMedia news hub editor Alexis Stockford asks where right to repair fits when Canadians are farming by computer.

The argument: AI field mapping, autonomy and drones bring real gains, but every new onboard computer is one more reason a fault code can park a machine until a technician shows up. Nothing says ownership like buying a combine and needing permission to fix it.

The op-ed ties machinery cost to two bigger problems: getting new farmers in the door and handing farms to the next generation. Interest in simpler, repairable iron is a symptom, not a fad.

Background: Manitoba's Bill 15 is a right-to-repair bill, but not one aimed at agriculture. Deere settled a U.S. class action over repair costs and access back in April.

So what: before the next machinery deal, ask the dealer the boring questions. Who can read the diagnostics? Can your shop get the parts and software? Sarcasm aside, that answer is worth real money in the middle of harvest.

Saskatchewan had announced it would end chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing of hunter-harvested deer, elk and moose as of Nov. 1, citing cost and uptake. Midway through deer season. Bold.

After the pushback, the province reversed course: testing continues for 2026-27, mandatory in designated wildlife management zones and voluntary elsewhere, same as last season. Samples already submitted will still be tested, and updated requirements will land by Oct. 31.

Environment Minister Darlene Rowden said hunters made it clear that access to testing "matters to them and their families." Who could have guessed.

The math they were trying to save, per CIDRAP: the program cost $440,000, of which the province paid $140,000. Last season, 362 animals tested positive, and up to 87% of mule deer bucks are infected in parts of southwestern Saskatchewan. Cutting the thermometer doesn't cure the fever.

So what: plenty of farm families hunt their own land, and west-central zones around Kindersley, Rosetown, Biggar, Unity, Macklin and Kerrobert are in the mix. Check the province's CWD page before you submit. Our read: steady surveillance data also matters to anyone running farmed cervids or grazing near hot zones.

Four groups in the Grande Prairie region landed $71,000 combined from FCC's AgriSpirit Fund.

Bezanson Agricultural Society: $20,000 for event centre upgrades. Valleyview & Districts Agricultural Society: $11,000 for infrared heating at the Greenview Regional AgriPlex, to be completed by next spring. A heated AgriPlex in a Peace country winter is as close to a miracle as rural Alberta gets.

Horse Lake First Nation: $20,000 for community freezers and food preservation. Whitefish Lake First Nation: $20,000 to expand food production with gardening gear, cold storage and growing upgrades.