CP Rail says late harvest is delaying grain movement

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. says a delayed harvest means the railway has moved less Canadian grain than at this time last year or on average over the past three years.

The Calgary-based company says it's standing ready to move what's expected to be close to a record crop, but the grain's not yet ready to move.

The warning comes as farm groups worry about a repeat of a rail bottleneck in 2013-2014, which also had a large harvest.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture has called on Transport Minister Marc Garneau to ensure railways don't abuse their role and to maintain limits on how much profit they can make from grain transportation.

CP Rail said Friday that it's going to launch a scorecard to track performance of the different players in the grain supply chain, not just the railway.

"We remain committed to working with the supply chain to move Canadian grain to market, as opposed to the finger-pointing of the past,'' CP chief executive Hunter Harrison said in a statement.

"Our supply chain is built to deliver grain throughout the year and depends on all the various pieces working together collaboratively. Our new supply chain scorecard will help tell that story while holding us and the rest of the supply chain accountable.''

Canadian Pacific also said it has written to the federal ministers of transportation and agriculture in order to outline its preparation for the 2016-17 crop year.

Garneau's office has said that he will meet with members of the grain industry next week.