"Farmers will enjoy reduced costs as a result of efficiencies resulting from elevator closure and branchline abandonment:" this lie can be found in the Estey Report, the pronouncements of railway and elevator company executives, and rolling off the tongues of Collenette, Kroeger, and the like.

Since 1970, the number of country elevators in western Canada has fallen from 5,000 to just over 1,000. Far from seeing savings, farmers have seen elevator tariffs rise from $1.38/bushel to $9.37.

Country elevator operations are currently "unprofitable" due to "competition" and "overcapacity." Expect to see mergers in the future and sharply higher handling tariffs as companies move to restore profitability.

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