How the Canadian Pacific Railway Strike Could Significantly Impact Farmers

After labor negotiations between the union and CP Rail failed to result in an agreement, the Canadian Pacific Railway shut down operations over the weekend as workers went on strike. A pause in operations from Canada’s No. 2 railroad will only further aggravate a commodities shortage caused by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As spring planting nears, the prolonged lockdown could have several ramifications on U.S. farmers as Canada heavily depends on railways to move commodities and manufactured goods to ports. Farmers will feel the brunt of the decision as 75% of all fertilizer in the country is moved by rail. The timing couldn’t be worse, given the short window farmers have to obtain and spread fertilizer in spring, roughly 4 to 6 weeks from now. The last Canadian National Railway strike was three years ago and lasted eight days, costing the fertilizer industry between $159 and $238 million dollars.

Read more on the CP railway strike here.