Banks urged to be flexible with farmers facing cash crunch due to grain backlog

REGINA – Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister wants financial institutions to cut farmers some slack because of a grain transportation backlog.

Lyle Stewart says he has written to all banks in the province urging them to be flexible with farmers facing a cash crunch because their grain isn’t getting to market.

Saskatchewan producers harvested a record crop of 38.4 million tonnes last year, but they don’t get paid until the grain gets to market.

Much of the crop is sitting in bins because of railway transportation delays.

Stewart, who is a farmer too, says he thinks lenders will recognize that there is a lot of value sitting in those bins and he hopes they’ll be understanding.

Groups representing farmers across Western Canada have warned the backlog is so bad that some farmers won’t have enough cash to pay for seeding this year.