P.E.I. farmers relieved after CN Rail, union reach tentative deal

Something P.E.I. farmers use a lot of this time of year is propane.

It is used to dry crops like cornand any disruption in propane supplycan cause issues.

Some Island farmerswere relieved to learn Tuesday thata tentative agreement was reached to renew the collective agreement for more than 3,000 CN Rail workers, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union, after a week-long strike.

Propane arrives by truck to the Island, from rail terminals on the mainland.

"Glad to see for all the farmers out there that have corn yet to dry and we are glad ourselves, so we can get back to drying the rest of our soybean crop," says Neil Campbell, general manager of P.E.I. Grain Elevators.

About half of P.E.I.'s grain corn is still in the fields. Wet conditions and poor weather this yearhave delayed harvest.

"There is a lot of propane to be used yet. Corn crop is quite a bit wetter this year than other years," Campbell said.

He said part of the wet weather was brought on bypost-tropical storm Dorian and that more they're "using morepropane than normal."

Waiting for deliveries

P.E.I. Grain Elevators has not received any deliveries of propane at its three facilities on the Island since the weekend.

Even the province's emergency measures organization had been monitoring the propane situation, with an eye on how much was availableand where it might have been needed most.

Campbell said P.E.I. Grain Elevatorssupply in Elmsdale was exhausted, but now that the strike is resolved he is less worried.

"Our biggest challenge now is to see when the deliveries will actually start," Campbell said.

Campbell said he is waiting to hear from his supplier about when delivery of propane will resume.

"Nobody knows how long that will actually take, I am sure a couple of days at least," Campbell said.

Propane best option

Campbell said the incident made him think about P.E.I.'s energy supply, but he said propane is the best option.

"We use up our current supply really fast, and it goes to show how susceptible we are to interruptions," he said.

"Something like a rail strike is something we don't plan for."

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