Jamieson's Favorite Story of 2023

Editor's Note:

December naturally had us thinking back over the year that was, including the stories we've created. So, we again asked DTN/Progressive Farmer writers to think back on 2023 and choose a favorite story from the archive. They range from hard-hitting investigative journalism and national scoops to farm family features and fun discoveries made while traveling U.S. farm country. We hope you enjoy our writers' favorites, with today's story by DTN Canadian Grains Analyst Cliff Jamieson.

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The seven-day strike by Unifor members that shut down the St. Lawrence Seaway in late October 2023 grabbed my attention for a number of reasons.

I had the pleasure of working on this issue with DTN cohort Mary Kennedy, DTN Cash Grains Analyst, focusing on the effects of the strike on our respective economies in the United States and Canada.

To start, it was the first closure of the seaway since June of 1968, or in 55 years, and as a result was followed closely on both sides of the Canada-United States border. Mary and I worked to shed light on the importance of the seaway.

The move by the union was strategic in that it came in the latter months of the 2023 shipping season, at a time when the U.S. was already facing low-water concerns affecting shipping to the Gulf of Mexico on the Mississippi River, and it was the second major shutdown in transportation in Canada during 2023.

Just months earlier, a 15-day strike at the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia shut down operations at Canada's largest port, although that did not affect the loading of grain vessels, which are protected from strike action due to a clause in the Canadian Labour Code.

While many industries were adversely affected from the St. Lawrence Seaway closure, this came at a time when Ontario producers were harvesting corn and elevator space was tight. It also affected soybean exports and the movement of fertilizer, had the ability to cause substantial harm to the Canadian agriculture industry, and affected Canada's reputation as a reliable trading partner.

Flexibility proved essential in the process of Mary and I completing this story originally planned for Monday morning, Oct. 30. It started with patience in order to wait for the response of the Canadian government in its efforts to address the work stoppage. In the process of following the response of the government, along with the response by industry groups, the parties involved in the strike came to resolution during the weekend, sent out a press release about a tentative agreement late Sunday, Oct. 29, and workers were back on the job Oct. 30.

This required a slight change in direction for our early Monday morning story to indicate the strike was resolved. Working together helped Mary and I to get the story in, and the first version of the story was posted before 8:30 a.m. Central Time.

Meanwhile, we also both completed our usual early morning market duties of writing other analytical articles for our DTN audience.

Mary and I both have a grain industry background -- myself on the Canadian Prairies and Mary across the northern states. We both have an appreciation for the many challenges faced in moving grain production on the Plains and Prairies, meeting the needs of customers, and the many things that can go wrong and prove detrimental -- even devastating -- for an industry.

I believe this enhanced our ability to establish who stands to lose in such an event and pass along the information to readers -- and this is why this became my favorite story of the year.

You can see our Oct. 30 story here: https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Also, I wrote a blog earlier that week about the strike and its impact:

"Canada's Seaway Strike Negotiations Continue," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

DTN Contributing Analyst Philip Shaw wrote about how the strike was affecting Canadian farmers at https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Cliff Jamieson can be reached at cliff.jamieson@dtn.com

Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CliffJamieson

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