Western Canadian agriculture faces a competitive disadvantage in serving international markets because the crops are grown far from the ports that serve the world. Improvements in logistics and transport help, but if competitors improve as well then no real gain occurs. So Western Canadian agriculture has to coordinate its efforts and focus on total costs to overcome the barriers of distance.

To address issues surrounding this topic the University of Manitoba’s Transport Institute is hosting the 14^th Fields on Wheels conference on December 2 at the Delta Winnipeg hotel. The conference’s theme: “Growing a Bigger, Better Pie: A Value-Chain Approach”.

The conference begins with an overview of the current state of agricultural transportation and marketing in Western Canada.  Subsequently, win-win strategies are explored to improve the value of Canadian products and improve export competitiveness of raw and processed products on world markets.

Visit www.umti.ca to view the full agenda and registration details.

For more information please contact Kathy Chmelnytzki, conference coordinator, Transport Institute, 204-474-9097 (transport_institute@umanitoba.ca),

Or

Barry Prentice, Professor of Supply Chain Management, University of Manitoba, 204-474-9766 (barry_prentice@umanitoba.ca).