Representatives of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association are urging farmers to contact their local MLA's and let them know how the CN rail strike is affecting them.

Jim Wickett is chair of the Wheat Growers, and farms near Rosetown. He said the strike eliminates more than 50 percent of rail shipping, including finished products such as canola oil and fertilizer.

"The CN system is shut down right now for freight," said Wickett. "So if you're on a CN line you're not going to see any movement. Elevators fill up, then once they're full, they're full. So delivery opportunities will be rare."

Wickett said CN averages between five and six thousand carload unloads a week, which is the equivalent of 15,000 truck loads.

He said if farmers are concerned about moving their product, to contact local representatives to let them know of your concerns.

"If they know anybody else, really drive home the message of how serious of a problem this is for Western Canada. Our economy's already taken quite a few hits, and this is just one more."

The Western Canadian Wheat Growers are also calling upon the federal government to take all steps necessary for an immediate return to work.

“When farmer’s grain doesn’t move to market, farmers don’t get paid. After this year’s difficult harvest, the last thing we need is a work stoppage that halts the movement of grain on the CN lines,” said Gunter Jochum, president of the association.

The current situation is reminiscent of the 2016 events that caused the huge grain backlog in 2017.