Members of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture were meeting with officials from the province's agriculture department Tuesday morning when news broke that there had been a tentative agreement reached by CN Rail and its workers.
Federation president Victor Oulton said his group was there asking the province to help push for an end to the strike, and there was a sigh of relief when they heard the tentative deal had been reached.
The strike was heading into its second week and farmers in this province were getting more and more nervous as supplies of propane here were dropping.
The fuel is used for drying feed corn for livestock, and with harvesting ongoing, there were fears that it could go bad.
“A lot of the corn coming off now needs drying,” Oulton said.
Propane is also used to heat poultry barns and is used at the Eden Valley Poultry processing plant in Berwick.
Oulton said if the strike had gone on, farmers would have had to look at bringing in propane by truck, which would “severely” increase the price.
He said he hadn't heard of anyone running out by the time the strike had ended, but the Berwick processing plant was running low.
Livestock feed ingredients are shipped to the province by rail, and about 40 percent of the province's Christmas trees are transported by rail, mostly to western Canada. Trees are starting to be harvested now.
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