In some cases, feedlots say they are scraping together the last of their feed supplies, and are banking on delayed trains still arriving in time to maintain rations.

According to the latest numbers from the USDA, Canadian corn imports in October and November were more than four times higher than the previous year, while there were more than 2.2 million tons in U.S. sales into Canada on the books that were yet to be shipped as of the end of December 2021.

The primary railway involved in supplying southern Alberta corn, CP Rail, says it moved 8,100 carloads of corn from the U.S. into Alberta in 2021, compared with 600 in 2020. The number of carloads of distillers' dried grains (DDGs) shipped was up more than 300 per cent versus 2020, says CP.

Corn DDGs are also moving into southern Alberta by truck from Montana, off the BNSF railway.