Shareholders of the Weyburn Inland Terminal will hear about their company's successful year, despite a poor harvest, and about current issues of concern in the agricultural industry at their annual meeting on Thursday, April 10.

The shareholders' meeting will be held at McKenna Hall, and will begin with registration at 1 p.m. and the meeting at 2 p.m.

Prior to the shareholders' meeting, the condominium owners' association will have their annual meeting, also at McKenna Hall in the downstairs hall, with registration at noon and the meeting at 12:30 p.m.

The shareholders' meeting will include reports from the company's various departments and an election of board members, said president Claude Carles. The nomination period for the board was held in February, and 12 candidates were nominated to fill the 11-person board.

In addition, there will be discussion held on some of the current issues which are having an impact on how WIT operates, or will operate in the future, said Carles.

One of these issues is the rail car tendering system currently in place with the Canadian Wheat Board, and about which many inland terminals in the province have expressed concerns.

"We see there could be changes to it that could make it better. We've seen some problems with the way the system is working," he said.

The initial Memorandum of Understanding which CWB minister Ralph Goodale had put in place regarding this system will expire at the end of July this year, he added, and something will have to be put in place to govern how the car tendering process will operate as of Aug. 1.

Another issue which is currently garnering discussion in the industry is a proposed change by the Canadian Grain Commission about how it grades and classifies grain samples.

Until now, wheat samples are identified visually by kernel distinguishability, said Carles, but some new varieties of wheat cannot be identified solely on a visual basis any more.

"They are proposing to go to some kind of affidavit system. We have some big concerns on it," said Carles, adding there will be a question-and-answer session where producers can also raise any concerns they have on these or other issues.