Weyburn Inland Terminal Ltd. faced some new and some ongoing challenges during 2003, but diversification and expansion in some sectors helped the company realize another profit and a higher dividend payout for shareholders.

Net earnings for the year were $2.9 million, up about $285,000 over 2002 net earnings. Dividend yield was 4.79 per cent, based on a 2003 year-ending share price of $24.

WIT held its annual shareholders meeting on April 20 at McKenna Hall.

Chief executive officer Rob Davies told a crowd of about 130 people that 2003 was another difficult year for agriculture in Canada.

The BSE crisis, the summer heat and the grasshoppers did damage to many crops, while a big wind came up in August and blew away the canola crop that had been holding up fairly well to that point, he said.

The year began with large volumes of lower quality grain to move from 2002, and ended with low volumes of high quality grain, he said.

Davies noted the company's diversification, and the capital expenditure which supports it, began nine years ago and will be scaled back somewhat in 2004.

Last year, property, plant and equipment expenditures were $2.6 million, compared to $2.6 million in 2002.

Most of the cost was related to the crop inputs business, which grew "significantly" for the fourth consecutive year. Total sales in crop production services grew almost 37 per cent in 2003, according to the company's annual report.

WIT also expanded its seed and chemical storage when it purchased the former Wey-Better Yields, expanded its liquid fertilizer business at the terminal site, and built a 10,000 MT dry fertilizer storage facility in the fall of 2003.

Davis said the expansion will result in reduced operating costs and improved service to customers.

He told shareholders the grain-handling business has changed dramatically over the past five years and is dominated by large concrete or steel plants like WIT's 25- year old facilities, except that they've been built with debt while WIT is debt-free.

"We had two consecutive droughts across the prairies which put everyone but especially the larger players, Agricore United and SaskPool, under tremendous pressure," said Davies.

One of the unsolved problems of the past 10 years is the aging rail car fleet, he said.

Very little maintenance is being done by the railway companies, leaving WIT to patch up, at its own cost, as many as 50 per cent of cars that could be rejected if there was any other option, he said.

"The performance of the CPR in the current year has been a significant cause of concern, especially for those of us who are captive to one railway."

The federal government needs to let the railways know what the plan is with regard to disposal of the fleet, said Davies. "The current system is not broken but further rationalization is needed."

Davies said good snow cover this past winter has increased optimism among farmers, but only a return to more normal rainfall will ensure a good crop this fall.

Moisture concerns will likely have an impact in the next few weeks of seeding, he said. The result may be that more farmers plant more acres of lower input crops like flax, he said.

Shareholders, officers, and directors of the company honoured the late Bert Gibbs, financial officer for 27 years, with a minute of silence. Gibbs died suddenly in February.

Eleven directors were elected for a one-year term on the board, including Al Brigden, Claude Carles, Trevor Dammann, Ed Douglas, Ken Fortner, Jeff Gaab, Harvey McEwen, Ken Newman, Allan Richards, John van Staveren, and Jason Watson.