CWB Programs for Farmers Who Sold US Malt Barley May to July

[charliep]

Back to the question about how direct farmer sales to the US over the May to July period are being handled? Has anyone worked through the process?

A source has indicated the CWB has been handling the same way as with the organic industry. Not making go through the buy back/producer direct sale route but instead insuing export licences with a fee attached (perhaps to reflect the CWB brand/market development effort). Other than hearsay, have not been able to confirm this. What are you experiencing/hearing?

[freenorth]

Thanks Charlie,
I am very curious on this too!
1 - what are farmers having to do and what is the cost(per bushel or tonne)the CWB is forcing them to pay to execute their contracts to the US?
2 - what is the trade doing to execute their contracts (cost per bushel or tonne)?

why is this important? it is to all of us. Final question is where is this money going to? the barley contingency fund? or the pool account?

Erik

[parsley]

One point to note.

The CWB simply cannot charge the fee for interprovincial trade because CWB regulation simply will not allow it


"no fee shall be charged"

So shipments to PQ and Ontario cannot be charged a fee.

Parsley

[charliep]

A birdie passed along the following Red Deer Advocate article.

http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/

Court ruling ruins barley contracts


By Advocate business editor

?By HARLEY RICHARDS
A Federal Court decision that quashed a move by the Conservative cabinet to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly over the marketing of barley has resulted in some private sales contracts being nullified.
A number of barley producers acted on the assumption that single-desk marketing would end Aug. 1 ? the date specified in amendments by cabinet to the Canadian Wheat Board Regulations. The result was contracts with domestic maltsters, grain companies and United States buyers.
Maureen Fitzhenry, the wheat board?s manager of media relations, said private sales to domestic maltsters will not be allowed.
?We?re not facilitating those. They?re null and void."
However, she added, in the case of contracts for sales into the United States, the board is allowing producers to pay a flat rate charge to facilitate this through the wheat board. Usually, such producer-direct sales are subject to a fee structure that carries some uncertainty.
?I don?t think there?s a huge number of farmers that did that because we didn?t get a lot of calls,? said Fitzhenry.
In the case of contracts for the export of feed barley negotiated with grain companies, the board is working to honour these and to help facilitate the sale and movement of grain, she said.

This would seem to indicate the CWB is allowing export licences to farmers after paying a flat fee for the licence. Maybe I am not understanding.

Interesting the differences in how grain companies are being treated differently than maltsters with regards to contracts.

[charliep]

Still confused. Have the CWB telling me farmers still have to go through the producer direct sale for US direct malt business and I have farmers/others telling me the only requirement is the paying a fee for an export licence. Hard to read through the CWB spin but the latter seems to have been implied above. What is happening?

[parsley]

charliep

Call the cwb. Ask what the fee is today for #1 hrsw protien 13.5 from Alberta to Ontario flour mill is.

Parsley