Saudi's Wheat production dries up.

[sumdumguy]

Bloomberg report "the Rise and Fall of Saudi Wheat Production" informs that Saudi Arabia will import all of its wheat in 2016 completely reversing their long-term plan for self-sufficiency. Drought has caused the government yo shut down the farms that all depended on irrigation.

[boarderbloke]

Weren't they also getting big into barley production?

[pourfarmer]

Farming in the desert

http://www.slideshare.net/hirud/almarai

[dmlfarmer]

Right on schedule. The plan to end domestic wheat production in SA started back in 2008. Two years ago the UK daily news reported SA was going to stop buying domestically produced wheat and import all wheat needed by 2016.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-2869259/Saudi-end-domestic-wheat-purchases.html

And in 2012 SALIC was formed with the primary goal of feeding SA through agricultural investment in other countries. Right on SALIC website it states: "SALIC’s long-term vision is to follow Saudi Arabia’s tried and tested formula of establishing a company with the initial capital provided by the government and function as an independent corporation to achieve its basic objective of contributing to food security through profitable global investments." Make no mistake food security is for Saudi mouths.

It still burns me that our government gave the CWB, a respected international marketing agency (except by Canadian farmers) to a foreign government agency whose primary goal is sourcing foods for its own needs. This is not a grain company selling for Canadian farmers, it is a buyer for SA needs.

[Robertbarlage]

and let them pay for it ! you can still haul anywhere you want . Its Called competition.

[tweety]

Can you imagine all the trade offs and behind closed door deals that went into this with the cdn government over the last 7 or 8 years to ensure SA food security? Mind boggling.

[binthere]

what ever do you mean tweety? like canada importing cheap s.a. oil in exchange for cheap grain at the expense of canadas oil industry, with no benefit to consumers.
follow the money.

[furrowtickler]

Mean while here in Canada high quality , high protein , dry number one hrsw is selling at a discount to pig feed

[Braveheart]

Yes dml, who's going sell G3 this cheap grain? If they don't pay they won't play. This isn't the old CWB where confiscation rules.

[farmaholic]

It speaks volumes that the Saudis would risk national food security. What it tells me is other's can grow plenty of it and for less than they can. Probably no risk at all.

[Braveheart]

Well, I don't know much about Saudi Arabia, but isn't it mostly sand? DeSalinization of sea water for irrigation must be expensive? Sounds cheaper to buy it at any price.

[foragefarmer]

Who's going to sell Saudi's cheap grain when MGEX Dec closed at $5.20. I don't see big dollars there, do you Braveheart?

[Braveheart]

We're not selling at those prices. Are you Forage? Most farmers are smarter than that. Most I I'm talking to priced long ago or are storing.

[Flatlander]

Was offered a job in '82 to build pivots for Valley of Nebraska in Saudi. Build pivots at night due to heat, camp on site with armed guards. Water came from the ground. From what I understand those pivots are shot and so is the groundwater table. I didn't go, should have had my ass kicked for not. Take a look on google earth before they are gone. Absolute dessert.

[dmlfarmer]

It IS all about competition. We had one agency which could only sell Canadian grain to any market in the world. It has been replaced by a company which can now buy from any country in the world but whose main purchaser is only one country. Seems like we lost competition there.

Not only that but the main players left in Canada are also multi-national players who can also source grain from a multitude of countries to meet a sale.
They really could care less if they sell Canadian wheat or Australian wheat or South American wheat - what ever they can source and transport to the buyer cheaper. Sure there is more competition but that competition is actually not over best price farmers can get but rather who is willing to sell the cheapest to meet a multi-national sale.

No question there was lots wrong with the Board and it did limit competition within Canada and movement into the US. But neither Canada or the US markets can absorb all the grains grown in North America. And we definitely have lost competition in the global market with the giveaway of the Board to the Saudis.