The Future of Marketing Grain: Why Choose Choice
By Chuck Strahl,
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food
and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Canada’s New Government believes Western grain farmers should have the freedom to choose how they market their grain, allowing them to maximize their returns, while preserving a strong, viable, yet voluntary Canadian Wheat Board (CWB).
Firstly, let me be clear about our government’s intentions for the Board: It will be there for farmers. Recent events would suggest to me that the CWB clearly has a solid base of support among farmers and an excellent reputation with its customers around the world, in the grain industry. And that is great news and assures me that the future of the Board remains strong. Given any change to the Board’s monopoly on barley, I know there will be farmers who will want to continue doing business with it.
We believe that, since farmers take all the risks and make all the investments, they should not be punished or jailed for pursuing opportunities outside the Wheat Board that make good business sense. Whether selling to the Wheat Board or outside of it, farmers should be allowed to seek out the best price possible for their work.
Therefore, for many this is an issue of freedom. I know that farmers are strong, independent-minded folks who have been in the business for years if not generations. As farmers’ are taking all the risk, it only seems fair to them that at the very least they should have the option on how best to market their grain. Just as those who produce canola or pulse crops or apples or cattle or any number of other farm products raised in Canada.
But for others, the right to choose is not only an issue of freedom but comes down to dollars and cents. For example, an Ontario wheat grower selling hard red spring wheat with 13.5% protein would get about $5.50 per bushel right now in the spot market. A grower on the Prairies selling #1 Canada Western Red Spring with 13.5% protein through the Canadian Wheat Board is currently forecast to receive about $4.40 per bushel as a final pool return, $1.10 less than received by the Ontario farmer. And this projection can change. Not only would the Prairie grower receive less, but he or she would have to wait for months to find out how much less.
Lastly, there have been some studies published recently that claim that the removal of the CWB monopoly on barley will be detrimental to farmers, or that the CWB is a major economic driver of the economy. Other studies show the opposite. The fact of the matter is that it is the Canadian grain industry and the hard work of its producers that contributes to the economy. The CWB is a part and not the sum of the industry. Therefore, to suggest that jobs, buildings, or other tangible benefits somehow would not have existed without the CWB’s monopoly is false and misleading.
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Therefore, we need to stop the fear-mongering that somehow a vote on barley represents the end of the Board – because it does not. The Wheat Board will be there. So let’s allow farmers to have there say.
Additionally, many opponents of allowing farmers to have the freedom to choose say that our government has absolutely no support for what we are doing. Well, for starters, I would suggest that groups like the Western Barley Growers Association, Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association support our efforts. Countless farmers across the prairies have written letters to their local papers in support for what we are doing. One person wrote:
"I commend you for following through with your campaign promise to provide marketing choice to Western Canadian wheat and barley producers." (Western Producer, 2006.10.26)
In the upcoming plebiscite on barley I am urging barley producers to consider the option of choice – the option to market their product in the manner of their choosing to the Canadian Wheat Board or any other domestic or foreign buyer. We have also committed to hold a further plebiscite on the marketing of wheat at an appropriate time. Western Canadian farmers have the Government’s commitment that no changes will be made in the Canadian Wheat Board’s role in the marketing of wheat until after that vote is held.
I look forward to what farmers have to say on this issue and trust that those eligible to vote will take the opportunity to do so.
By Chuck Strahl,
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food
and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Canada’s New Government believes Western grain farmers should have the freedom to choose how they market their grain, allowing them to maximize their returns, while preserving a strong, viable, yet voluntary Canadian Wheat Board (CWB).
Firstly, let me be clear about our government’s intentions for the Board: It will be there for farmers. Recent events would suggest to me that the CWB clearly has a solid base of support among farmers and an excellent reputation with its customers around the world, in the grain industry. And that is great news and assures me that the future of the Board remains strong. Given any change to the Board’s monopoly on barley, I know there will be farmers who will want to continue doing business with it.
We believe that, since farmers take all the risks and make all the investments, they should not be punished or jailed for pursuing opportunities outside the Wheat Board that make good business sense. Whether selling to the Wheat Board or outside of it, farmers should be allowed to seek out the best price possible for their work.
Therefore, for many this is an issue of freedom. I know that farmers are strong, independent-minded folks who have been in the business for years if not generations. As farmers’ are taking all the risk, it only seems fair to them that at the very least they should have the option on how best to market their grain. Just as those who produce canola or pulse crops or apples or cattle or any number of other farm products raised in Canada.
But for others, the right to choose is not only an issue of freedom but comes down to dollars and cents. For example, an Ontario wheat grower selling hard red spring wheat with 13.5% protein would get about $5.50 per bushel right now in the spot market. A grower on the Prairies selling #1 Canada Western Red Spring with 13.5% protein through the Canadian Wheat Board is currently forecast to receive about $4.40 per bushel as a final pool return, $1.10 less than received by the Ontario farmer. And this projection can change. Not only would the Prairie grower receive less, but he or she would have to wait for months to find out how much less.
Lastly, there have been some studies published recently that claim that the removal of the CWB monopoly on barley will be detrimental to farmers, or that the CWB is a major economic driver of the economy. Other studies show the opposite. The fact of the matter is that it is the Canadian grain industry and the hard work of its producers that contributes to the economy. The CWB is a part and not the sum of the industry. Therefore, to suggest that jobs, buildings, or other tangible benefits somehow would not have existed without the CWB’s monopoly is false and misleading.
…/2
Therefore, we need to stop the fear-mongering that somehow a vote on barley represents the end of the Board – because it does not. The Wheat Board will be there. So let’s allow farmers to have there say.
Additionally, many opponents of allowing farmers to have the freedom to choose say that our government has absolutely no support for what we are doing. Well, for starters, I would suggest that groups like the Western Barley Growers Association, Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association support our efforts. Countless farmers across the prairies have written letters to their local papers in support for what we are doing. One person wrote:
"I commend you for following through with your campaign promise to provide marketing choice to Western Canadian wheat and barley producers." (Western Producer, 2006.10.26)
In the upcoming plebiscite on barley I am urging barley producers to consider the option of choice – the option to market their product in the manner of their choosing to the Canadian Wheat Board or any other domestic or foreign buyer. We have also committed to hold a further plebiscite on the marketing of wheat at an appropriate time. Western Canadian farmers have the Government’s commitment that no changes will be made in the Canadian Wheat Board’s role in the marketing of wheat until after that vote is held.
I look forward to what farmers have to say on this issue and trust that those eligible to vote will take the opportunity to do so.
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