OTTAWA — The Canadian Wheat Board’s fight to maintain its barley monopoly is now a game of chicken with the Tories as the Winnipeg-based agency announced it will drop barley rather than give into the Tory vision of marketing choice.
The wheat board’s threat came as it signalled it will not automatically surrender its status as the single-desk seller of prairie barley if federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl moves within the next week to strip it of its monopoly as expected.
“We are calling on the Government of Canada to carefully consider the consequences of the future of barley marketing in Western Canada,” the board’s chairman Ken Ritter said in a release. “We look forward to discussions with Minister Strahl that result in common-sense business solutions.”
With the ballots now counted — but not yet announced — in the barley plebiscite on the future direction of the board, the CWB announced it can find no business case to justify marketing barley on the open market.
The announcement left Strahl disappointed the world’s largest marketer of barley and wheat would not wait until the results of the plebiscite were announced.
“Let’s all of us take a deep breath and wait for the results and then try to as best as we can to respond to what those wishes are,” Strahl said in an interview.
“I am surprised they are putting out a press release before they even know the results of the plebiscite.”
Strahl maintained the wheat board would remain viable as a marketer of barley if it comes up with a business plan that makes use of its brand strength for the open market.
“I still think there are a lot of farmers who say, ‘I want to continue to use the board,”’ Strahl said.
However, Keystone Agricultural Producers president David Rolfe said it’s hard to see how Strahl’s vision would work for the CWB.
“It would be very difficult for the board to make a business case under those circumstances,” Rolfe said. “It would be difficult to justify running barely pools without knowing how much volume they would handle.”
In an open market, Rolfe said farmers would be motivated by price, not any loyalty to the CWB.
Ritter’s pronouncement came after the board of directors conducted an analysis that determined no other marketing option comes close to achieving the value the single desk brings to barley farmers.
Is it just me or is the CWB basically being run by the Liberals. Like what the hell is going on.
just a thought.
The wheat board’s threat came as it signalled it will not automatically surrender its status as the single-desk seller of prairie barley if federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl moves within the next week to strip it of its monopoly as expected.
“We are calling on the Government of Canada to carefully consider the consequences of the future of barley marketing in Western Canada,” the board’s chairman Ken Ritter said in a release. “We look forward to discussions with Minister Strahl that result in common-sense business solutions.”
With the ballots now counted — but not yet announced — in the barley plebiscite on the future direction of the board, the CWB announced it can find no business case to justify marketing barley on the open market.
The announcement left Strahl disappointed the world’s largest marketer of barley and wheat would not wait until the results of the plebiscite were announced.
“Let’s all of us take a deep breath and wait for the results and then try to as best as we can to respond to what those wishes are,” Strahl said in an interview.
“I am surprised they are putting out a press release before they even know the results of the plebiscite.”
Strahl maintained the wheat board would remain viable as a marketer of barley if it comes up with a business plan that makes use of its brand strength for the open market.
“I still think there are a lot of farmers who say, ‘I want to continue to use the board,”’ Strahl said.
However, Keystone Agricultural Producers president David Rolfe said it’s hard to see how Strahl’s vision would work for the CWB.
“It would be very difficult for the board to make a business case under those circumstances,” Rolfe said. “It would be difficult to justify running barely pools without knowing how much volume they would handle.”
In an open market, Rolfe said farmers would be motivated by price, not any loyalty to the CWB.
Ritter’s pronouncement came after the board of directors conducted an analysis that determined no other marketing option comes close to achieving the value the single desk brings to barley farmers.
Is it just me or is the CWB basically being run by the Liberals. Like what the hell is going on.
just a thought.
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