Think about this people, how many dollars in fines and legal fees have you had to pay when you sell your Canola?
http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.php?Id=1565&yr=2009
National & World Ag News Headlines
Canada Wheat Board to Pay in Damaged Wheat Row
USAgNet - 07/28/2009
A judge has ordered the Canadian Wheat Board to pay two of its overseas grain customers C$1.8 million ($1.6 million) to resolve a 26-year-old dispute over frost-damaged spring wheat.
According to Reuters, a Canadian judge ruled that the CWB, one of the biggest grain marketers in the the world, is liable for negligently misrepresenting the quality of the wheat. The CWB had told its customers and exporters in a 1982 letter that the wheat could be milled into flour, instead of being suitable only for animal feed.
Justice Lea Duval also found that the wheat board forwarded wheat samples to one customer that were higher quality than the wheat that was shipped.
Agro Company of Canada (now owned by ConAgra Foods (CAG.N)), an accredited CWB exporter, bought some of the wheat from the CWB, and in 1983 sent two shipments totaling roughly 25,000 tonnes to Italian grain trader Pagnan as part of an order of 96,000 tonnes. Pagnan later asked Agro to substitute importer Albionex (Overseas) Ltd, a company incorporated in the Channel Islands, as the initial buyer, to which Agro agreed.
Pagnan had presold the wheat and soon received complaints about its quality. Agro refused to take it back and Pagnan ended up disposing of it. Albionex refused to accept the rest of Agro's shipment.
One-fifth of Canada's 1982 spring wheat crop had frost damage. The Canadian Grain Commission, which tests wheat quality, told the CWB then that some of the wheat was of millable quality, but after the wheat board sent a letter to customers describing the frost-damaged crop, the commission warned the board that the letter's message "could be misleading".
The wheat board will appeal the decision, spokeswoman Maureen Fitzhenry said.
and this,
Wheat board takes appeal to top court
By Bruce Johnstone, Saskatchewan News Network; Regina Leader-PostJuly 28, 2009Be the first to post a comment
The Canadian Wheat Board is appealing a decision that upheld the federal government's so-called gag order on the CWB all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, the CWB confirmed Monday.
Larry Hill, CWB chair, said the board of directors decided at its meeting Thursday to appeal the Federal Appeal Court ruling on June 23 that said the federal government was within its rights to direct the CWB on "the full range of activity of the wheat board."
"This is about farmer control of the CWB," said Hill. "Basically, we think that, as directors, we're accountable directly to the people who elect us. So we should be responsible for operating the organization. This (federal Appeal Court) ruling goes against that."
Hill said the legal battle isn't so much about the so-called gag order, which the federal Conservative government imposed on the CWB's directors and staff to prevent them from promoting the virtues of the single-desk system of marketing.
"We certainly were not spending money advertising to maintain the single desk," said Hill. "I don't think producers want us to do that and I don't think the board of directors would do that."
Hill said the board is taking issue with the federal Appeal Court's view that, in any disagreement between the board and the federal government, the federal government has the final say.
"We think it's a matter of principle. The intent of the amendments (to the Canadian Wheat Board Act) of 1998 was clear that the board of directors, the majority of which are farmers, is going to be responsible for the organization."
But one farm group has expressed disappointment with the board's decision to appeal the federal Appeal Court ruling.
"The wheat board should concentrate on selling our grain for the best possible price," said Kevin Bender, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association (WCWGA), in a news release.
"It should not be playing politics and using farmers' money to promote the monopoly."
Bender noted the federal Appeal Court ruled unanimously that the federal government's ability to direct the activities of the CWB was actually strengthened in the 1998 amendments to the Canadian Wheat Board Act.
The WCWGA supports a voluntary CWB that is controlled by farmers, rather than one with a legal monopoly over the exports of certain grades of Western Canadian wheat and barley, the press release said.
The CWB is expected to file leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada by Sept. 22.
http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-national.php?Id=1565&yr=2009
National & World Ag News Headlines
Canada Wheat Board to Pay in Damaged Wheat Row
USAgNet - 07/28/2009
A judge has ordered the Canadian Wheat Board to pay two of its overseas grain customers C$1.8 million ($1.6 million) to resolve a 26-year-old dispute over frost-damaged spring wheat.
According to Reuters, a Canadian judge ruled that the CWB, one of the biggest grain marketers in the the world, is liable for negligently misrepresenting the quality of the wheat. The CWB had told its customers and exporters in a 1982 letter that the wheat could be milled into flour, instead of being suitable only for animal feed.
Justice Lea Duval also found that the wheat board forwarded wheat samples to one customer that were higher quality than the wheat that was shipped.
Agro Company of Canada (now owned by ConAgra Foods (CAG.N)), an accredited CWB exporter, bought some of the wheat from the CWB, and in 1983 sent two shipments totaling roughly 25,000 tonnes to Italian grain trader Pagnan as part of an order of 96,000 tonnes. Pagnan later asked Agro to substitute importer Albionex (Overseas) Ltd, a company incorporated in the Channel Islands, as the initial buyer, to which Agro agreed.
Pagnan had presold the wheat and soon received complaints about its quality. Agro refused to take it back and Pagnan ended up disposing of it. Albionex refused to accept the rest of Agro's shipment.
One-fifth of Canada's 1982 spring wheat crop had frost damage. The Canadian Grain Commission, which tests wheat quality, told the CWB then that some of the wheat was of millable quality, but after the wheat board sent a letter to customers describing the frost-damaged crop, the commission warned the board that the letter's message "could be misleading".
The wheat board will appeal the decision, spokeswoman Maureen Fitzhenry said.
and this,
Wheat board takes appeal to top court
By Bruce Johnstone, Saskatchewan News Network; Regina Leader-PostJuly 28, 2009Be the first to post a comment
The Canadian Wheat Board is appealing a decision that upheld the federal government's so-called gag order on the CWB all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, the CWB confirmed Monday.
Larry Hill, CWB chair, said the board of directors decided at its meeting Thursday to appeal the Federal Appeal Court ruling on June 23 that said the federal government was within its rights to direct the CWB on "the full range of activity of the wheat board."
"This is about farmer control of the CWB," said Hill. "Basically, we think that, as directors, we're accountable directly to the people who elect us. So we should be responsible for operating the organization. This (federal Appeal Court) ruling goes against that."
Hill said the legal battle isn't so much about the so-called gag order, which the federal Conservative government imposed on the CWB's directors and staff to prevent them from promoting the virtues of the single-desk system of marketing.
"We certainly were not spending money advertising to maintain the single desk," said Hill. "I don't think producers want us to do that and I don't think the board of directors would do that."
Hill said the board is taking issue with the federal Appeal Court's view that, in any disagreement between the board and the federal government, the federal government has the final say.
"We think it's a matter of principle. The intent of the amendments (to the Canadian Wheat Board Act) of 1998 was clear that the board of directors, the majority of which are farmers, is going to be responsible for the organization."
But one farm group has expressed disappointment with the board's decision to appeal the federal Appeal Court ruling.
"The wheat board should concentrate on selling our grain for the best possible price," said Kevin Bender, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association (WCWGA), in a news release.
"It should not be playing politics and using farmers' money to promote the monopoly."
Bender noted the federal Appeal Court ruled unanimously that the federal government's ability to direct the activities of the CWB was actually strengthened in the 1998 amendments to the Canadian Wheat Board Act.
The WCWGA supports a voluntary CWB that is controlled by farmers, rather than one with a legal monopoly over the exports of certain grades of Western Canadian wheat and barley, the press release said.
The CWB is expected to file leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada by Sept. 22.