Wheat Board monopoly to end in 2012

[petros]

The Conservative government will use its majority in the House of Commons to end the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on marketing wheat and barley, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Wednesday.

The government will likely introduce legislation this fall, Ritz said, with the changes expected to take effect in August 2012.
"Everybody recognizes the complexity of this," Ritz told reporters in Ottawa. "It's going to take a certain amount of work.
"At the end of the day, certainly, there's a role for the wheat board to play. We'll have to work out just what exactly what that is."
The board, which dates back to the Great Depression, has been the focus of a bitter battle between the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and proponents of the marketing board.

The Conservatives have long fought to end the board's monopoly powers over the marketing of wheat and barley in Canada in favour of a dual marketing system that they say would give farmers a choice in how they market their grain.
Responding to questions about supply management boards, which are in place for farm products including eggs and milk, Ritz said the government "absolutely" supports them.

For farmers such as Kevin Bender, the move to end the wheat board's rule is long overdue.

"Something we've been waiting for for years and we are very encouraged that the government is on board and has pledged to move ahead on it," the spokesman for the Western Canadian Wheat Growers told CBC News.

He said his group had been promised that if the Conservatives won a majority, the wheat board's monopoly would be lifted.

 

[Tonington]

Hmm, I wonder how the US will react to long lines of trailers carrying Canadian wheat at elevators in the Northern states?

 

[damngrumpy]

Ritz supports the marketing boards for eggs and milk as supply management but will not
support suck action for Apple Growers and other commodities. That is most interesting
indeed. I have been one of those pushing for supply management in the tree fruit
industry and government will not support it. I don't know much about the Wheat Board
but I would like to know how the majority of wheat farmers feel about the board being
gutted, interesting topic, it will reflect on future food prices for all.

 

[petros]

Hmm, I wonder how the US will react to long lines of trailers carrying Canadian wheat at elevators in the Northern states?

They will say "screw you" we are full, go home, we don't have the capacity or railcars available and then offer a sub market prices to "take it off their hands".

 

[Tonington]

Will that mean a change in whose money pays for the litigation in trade wars?

 

[petros]

Will that mean a change in whose money pays for the litigation in trade wars?

What it really means is the little one person farm is going to be crushed by the larger grain producers.

I don't know much about the Wheat Board
but I would like to know how the majority of wheat farmers feel about the board being
gutted, interesting topic, it will reflect on future food prices for all.

It's a 50/50 split with those I've talked with. It really depends on the size of your operation. I tried the contract route already but they tried to **** me over on grading and dockage on malting barley. There is going to be a lot of middle men popping up to market for farmers and they will make out like bandits.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

If the Cons. also get rid marketing boards for agriculture, then great. The Wheat Board was set up during the big WW2, which is now over.

 

[TenPenny]

The Wheat Board was set up during the big WW2, which is now over.

No it wasn't. It was set up in 1919, but its origins were some years older.

 

[petros]

No it wasn't. It was set up in 1919, but its origins were some years older.

It's an offshoot of the Wheat Pool now known as Viterra. It's why pricing is called "pool" pricing through the CWB, they kept the name.

 

[weaselwords]

Wonderful. With the big one abolished the rest will fall & with that prices to the consumer will fall. The individual farmer will fall behind in payments to his debtors & declare bankruptcy. The large Factory farm conglomerates will move in more than they already are now. Prices will then rise and how about that Canada's lost its ability to control agriculture (from apples to beef and everything between) to International interests. Well done Gerry Ritz if you get your way.

 

[Walter]

Any time a layer of government bureaucracy dies life gets better.

 

[petros]

Any time a layer of government bureaucracy dies life gets better.

Really? Does that include healthcare? Education? Defense? Policing?

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

I'm not sure where I stand on this.
Although, my late Father In-law was a grain farmer and he didn't have a lot of nice things to say about the Wheat Board.
No doubt the issue is quite complex.

 

[Walter]

Have you ever heard of anyone who works in these fields complain that they don't have enough paperwork to do?

Really? Does that include healthcare? Education? Defense? Policing?

The biggest problem is that the Wheatboard is a monopoly.

 

[captain morgan]

The biggest problem is that the Wheatboard is a monopoly.

.... That and the fact that it is only the farmers in the West that are legally bound to sell to the Wheat Board and no other... Hell, my understanding is that a Sask grain farmer can not legally use their own wheat to commercially bake bread for sale unless they sell to teh Board and then buy it back to process.

 

[petros]

You can contract produce all you want. You've been misinformed. There are Chinese roaming around SK buying land for massive Chinese owned and run collecticves and looking for contract producers.

Personally I'd prefer they only bought the grain (through the CWB as before) but hey, I wasn't voted PM

 

[weaselwords]

It's not wheat & barley being marketed where farmers are expecting the bucks. It's the breaking of the Wheat Board & thereby increasing farm land value so that individuals can sell out to the highest bidder & that bidder buys and takes their produce anywhere but Canada leaving only a small volume in thus increasing prices while the rest of the world (China, India, USA, et al) enjoy the fruits of the Canadian prarie at lower cost than Canadians. Thenk You Chuck Strahl, Gerry Ritz & Steven Harper

 

[petros]

Farmland has been going up steadily for the past 10 years (25-30%) even with the wheat board so that doesn't fit the scenario. The feds want massive industrial farms with labourers doing the work for a taxable wage. Too many independent farmers means too many tax credits and losses for the Feds.

 

[taxslave]

Here is how the vegetable marketing board was explained to me by my father when they were farming in the 20s &30s. I'm winging the numbers because I only remember the three important ones.
Sold carrots to the safeway in Chilliwack for $8/ton prior to the marketing board. When this was forced on them the price to the store went to $16/ton. Farmers now had to pay for grading(can't remember the price) tags $1/ton, inspection by board inspector and a few other things that escape me at the moment. Upshot was that after all this the farmer gained $1/ton. What did the buyer gain?

We also have the idiotic situation where the dairy marketing board forces farmers in B.C. to dump milk on the ground because it is in excess of their quota. Can't even sell it to the local cheese factory which had excess capacity and was not permitted to buy more milk.

 

[captain morgan]

You can contract produce all you want. You've been misinformed. There are Chinese roaming around SK buying land for massive Chinese owned and run collecticves and looking for contract producers.

Personally I'd prefer they only bought the grain (through the CWB as before) but hey, I wasn't voted PM

As I am aware that you are directly involved in the industry, I will certainly defer to your comments. That said, am I mistaken in my belief that a grain producer must sell to the Wheat Board? One of the articles that I read related to a wheat producer that wanted use their own crop to produce bread and pasta to sell commercially and were not allowed.