Regina, Saskatchewan
June 21, 2007
Western Canadian farmers are not
prepared to put the Canadian Wheat
Board (CWB) at risk in order to have the government
completely open up the barley market, according to results of
the CWB’s annual producer survey, presented today at the Western
Canada Farm Progress Show.
“Ensuring that the CWB remains strong is clearly important to
Prairie producers,” CWB board chair Ken Ritter said of the
survey, conducted in April 2007 among 1,300 farmers. “The CWB is
the institution that most farmers identify with and it is clear
from their responses that they do not want to lose it.”
Almost 60 per cent of farmers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba agreed with the statement “I am against anything that
would weaken the CWB”. Sixty-six per cent of producers said that
the views of the CWB are close to their own – significantly
higher than any other farm group, grain company or government.
Sixty per cent said the government must ensure the CWB remains
strong and viable if it moved to open up the barley market.
The federal government has announced an open market for barley
will begin on August 1. However, the CWB producer survey showed
that over half of farmers believe the wording of the
government’s recent farmer plebiscite on barley marketing has
left the meaning of the vote in doubt. “There are real concerns
among farmers about the effects of an open market for barley and
most think we won’t know those effects for some time,” Ritter
said.
The survey responses reveal that farmers who support a dual
market are motivated by factors other than the abolition of the
single desk.
“They want to choose when they get paid and they think that
having more options will increase their revenue – despite not
being sure that private companies will get better prices than
the CWB,” Ritter said.
“Farmers’ desire for more choice has been a constant motivator
for the CWB’s farmer-controlled board since we took over in
1998. We want to finish the job we started. We have a vision for
the future that focuses on moving farmers up the grain-industry
value chain without sacrificing all the value they get from the
single desk.”
The CWB’s performance in marketing grain is seen as having
improved dramatically relative to a few years ago, according to
the survey. Most farmers are positive about the CWB’s marketing
of wheat, although there is less satisfaction with barley
marketing.
Producers are far more concerned about farm input costs than
they are about the CWB issue, the survey showed. “Ironically,
given the energy devoted to this marketing issues, it pales in
importance compared to getting costs under control,” Ritter
said.
Information about the survey results has been posted at
www.cwb.ca.
Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest
wheat and barley marketer in the world. One of Canada’s biggest
exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells grain to over
70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less marketing
costs, to farmers.
2007 CWB PRODUCER SURVEY
Summary of key points:
Farmers are not prepared to put the CWB at risk
- 69 per cent said they
strongly (44 per cent) or somewhat (25 per cent) support the
CWB
- 59 per cent strongly or
somewhat agree with the statement “I am against anything
that would weaken the CWB”.
- 60 per cent said the
government must ensure the CWB remains strong and viable if
it moves to open up the barley market, with only 33 per cent
saying that the government should completely open up the
market no matter what the consequences for the CWB.
- 66 per cent agreed that
creating a so-called dual market for what will eventually
result in the end of the CWB
- 66 per cent said the views
of the CWB are close to their own (33 per cent strongly
agreed) – the highest for any other farm organization,
company or government on a list of 14.
- 42 per cent said the views
of the federal government were close to their own (nine per
cent strongly agreed) – the highest result for a federal
government in 10 years.
Barley plebiscite
- 54 per cent agreed
that the wording of the plebiscite question has left the
meaning of the vote in doubt.
- 90 per cent agreed
that any decision to end the CWB single desk must be
made by farmers and not by the federal government.
- When those supporting
the “dual market” were probed for their reasons, 73 per
cent strongly agreed that they wanted to choose when to
deliver and be paid up front. Fifty-four per cent
strongly agreed that having more companies to sell their
grain to would increase their returns. Only 24 per cent
strongly agreed that they did not like taking a pool
price, while just 16 per cent strongly agreed that
private grain marketers can get better prices for wheat
than the CWB does.
CWB marketing
- 75 per cent said
the CWB does an excellent to moderately good job of
marketing wheat, with 27 per cent calling it an
“excellent” job – up 13 per cent from 2005.
- 54 per cent
approved of CWB marketing performance for durum,
with 18 per cent describing it as “excellent”, up 11
per cent from 2005.
- 57 per cent were
satisfied with CWB marketing performance for malting
barley
- 49 per cent were
positive about CWB marketing of feed barley.
Control of the CWB
- 68 per cent
said they believed the CWB was run by a board of
directors, not the federal government.
- 68 per cent
also said they believe the federal government
has more say over what happens at the CWB than
do farmers.
- 82 per cent
agreed that the fact that the government
appoints people to the CWB board of directors
means it is still trying to control the CWB.
- 52 per cent
said they believed the CWB would be more
effective on behalf of farmers if it had no
links to the federal government
Problems for farmers
- 72 per
cent said costs of farm inputs would be a
“major problem” in the coming year.
- 51 per
cent said transportation costs would be a
major problem.
- 33 per
cent identified the price of wheat as a
major problem.
- 11 per
cent said lack of markets for grain was a
major problem.
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