OTTAWA – The problem Ontario wheat farmers face this year because of a devalued, fusarium-infected crop will get worse this week.
The soybean crop begins to come off and many country elevators still are clogged with feed wheat, downgraded from milling wheat because of fusarium.
Most wheat farmers grow soybeans as a second crop and the Ontario system counts on quick turn-arounds in the elevators as wheat, soybeans and corn come off the fields in staggered harvests.
Jim Whitelaw, marketing manager for the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board, said last week 150,000 tonnes of feed wheat remains unsold.
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“There is a bit of pressure this week,” he said. “It will be a major headache next week when the soybeans start to come off the fields.”
The marketing board thought it had at least a partial solution, but it requires help from Ottawa that appears unlikely to materialize.
Cuba has indicated it would buy half the feed surplus but it needs credit.
The Ontario board has asked Ottawa to provide a credit guarantee of $10 million (U.S.) to fund the sale. By late last week, the board had not received an answer but a spokesperson for the Export Development Corporation held out little hope.
Keith Milloy, chief underwriter for short-term insurance at the EDC, said Sept. 19 the corporation is not issuing credit for sales to Cuba. He said Cuba has defaulted on some loans and the EDC has had to pay “significant sums” to compensate exporters. The EDC guarantees 90 percent of the value of sales to eligible foreign countries.
