opinion
Opponents of the wheat board system of orderly marketing do seem to have a talent for getting the attention of the news media and politicians.
Recently, more than 50 farmers demonstrated in front of the board’s Winnipeg head office, demanding an end to the board’s monopoly over export wheat sales. Then farmers dumped sacks of wheat at a customs office on the border, demanding the right to sell directly into the United States.
Three days later, the Market Choices Alliance released a study contending the wheat board would cope very well with a dual marketing system where private exporters and farmers could compete with the board for sales to the U.S.
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For the proponents of disorderly marketing, it was another useful burst of publicity in their campaign to make everyone think some type of change in board powers is inevitable. After all, if something is repeated often enough, people might start believing it.
Phrases like “freedom to choose” can sound very appealing to governments, and farmers themselves, especially if no one points out the implications of exercising that freedom.
That’s why board supporters have to speak out vigorously, to remind politicians, the media and others that there are good reasons why generations of farmers have supported the wheat board system.
Butch Harder, head of the wheat board advisory committee, set an example with a well-phrased statement:
“Competition is a good thing when you are a buyer, not a seller. What is to be gained through bidding down a price against other farmers?”
Ironically, the people demanding an end to the board’s export monopoly were themselves providing a good reason why that monopoly should be kept.
If they and everyone else could sell directly into the U.S. without board authorization, all grades of wheat would flow south until the negotiated limit of 1.05 million tonnes was reached.
In contrast, the board is trying to ensure that as much as possible of those 1.05 million tonnes will be the highest-value grades.
That’s an important goal, because U.S. export subsidies have depressed most overseas prices, leaving the U.S. itself as one of the highest-priced markets for grain.
By getting maximum value out of that market, the board could win up to another $50 million for western Canadian farmers.
That won’t buy every farmer a new tractor, but it’s still $50 million more than disorderly marketing would do.
And it’s one more proof that the wheat board is an effective sales agency for all farmers.
