REDVERS, Sask. – Officially, everyone at the meeting in this southwest Saskatchewan town was on the side of the Canadian Wheat Board.
But participants on all sides of the debate over single versus dual marketing accused one another of hurting the western farm community. Both pro- and anti-dual marketing speakers said they were upholding wheat board traditions, as they spoke at a Western Canadian Wheat Growers sponsored meeting.
Wheat grower Jim Pallister debated the merits of single-desk selling with Ian Cushon of the National Farmers Union, facing questions from approximately 50 producers.
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Allowing dual marketing is in keeping with prairie traditions, said Pallister, and producers want a voluntary pooling system. Building new systems to replace unsuccessful ones is also a prairie tradition.
“In 1928 my grandfather went from farm to farm on a buggy, signing up people for the co-op elevator association. The idea was a new idea, and was treated with skepticism and even hostility. … It is incumbent upon us to build new marketing structures that are right for our time.”
Cushon argued in favor of the co-op tradition. “Don’t forget that we’ve had 50 years of farmer support for the so-called evil monopoly.”
While individual farmers along the border might benefit from dual marketing, “the fundamental question is, do you want to share the premium prices with farmers in Carrot River and Peace River,” he said. Most farmers would do poorly without the wheat board because “a dual market is a great idea if you’re a buyer , not a seller.”
Look to the past
Oxbow farmer Ralph Hill said in an interview that he thinks supporters of dual marketing have forgotten the lessons of history.
“I remember the days when we didn’t have the Canadian Wheat Board. We were giving our grain away. We had a lot of poverty all through Western Canada. … Barley went as low as eight cents a bushel. Wheat went as low as 25 cents a bushel. The same thing will happen if we bring in dual marketing now.”
But Carievale farmer Len Rutledge said it is necessary to change the board, while still providing some support.
“Past history will tell us that changes before were in the board’s best interest, and wheat growers have always supported that concept. I maintain that if the board hadn’t changed to some of the things that we recommended in the last 20 years they would have self-destructed by now,” said Rutledge. “I think we’re at that point again.”
He said modern conditions make the wheat board’s marketing monopoly unnecessary.
