It appears the many years of lobbying and contributions to political parties by the railways and U.S. based grain companies are paying off again big time.
Not only will the railways have full say in rate setting but also who and when they will give cars to, and even what grain will be charged what rate (a commercial system) that they and the wheat growers want.
The wheat board is not to get involved in getting the right grain to port, and will shortly make them ineffective in serving our 70 or more customers. (Port buying) doesn’t get the right grain in position in large part in marketing.
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And if the board cannot provide assurance of the right grain to our customers there will be pressure for multi-sellers which would be far worse than duel buyers as some promote.
Competition from the U.S., the EU and Australian wheat boards are there and always will be there. But can you visualize what would happen if all the grain companies in Canada (many of them U.S. owned) along with the wheat board and even many individual farmers who think they can sell their wheat direct, lined up outside the door of the Japanese food agency who want assurance of supply by long-term agreements for up to one million and a half of one red 13.5.
No one would know the size and quality of the Canadian crop, or how much of that grade they might get in the country. What country would want to do business with uncertainty such as that?
As producers, we will have to try and compete with other countries. But do we really want to compete with ourselves in the market?
After helping to cut rail costs during the Hall Committee, producers agreed to abandon many branch lines and consolidated many elevators that caused us to deliver farther. We as taxpayers, and through the wheat board, provided them a fleet of hopper cars. Taxpayers up-graded many miles of track with new rails and ties. They were given a new freight rate that gave them a profit over costs.
They’re now pulling up those lines and selling the steel and ties at big prices to other countries….
I’m getting tired of government determining what is supposed to be good for farmers, then hiring someone like Estey and Kroeger to hold meetings, which were nothing more than charades and someone writes the report that the government wanted them to write.
But how they all have used some so-called farm organizations to prompt their plan. Association members’ money contributions must be good.
– Avery Sahl,
Past-Chair, CWB Advisory Committee
Mossbank, Sask.
