The Canadian Wheat Board has unveiled a new program designed to give farmers more choice as to when they deliver grain.
In announcing the introduction of GrainFlo, chief executive officer Ian White said farmers have told the marketing agency they want more control over the timing of their deliveries.
“This new program delivers that flexibility while still ensuring that the CWB can call grain as needed to meet sales commitments,” he said.
“The reality in Western Canada is that the grain handling and transportation system simply cannot take all producers’ grain at once, so we have to be innovative.”
Read Also
Bond market seen as crop price threat
A grain market analyst believes the bond market is about to collapse and that could drive down commodity values.
GrainFlo will enable producers to select among four delivery periods over the course of the crop year. There will be three two-month long delivery periods, starting in November and ending in April, followed by a three-month period covering May to July.
Sign-up runs from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31.
The new system will operate alongside the existing Series A, B and C contract system, which remains in place.
In its inaugural year, signup for GrainFlo will be limited to 500,000 tonnes of Canada western red spring wheat and 200,000 tonnes of Canada western amber durum.
There will be guaranteed 100 percent acceptance of the CWRS contract, while CWAD acceptance will be at the same level as the Series A contract. Storage payments will be available for the later delivery periods.
Meanwhile, the board said the existing pilot project for the Delivery Exchange Contract program, under which producers can trade delivery opportunities among each other, will continue for another year.
“We know farmers want more cash flow certainty and control over the timing of their deliveries,” said White. “These programs represent some workable solutions.”
