WINNIPEG (Staff) – Daryl Kraft says although his name is on a recent report outlining the benefits of the Canadian Wheat Board, that doesn’t necessarily mean he supports single-desk selling for every commodity.
Kraft wrote another report released this week to the Manitoba government on how to change the hog marketing system from a single-desk to a more open system.
He pointed out that the well-publicized report he helped write for the Canadian Wheat Board looked at wheat premiums only, and did not assume similar premiums exist for durum or barley, also sold by a single desk.
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“To make that extrapolation over the pork would even be a bigger feat, especially in Manitoba pork, where the share of the world market is extremely small … compared to the share of the world market held by the Canadian Wheat Board,” said Kraft.
The University of Manitoba agricultural economist said he believes the new system for hogs will make the industry more flexible.
“It will assist, I think, the confidence that some investors may have in terms of placing capital here, that in fact they will have more than one potential seller to deal with in acquiring pork.”
Kraft said Manitoba Pork could easily control half the province’s production in the new environment because farmers support the agency.
“I see no reason why Manitoba Pork can’t be the dominant seller of hogs in Manitoba,” he said.
