Other industry organizations will need to take over key functions now performed by the Canadian Wheat Board if the single desk is eliminated, says an American wheat industry leader.
Alan Tracy, president of U.S. Wheat Associates, said the elimination of the single desk could leave a void in
farmer advocacy, market development, customer support, export promotion and quality assurance.
Investment in those areas will be needed to protect the reputation and sale of Canadian wheat in the global marketplace, he added.
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“Even if (the CWB) doesn’t disappear, it would presumably become
just one competitor in the marketplace and it would seem that some of that kind of work … would most likely be taken up elsewhere,” said Tracy.
“That’s something that the Canadian industry and Canadian farmers themselves really will have to decide.”
Agriculture Canada officials confirmed last week that an industry group has been formed to look at issues that could affect the Canadian grain industry after the single desk has been eliminated.
Single desk advocates have criticized the make-up of the group, saying it does not represent the grain industry.
Membership includes:
• Richard Phillips, executive director of Grain Growers of Canada
• Jim Everson, vice-president of corporate affairs with the Canola Council of Canada and director with the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance
• Gordon Bacon, chief executive officer of Pulse Canada
• Earl Geddes, a former CWB official and now executive director of the Canadian International Grains Institute
• Murdoch MacKay, a Canadian Grain Commission commissioner
• Paul Earl, a University of Manitoba academic and grain transportation expert who also served as policy manager for Western Canadian Wheat Growers
• Howard Migie, an Agriculture Canada official who chaired a 2006 task force formed to assist with the implementation of marketing choice for wheat and barley
The group will be chaired by federal deputy minister of agriculture John Knubley.
The CWB was asked to co-chair the group but chose instead to provide advice and input, said agriculture department spokesperson Patrick Girard.
