MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Andrew Dennis logged his fifth producer meeting here Aug. 15 in a series of Canadian Wheat Board sessions about federal government plans to remove the single desk marketing structure.
The farmer from Brookdale, Man., said he planned to attend all seven meetings, the last of which was held Aug. 17 in Falher, Alta.
They’ve all had a similar flavour. “I think they’re reflecting the numbers that are out there,” he said of single desk supporters versus those who support an open market in which the wheat board is a player.
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“Over time, I think we’re finding that there’s some questions as to whether that can happen. I think there’s more listening going on than there is talking.
“And I think that’s kind of interesting because I think there’s a little bit of a shift there that maybe they don’t know everything or they haven’t been told everything and that marketing grain in the world is a lot bigger task than they thought it was.”
CWB directors encouraged those at the meeting to vote in a plebiscite to gauge support for single desk marketing of wheat and export barley. It’s a plebiscite that federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz has said the government will ignore when it proceeds with plans to remove the single desk as of Aug. 1, 2012.
Nevertheless, the ballot deadline was Aug. 24 and results will be announced Sept. 9.
Dennis said he was expecting more open market supporters at this meeting in Alberta’s southeast, close to the United States where many farmers say they can obtain higher prices for grain than they can get through the board.
CWB chair Allen Oberg said he thought the same, but few such opinions were voiced at the meeting attended by about 300 people.
Wheat board director Jeff Nielsen, an open market supporter, said he wasn’t surprised at the tone.
“I think what was missing here was the younger generation. I’ll be blunt with that and fairly frank with that. They’re the ones out there doing the business decisions right now and making the plans for the future, and that’s why we’ve seen more lentils, more flax, more canola.”
This was the first in the series of meetings that Nielsen attended, but he had followed reports on the previous four. He did not sit at the front with directors Oberg, Stewart Wells, Bill Woods and Cam Goff, a position that attracted some attention.
Sitting at the back of the room, Nielsen politely declined to answer a question from an audience member.
“My opinion as a choice supporter has been widely known,” said Nielsen after the meeting.
“Perhaps I was a little gun shy. Just from the feel of the crowd, the majority of the questions were very supportive of the single desk and what am I going to do? Am I going to say to them ‘you’re wrong?’ No. That’s your opinion. I respect your opinion. My opinion is the opposite.”
Wells, Goff, Woods and Oberg told the crowd that they would abide by results of the plebiscite. They also spoke about the benefits of the board and the value it brings to farmers and were critical of federal government plans to remove the single desk without an apparent plan for how the wheat board can operate in a new grain marketing scenario.
“If this government chooses to move ahead with the legislation as they have stated, the Canadian Wheat Board as we know it will cease to exist and will be wound down,” said Oberg.
“Whether or not the new entity is created will depend on what assistance, if any, this government is willing to provide in terms of capital financing and in terms of access to facilities.”
A slide show to begin the meeting pegged the board’s value to farmers at $500 million or more per year compared to the open market. Wells suggested the value was much greater when taking into account the board’s clout on issues such as the railway revenue cap and resistance to genetically modified wheat.
Oberg took it one step further.
“What would a private company be willing to pay for the exclusive right to export all wheat and barley from Western Canada as well as be the only supplier of domestic flour mills and maltsters, and in addition have the cheapest supply of money that is available in Canada to finance your operations?
“Now think about that. What would that be worth? Because this is what farmers now have, and what is being taken away without any analysis or any thought of compensation.”
