The Canadian Wheat Board’s future took centre stage at an agricultural election debate hosted by the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan Nov. 1.
Several CWB supporters used the microphone to raise their concerns about life after the board with Saskatchewan Party candidate Bob Bjornerud and Dwayne Yasinowski, who is running for the NDP in Regina Northeast.
They said the ability to ship and unload producer cars, the viability of grain-dependent short-line railways and potential grain prices are all unknown as Ottawa presses ahead with dismantling the board’s export monopoly.
A couple of people took Bjornerud, and his government’s support for ending the monopoly, to task.
“Many believe what’s going on with the wheat board is the biggest policy change in agriculture since the Second World War,” said Kevin Wipf of the National Farmers Union.
He chided the Saskatchewan Party for sitting back and watching while claiming to care about farmers’ interests.
“How can they in good conscience not ask this federal government to slow down this process?” Wipf asked.
He said consultation with farmers through the winter would be a better approach than the current parliamentary process that has seen strict time limits put on debate over the legislation.
Bjornerud replied that no one should be surprised at the federal government’s tenacity because the Conservatives have always advocated the same position.
“We all knew this was going to be part of their plan going forward,” he said.
Former NFU president Roy Atkinson challenged Bjornerud by saying the Saskatchewan government must have done a cost-benefit analysis that shows what farmers will earn after the wheat board is eliminated.
Bjornerud said no one knows because there has been no competition but he pointed to prices of open market crops such as canola, flax and oats as examples of what farmers can earn.
“The end of the world is not going to come when the wheat board monopoly is removed,” he said.
He was later applauded when, in discussion about the wheat board’s buy-back option, he said farmers in a free and democratic country shouldn’t have to do that.
The provincial NDP supports the board and Yasinowski said the government should at least have some answers to questions raised by farmers before it supports Ottawa’s decision.
He also proposed winding down AgriStability and using the money to enhance crop insurance and expand it to livestock producers.
AgriStability is not bankable, he said, but crop insurance is.
APAS has also proposed phasing out AgriStability during Growing Forward 2 consultations.
Neil Ketilson from SaskPork said AgriStability has been good for pork producers the last few years. But now their reference margins have disappeared and changes to the program are required.
He said putting the money into crop insurance isn’t a good idea for the livestock sector.
“Farmers are subsidized to the tune of half of it regardless of what their profitability is,” he said.
Instead, he asked if the government would open up the entire suite of business risk management programs and share the support provided to livestock and grain producers on a proportional basis.
Bjornerud noted that getting Ottawa and seven other provinces to agree on changes to federal-provincial programs is a challenge.
