EDMONTON — Western Canadian farmers will have a new web-based tool to help them find the best price for their crops.
The Alberta Wheat Commission will develop and operate the $742,725 crop and data price reporting project to increase price transparency, said commission chair Kent Erickson.
“We heard a lot from our producers across Alberta that really are looking for a bench mark price,” Erickson said at FarmTech in Edmonton.
“We’re all real-time people right now, we’ve got iPhones, we’ve got the ability to look at our phones and make instant decisions.”
Read Also
Feed Grains Weekly: Price likely to keep stepping back
As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
Prices will be gathered from across Western Canada and the website updated once or twice a day.
Farmers now get price information from a variety of places, including grain companies, analysts and other farmers.
“We spend a lot of time on the phone or texting,” he said.
“You don’t know if the price offered is high or low. This gives a good bench mark and a little more accountability. The more companies get involved and can contribute to the background of the website, it will make the website more robust.”
The website that will house the information will be known as Price & Data Quotes (PDQ) and a test version of the site has been established at www.pdqinfo.ca to introduce the concept and gather feedback.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said there will be no “mandatory stick” to make grain companies provide price information, but it will be obvious on the web who isn’t reporting.
“A lot of small and midrange players like this idea,” he said.
“It lets them show they are in the game. The bigger ones will tell you, ‘we have our own websites’ and they do, but it comes down to the accuracy and timeliness of those websites. This is going to be updated on a daily basis and theirs are sometimes three weeks old. This will be much more accurate on a day-to-day basis.”
The website will start by gathering prices red spring wheat, amber durum, Canada Prairie Spring wheat and canola. The website will be expanded to include other crops if farmers find the website a useful tool.
“This will give you a broader scale of what’s going on out there, who is buying and where it is going,” said Ritz.
“Now you are able to shop for a price. In order to shop for a price, you need the most accurate data you can get.”
The project was funded through Growing Forward 2’s AgriRisk Initiatives framework. The money will fund the establishment of the website, but Ritz said he is open to ongoing funding if the project is successful.
“In my mind this is Phase 1. If these guys decide they want to go to Phase 2, come back and talk to me.”
mary.macarthur@producer.com
