Grain producers will soon have access to a new web-based marketing tool aimed at improving market transparency for farmers and providing information on cash prices.
The Crop Data and Price Reporting project, launched by the Alberta Wheat Commission, will lead to the development of a web-based tool that will provide information on cash grain prices for a broad range of commodities as well as data on grain movement and trade.
The commission announced the new initiative Jan. 28, saying it will “significantly improve farmers’ ability to make well-informed marketing decisions and maximize the value of their crops.”
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It said federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz has pledged to support the project with up to $742,000 through Agriculture Canada’s AgriRisk Initiatives program.
The project is being spearheaded by the wheat commission and developed in collaboration with FARMCo, a Winnipeg-based grain marketing consulting firm run by John DePape.
“This project will close a major information gap related to cash grain prices and market data, and we thank minister Ritz for his support,” said commission chair Kent Erickson.
“This information will significantly improve farmers’ access to market-related data to capture the best marketing opportunities available to them.”
The Crop Data and Price Reporting project is aimed at addressing prevalent farmer concerns relating to the lack of accurate price signals and the need for greater transparency in western Canadian grain markets.
Concerns over market transparency have increased in recent years, particularly since the elimination of CWB’s marketing monopoly and the establishment of an open grain marketing environment.
The project will develop a website, Price & Data Quotes, which will offer information on cash grain prices in various parts of the country.
A test version of the site has been established at www.pdqinfo.ca to introduce the concept and gather feedback.
In a recent post on the PDQ website, FARMCo vice-president Russ Crawford said marketing grain in the new environment has presented new opportunities and challenges for farmers.
“Farmers now have the responsibility to market their own wheat, durum and barley as well as their traditional non-CWB crops,” Crawford wrote.
“This development hasn’t just added more grains to the task. It now means farmers have the opportunity and the challenge to decide on the complex timing and sequencing of marketing decisions … taking advantage of the best relative price and delivery options.
“Current, accurate and comprehensive information on prices and events affecting price are critical for farmers to make important decisions related to planting, selling, storage strategies.”
Crawford said deregulating CWB has created “a new and urgent need for accurate and timely information on price, movement, transactions and industry reports. Futures exchanges only show part of the value. Physical or cash grain market prices are much more difficult to discover but just as relevant for marketing decisions.”
Cash values for commodities without a futures contract, such as peas, lentils and flax, can be particularly difficult to value, he added.
Grain sales to the increasingly important U.S. market also highlight the need for enhanced marketing information.
“Although record amounts of wheat, canola and other crops are being shipped to the U.S., there is no effective information source providing data on these exports until months after the fact,” Crawford wrote.
“This is not good enough if you’re making marketing decisions today.”
The commission represents wheat producers in Alberta, but the new project is expected to benefit producers of various commodities in all prairie provinces.
“We saw this project as an opportunity to take a leadership role in improving price transparency in grain markets in Canada,” said Erickson.
“We see the PDQ project as strategic and necessary for farmers to compete on the international stage.”
Contact brian.cross@producer.com
