Don’t worry, be happy with today’s high barley prices.
That’s what some marketing advisers are telling producers in the wake of the legal tangle involving the fate of the Canadian Wheat Board’s barley monopoly.
“Barley is still a good crop,” said Alberta Agriculture analyst Charlie Pearson.
“There are details and court actions to work out, but I think as we look ahead here it’s still a good crop regardless.”
Some farmers have been made anxious by the political and legal battle raging over whether the board will lose its barley monopoly this summer.
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Some worry that contracts signed now with the board will have no meaning in a few months if it loses the monopoly or withdraws from the market, while others are concerned that contracts signed with maltsters and grain companies may be voided if the barley monopoly is maintained.
Pearson’s message is that even though the political debate is intense, in the end all of the parties involved will try to make sure malting barley flows smoothly this fall.
“It’s good business at high prices, so I think it’s in everybody’s interest to make sure that business is completed as contracted,” said Pearson.
“There’s good business and whatever the courts decide, hopefully as reasonable people we can fulfil those obligations.”
John Duvenaud of Wild Oats Publishing says farmers should focus on growing their crop well and forget about the marketing debate.
“There is no need whatever for panic,” said Duvenaud.
Pearson said he thinks the prairie barley market will noticeably change if the open market occurs.
He thinks the present divide between growers of feed barley and malting barley will expand. Farmers near feedlots with good yield potential will serve that market, while those who try to achieve malting quality will have much tighter relationships with grain companies and maltsters. Pearson said the grain companies and maltsters will probably demand more from the farmers they deal with, but form long-term relationships.
He expects fewer farmers will grow malting barley varieties with long shot hopes of having it selected.
For now, farmers shouldn’t worry about the fight over the monopoly. Malting barley prices are hot and farmers shouldn’t have trouble moving their grain after harvest.
“At the end of the day, that maltster needs that malt barley,” said Pearson.
“Between the board and the grain companies and the maltsters, they’ll have to come up with the program.”
