The Canadian Wheat Board has cancelled a program designed to boost cash flow for grain farmers.
The reason: lack of interest from producers.
The pre-delivery top-up (PDT) provided farmers with $40 a tonne for wheat and durum before they delivered.
Introduced in 2003-04, it was seen as a way for farmers to receive additional cash flow before delivery.
Farmers who had an approved cash advance could apply for and receive an additional amount directly from the CWB. It was $40 a tonne in 2008-09.
Read Also
Vegetable oil stocks are expected to tighten this year
Global vegetable oil stocks are forecast to tighten in the 2025-26 crop year, this should bode well for canola demand.
However, the program never proved popular, attracting at most about 400 participants, and was done in when the federal government significantly expanded and enhanced its cash advance program in 2007-08.
That year fewer than 60 farmers used the PDT, and in 2008-09 only about 100 signed up.
“This particular program just doesn’t seem to fit the bill for many farmers anymore,” said CWB spokesperson Maureen Fitzhenry.
“We don’t have any plans at this point to replace it or to restart it at any point.”
She said it wasn’t feasible or efficient to continue operating the program, given the limited number of customers.
