The Canadian Wheat Board isn’t acting like an organization that’s planning to soon get out of the barley marketing business.
The board this week released details of an expanded malting barley premium program for 2007-08.
The board has agreements with 21 grain handling and malting companies to jointly administer the program in the new crop year, up from 15 this year.
The program will include all the major grain handling firms, a number of smaller independent firms and all the malting companies.
Under the three-year old program, farmers are paid premiums for lower protein two-row malting barley, starting at $1 per tonne for 12.5 percent protein and increasing to $5 a tonne for 11 percent protein.
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The program has paid $1.25 million in premium payments to farmers so far this crop year.
With all major grain and malting companies participating in 2007-08, the return to farmers could be substantially higher, depending on the size and quality of the malting barley crop.
The board has raised the prospect of getting out of barley marketing if it loses its single desk marketing authority, which the federal government says will happen on Aug. 1.
But a CWB spokesperson said the board can’t operate on the assumption that will take place.
“As of this moment the CWB Act is in force, with us a single desk seller, and that’s what we are required to follow,” said Maureen Fitzhenry.
“It’s business as usual for barley.”
The agency’s board of directors was to meet this week to consider the board’s future if the government implements its plan to dismantle the single desk for barley at the beginning of the new crop year.
Michael Brophy, the CWB’s director of barley projects, said the point of the program is to reflect to growers the values that can be achieved in the marketplace from producing barley in the protein range desired by customers.
“We want a system that pays growers for the quality they’re delivering,” he said.
The ideal is in the range of 11.5 to 12 percent, although some customers are also happy with 12 to 12.5 percent.
If Canada consistently produced lower protein, that could create new sales opportunities.
Brophy said that during a recent trip to Latin America, customers told board officials that they buy high protein Canadian malting barley and blend it with lower protein product from Argentina to achieve the desired quality.
“They said if our protein was lower, they’d buy more from us,” he said.
It’s also hoped that the premiums will encourage farmers to adopt management practices that will increase their chances of getting lower protein, including judicious use of nitrogen, soil testing for other nutrients, early seeding, higher seeding rates, proper variety selection, straight-cutting and careful storage.
“We want to give farmers an incentive to manage their crop for lower protein,” said Brophy.
He added that the board’s single desk structure is instrumental in enabling it to co-ordinate the program by consulting with grain companies, maltsters, growers and customers.
