The list of the restructured Winnipeg Commodity Exchange’s new board of
directors is a hit parade of grain industry leaders.
The new board of directors involves well-known grain company names such
as Bill Parrish Jr., the president of Parrish and Heimbecker, Kerry
Hawkins, president of Cargill’s Canadian operations, Brian Hayward,
chief executive officer of Agricore United , Brant Randles, president
and CEO of Louis Dreyfus Canada, and Curt Vossen, president of James
Richardson International.
It’s also the first board of directors for years that hasn’t had a
Read Also
Huge Black Sea flax crop to provide stiff competition
Russia and Kazakhstan harvested huge flax crops and will be providing stiff competition in China and the EU.
farmer representative. That’s one result of the restructuring.
But farmers will still be able to get their views known, says Bruce
Love, the exchange’s director of marketing.
“We’ve taken our contract review process and made it public,” said Love.
In future, the directors will have less input on contract revision,
Love said.
Instead, WCE staff and contract committee members will come up with
revision ideas, then send them out for public feedback that includes
farmers.
Up to now farmers and producer groups have been able to comment on
proposed changes, but have not been directly approached for input, Love
said.
The exchange has two contract committees, one for oilseeds and one for
grains. A farmer representative will sit on one of those committees.
Now that is Alberta farmer Leo Meyer, who was on the board of directors
until the WCE restructured.
The WCE, long a co-operative style organization owned by the people who
used it, has turned into a for-profit company owned by shareholders.
Those shareholders do not have to be companies that buy and sell
futures and options on the exchange, which was the old criteria for
membership and ownership.
Changing over was a difficult decision, says board chair Rob Dzisiak of
CFG Canada Futures. But the new structure allows the exchange to face
the pressures that are sweeping the marketing world.
“It’s a business model that brings in much more ingenuity and the
ability for the exchange to take advantage of opportunities,” said
Dzisiak.
“It’s a very different marketplace than when the exchange opened up
more than 100 years ago.”
Under the old structure, joint ventures with other exchanges,
establishing partnerships or allowing venture capitalists to become
part owners wasn’t allowed, which made the WCE somewhat inflexible.
“It doesn’t mean that things will change,” said Dzisiak. “It means the
option is there.”
