OAK BLUFF, Man. — Faced with a shrinking storage system and more demanding customers, the Canadian Wheat Board is proposing a new delivery system heavily based on contracts.
Farmers attending the annual Grain Days symposium sponsored by the board last week were told that customers are more scattered, they are buying in smaller volumes on shorter notice and they are requiring a wider range of services.
“We are moving more and more to a ‘just-in-time’ delivery system in Canada,” chief commissioner Lorne Hehn said. That means grain must flow into the country elevator system and off to port just in time to meet its export vessel.
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The board is proposing to move away from the present quota system into a combination system for the next crop year.
From Aug. 1 until after harvest, the board would offer an acreage-based delivery opportunity. That system would operate similarly to the old quota style, but it would be specific to grade and protein.
The acreage base would use a formula of the farmer’s seeded acres of wheat and barley, plus the greater of half his seeded acres of wheat and barley or one-third of his other cultivated acres.
The acreage base deliveries would be terminated once farmers have had an opportunity to deliver the grades called.
Immediately following harvest, the delivery policy would shift into post-harvest contracts, which would be grade and protein specific.
The board is proposing four contract series for wheat and barley with the following deadline dates: Oct. 31, Dec. 15, Feb. 28, 1995 and May 25, 1995.
Percentage basis used
Farmers will be informed of how much of the tonnage offered will be accepted within 21 days of the contract deadline. Grain will be called into the system on a percentage basis and according to grade, protein content and condition.
Farmers would also have the option of rolling any unaccepted tonnage over to the next contract series within that crop year.
Gord Bacon, director of producer services for the board, said the policy is a proposal at this stage. Board officials are considering suggestions made by farmers at the Grain Days meetings and from other meetings with the industry.
Bacon said the board will finalize the policy for next year by April.
