Farmers anxiously awaiting millions of dollars in federal government disaster aid cheques are already sitting on almost a million dollars of uncashed government cheques, says the Canadian Wheat Board.
This year the CWB is transferring $906,027.16 into its special account. The amount represents uncashed initial, interim or final payment cheques from six years ago and interest on those cheques.
These are cheques that have been forgotten, lost or destroyed, said board spokesperson Deanna Allen.
“Instead of putting it in the bank, some farmers might squirrel it away and use it as a separate savings account almost. Maybe they put it in a drawer and it never was found. That sort of thing,” said Allen.
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She knows of one farmer who keeps his first wheat board cheque stuffed in his wallet as a memento.
In previous years the amounts transferred to the special account have been much higher. For instance, in the fiscal year ending July 31, 1987, over $5 million was put into the special account, representing uncashed cheques and associated interest from the 1980-81 crop year.
The volume and dollar value of uncashed cheques is declining over the years, said Allen. Increasingly, farmers are receiving their initial and final payments by
direct deposit.
Another factor is that 10 years ago farmers used to receive separate final payments for wheat, durum, feed barley and malting barley. In certain years these individual cheques would have been for amounts so small that some farmers would not bother taking them to the bank.
“We’ve now moved to an amalgamation where farmers get one cheque and it is sufficiently large where they usually cash it,” said Allen.
Last year was an anomaly. No money was transferred to the special account in the fiscal year that ended July 31, 1997, because six years earlier the pool accounts experienced the largest deficit in the history of the grain marketing agency, so no final payments were issued.
Farmers who believe they have misplaced or lost a cheque should contact the wheat board and provide their producer identification, permit number and as much detail about the lost cheque as possible, said Allen. The board will look into the matter and determine if a cheque should be reissued.
If the claim is within six months of the issue date on the cheque and it is for more than $100, the farmer will have to complete an indemnity agreement, which assures the board that the first cheque has not been cashed.
The wheat board usually sends out two letters to farmers who have not cashed their cheques – one in the year the cheque is issued and one the following year. That is the extent of the board’s search.
“I don’t know that we spend a lot of energy making sure that farmers cash their cheques,” said Allen.
Money from the special account funds market development, capital expenditures for the Canadian International Grains Institute and the wheat board’s scholarship program.
