The Canadian Wheat Board is taking a wait and see approach to the idea of marketing canola on a voluntary basis, says CWB director Bill Nicholson.
The board met with Keystone Agricultural Producers recently to discuss the idea of a pilot project for a voluntary canola contract. It was made clear during the meeting that the idea will only be pursued if there is a canola commodity group or general farm group willing to make a request to the federal government.
“The process is outside any kind of impact the wheat board could have,” Nicholson said. “It has to originate from producers and be accepted by the federal government.”
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The idea of getting the wheat board involved as a voluntary marketer of canola drew heightened interest this winter as growers contemplated price prospects for the crop.
The Manitoba Canola Growers Association was urged during its annual meeting in January to consider all options for boosting canola marketing so that price prospects could be improved. That same month, a resolution passed at KAP’s annual meeting called on the farm group to encourage the wheat board to undertake a pilot project for a voluntary canola contract.
The meeting this month with CWB board members was a chance for KAP to convey the reasoning behind the resolution passed at its January meeting.
“I think there’s quite a number of hoops that the board has to go through,” said KAP president David Rolfe. “Obviously they want to satisfy themselves that there is going to be enough interest behind it to go down that road.”
A preliminary analysis suggests that if the wheat board was to become a voluntary marketer of canola, it may be able to help producers gain access at terminals for producer car shipments of canola, Nicholson said. The board might also be able to find new markets for canola through its international connections as a single-desk seller of wheat and barley.
There are times when growers feel the basis being set for canola is excessive, and there may be ways for the board to help “keep that more in line,” Nicholson said.
However, he noted there would be no opportunity to capture the kinds of premiums for canola that are gained by marketing wheat and barley under a single desk. Challenges could also arise when trying to move canola through a system where handling facilities are controlled by other marketers of canola.
“This could be an interesting way to evaluate the success of a voluntary market without jeopardizing the single desk on wheat or barley with some irreversible decision,” said Nicholson. “At the same time, of course, it gives ammunition to those critics who would say, ‘Well, if the wheat board can voluntarily market canola, it can do wheat and barley too.’ “
Wheat board officials also met this month with Larry Bohdanovich, a Manitoba farmer who helped fuel interest this winter in having wheat board involvement in marketing canola on a voluntary basis. Bohdanovich would not reveal what was discussed during that meeting.
