New grain delivery rules should make the grain handling and
transportation system smoother running and more efficient, says the
Canadian Wheat Board.
As of Aug. 1, the board is eliminating acreage-based delivery calls and
replacing them with contract-based calls.
“We wanted to streamline the system and saw that as an area where we
could improve,” said board spokesperson Rheal Cenerini.
The changes will produce cost savings through more efficient movement
and reduced storage costs, that will be passed directly back to farmers
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
through the pooling system.
Acreage-based calls have been used at the beginning of the crop year to
give farmers an opportunity to haul newly harvested grain to their
local elevator.
While that was convenient for farmers, those deliveries didn’t always
jive with what the wheat board needed.
“There was grain coming into the system sometimes that was not required
immediately for sales and so would sit in the system a little bit
longer,” said Cenerini.
The result was congestion at local elevators, delays in grain movement,
increased storage costs and potential problems meeting customer demands.
Contract-based calls, by contrast, are precise in terms of grade and
protein levels, which enable the board to match what is being delivered
to what will be moving out.
Cenerini acknowledged the elimination of acreage-based calls might be
seen as reducing the flexibility and convenience for farmers wanting to
deliver off the combine. But he said the board will try to make up for
that by bumping up the percentage on the first contract call on the
Series A contract.
“Certainly the intention is to give farmers opportunities to deliver as
soon as we can in the crop year,” he said, after taking into account
factors like the sales program and elevator space. “We think farmers
will still have a fair degree of flexibility.”
The changes were discussed with more than 80 farmers at six focus
groups meetings across the Prairies, as well as at the board’s
corporate accountability meetings this spring, and received a generally
positive reaction, said Cenerini.
“They felt it was a step in the right direction to improve efficiency
in the system.”
The board is also making two other changes for 2002-03.
- The minimum delivery opportunity on the first call of each contract
series will be increased to 45 tonnes from 40. The change is designed
to reflect the increased size of trucks used by farmers to haul grain.
Farmers using producer cars may be eligible for delivery of an
additional 45 tonnes on a one-time basis, to help them load a full rail
car.
- The number of contracts will be reduced to three from four to cut
administration costs. The new deadlines for signing up will be Oct. 31
for Series A, Jan. 31 for Series B and May 30 for Series C. The
deadline for Series A for Canada Western Red Winter wheat will be Sept.
27.
