Stung by ongoing criticism that it is an impediment to value-added processing on the Prairies, the Canadian Wheat Board is launching a review of its policies and programs that relate to value-added.
The review comes at a time when Parliament is considering a private member’s bill that would allow farmers to bypass the board when selling to producer-owned value-added processors, a bill that is supported by the federal Conservative government.
However, CWB chair Ken Ritter said the decision to launch the review for this summer is unrelated to Bill C-300, which isn’t likely to come to a vote before next winter.
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He said it’s a response to what farmers told the board in its annual producer opinion survey.
Asked in the survey to rank how the CWB could help make their farms more profitable, farmers identified value-added processing as the top priority.
Eighty-five percent of those surveyed said it’s important that the board work with producers to create more value-added processing on the Prairies.
“It’s clear that what farmers want the board to do more than anything else is to foster value-added development in Western Canada, and we take that seriously,” said Ritter.
He added the review doesn’t mean the board agrees that its current policies, in particular the board’s buyback provision, act as a disincentive to further processing.
“There seems to be a perception that somehow they do, but we don’t think that is the case,” he said.
Ritter said the board has a number of programs and policies designed to encourage value-added:
- Charging the same acquisition price to all processors, which helps new start-up companies.
- Providing stock-switching services to ensure processors can receive access to grain from anywhere in the Prairies.
- Waiving a number of potential fees that cover administration and storage.
- Enabling producers to deliver all their crop off the combine to a processing plant, without being subject to the usual delivery rules.
The overriding factor determining the location and success of value-added processing is demand and proximity to markets, not policies and programs, said Ritter.
While the policy review won’t be a public process, the board will consult with interested parties, including value-added processors, grain suppliers and farm organizations.
