The Canadian Wheat Board is slashing jobs and restructuring in a bid to save farmers money and make the board more responsive.
“Our farmer stakeholders are under severe financial pressure and need to extract maximum value from the marketplace,” said chief executive officer Adrian Measner.
When Measner was appointed to the board’s top job in December 2002, he promised a corporate review to make the agency as flexible, accountable and efficient as possible.
Last week’s announcement included the elimination of 135 staff positions, representing more than 20 percent of the board’s workforce, and an internal reorganization to eliminate overlap and inefficiency.
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The changes will save an estimated $5.5 million in annual administrative expenses. Those expenses totalled $66.7 million last year.
Based on an annual pool of 20 million tonnes, that works out to a saving to farmers of 28 cents a tonne (about three-quarters of a cent per bushel), or average annual savings of around $76 for each of the 73,000 CWB permit book holders.
Some critics of the board have in recent years accused the agency of being a bureaucratic and inefficient organization with too many staff and bloated administrative expenses.
Albert Wagner, past-president of the Western Barley Growers Association and one of those critics, gave last week’s announcement a lukewarm review.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction but it’s overdue and not enough,” he said, adding the board could save a lot more money for farmers if it focused solely on selling grain and got out of areas like transportation and public relations.
“The board needs to take an overall look at its functions and get back to basics,” he said. “They’re involved in too many things.”
Board spokesperson Deanna Allen said the fact the board can cut $5.5 million without compromising service indicates there has been some waste, but added that the federal auditor-general found in her 2002 review that the board was an efficiently run organization and CWB surveys indicate most farmers feel the board provides good value for money.
Fred Tait, vice-president of the National Farmers Union, said anything that saves farmers money is welcome, but the top priority must be maintaining the board’s ability to serve farmers and customers.
“I’m afraid of a false economy here,” he said. “It’s not worth a few cents a bushel to jeopardize the board’s ability to do its job.”
Allen said the cuts might force the board to stop doing some things it now does, but these will be low priority items that don’t directly affect the agency’s ability to sell grain or provide crucial services to farmers.
An expert in corporate governance familiar with the inner working of the CWB said he doesn’t think farmers need to worry about the board becoming less effective as a result of the cuts.
“The current CEO is a very competent and measured individual and I have very, very strong confidence that he would not be making any moves that would jeopardize the board’s capabilities,” said Brian Oleson of the University of Manitoba, a former senior vice-president of the CWB.
He said the board reduced its workforce from more than 700 in the 1970s to around 450 in the 1990s, but a new emphasis on farmer relations and communications and the creation of a number of new pricing and programs resulted in a gradual staff increase in recent years.
The job cuts will come from a combination of a hiring freeze, terminations and contracting out work in areas such as computers, building maintenance, catering, security and translation. Details have yet to be released.
