The Canadian Wheat Board’s pledge to consider an earlier contract deadline for winter wheat is proof the organization is serious about winter cereals, said Saskatchewan Winter Cereal Growers director Lee Moats.
“It shows the Canadian Wheat Board is serious enough about winter wheat to handle it in a serious way,” Moats said in an interview during a winter cereal growers conference in Saskatoon in early January.
“It is a signal to people that this is a special deal, not just a bottom-end grain.”
An earlier fall deadline would give the board more accurate and immediate figures to market winter wheat and put growers in a better position to capture the best price, he said.
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“The board will be in a better position to know what it has to market and there’s a chance more grain could go into milling than for feed,” Moats said.
Canadian Wheat Board commissioner Richard Klassen announced the board’s intentions at the Crop Production Show.
“The farmers needs to know what the Canadian Wheat Board’s commitment will be and it is our desire to get that market information earlier,” said Klassen.
“We would like to do this unless there is opposition from other producer groups.”
Winter cereal growers from Saskatchewan met with board officials in June to lobby for an earlier deadline.
The group works to increase winter cereal production in the province.
The wheat board’s director of marketing development said if farmers grow more winter wheat, the board will have no problem selling it.
“Canadian winter wheat is considered the best quality milling wheat,” Gordon Bacon told growers.
“There is great potential on the demand side and if production increases we should be able to find new markets.”
Being able to guarantee consistent quality and availability is the board’s biggest hurdle in selling Canadian winter wheat, Bacon said.
