SASKATOON – A final payment of more than half a billion dollars is on its way to prairie farmers for wheat and barley they sold to the Canadian Wheat Board in 1992-93.
Payments on the various grades and classes of wheat work out to an average of about $21 a tonne, or 57 cents a bushel.
They range from a high of $33.65 a tonne for top quality, high protein red spring wheat, down to $7.34 for the lowest quality durum.
Barley growers are getting final payments of $14.46 a tonne for feed barley, while top quality malting barley will bring in $16.30.
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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
The final payment brings the total price for 1 CWRS wheat to $156.82 a tonne ($4.27 a bushel), the highest since 1989-90.
That price reflects the value of the grain in-store at Thunder Bay or Vancouver, which is more than the farmer actually takes home.
For example, in central Sask-atchewan, a freight charge of around $13.70 and a handling tariff of around $10.90 reduces the total payment for 1 CWRS to $132.22 a tonne.
No longer a mystery
In years past, an air of mystery and anticipation surrounded the announcement of final payments, which represent the balance owing to farmers from sales made by the board during the previous marketing year. While market analysts would speculate about the numbers, the board would say nothing until the cheques were sent out.
That’s no longer the case.
Starting last March, the board began issuing quarterly estimates of the final price, estimates which turned out to be quite accurate.
For example, the September estimated pool return for 1 CWRS was $154 a tonne; the actual price was $156.82. For feed wheat, the estimate was $117, the actual price $120.74. For feed barley the estimate was $99 and the actual price $102.46.
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool vice-president Barry Senft said the wheat board did a good job selling a poor quality crop into a tough market. He also noted that most farmers had 3 CWRS or feed wheat and were unable to take advantage of the premiums for top quality, high protein wheat.
Cheques totalling $542 million were mailed Dec. 31 to 128,600 farmers, with $313.5 million going to Saskatchewan, $126.3 million to Alberta, $98.7 to Manitoba and $2.8 million to British Columbia.
