Colin Ottenbreit imported 4,000 litres of ClearOut 41 Plus into Canada this spring. But when he tried to get more product in the fall, there was none to be had.
Chemical dealers told the Grayson, Sask., farmer there was no generic glyphosate to be found in the United States.
So instead of using the Own Use Import program to bring in the chemical himself, Ottenbreit was forced to take out a membership in Farmers of North America, a bulk buying firm that had a line on supplies of the product.
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“We used to be able to buy ClearOut independently and now we can’t anymore because FNA has tied up the market. It’s exclusive to them. It’s almost like the wheat board, you’ve got to go through them,” he said.
Ottenbreit and others contend Farmers of North America has turned a chemical import program designed for individual growers into a monopolistic business enterprise, an accusation a senior FNA official denies.
In the past the vast majority of ClearOut has been brought into the country by FNA members, but about 15 percent of the volume was ordered by non-members.
Allan Johnston, owner of Johnston’s, a Welwyn, Sask., grain brokerage firm, said FNA put a stop to that this summer by cornering the market.
“It is a monopoly,” said Johnston, who had been co-ordinating the import of the chemical on behalf of some of his clients.
Glenn Caleval, vice-president of Farmers of North America, said no monopolistic arrangement is in place with Albaugh Inc., the U.S. distributor of ClearOut.
“We’ve never said (to Albaugh) we want exclusive access to you,” he said.
FNA pre-ordered the product in June. Caleval said it is too bad if other importers lost out when Albaugh ran out of product, but that is not his concern.
“I worry about supplying FNA members,” he said.
Edith Lachapelle, communications manager for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, said when farmers complained about the situation PMRA officials contacted Spencer Vance, president of Albaugh, and confirmed that the company had made a business decision to supply only FNA with product, leaving independent chemical dealers out in the cold.
Vance was contacted for this story but did not return calls before newspaper deadlines.
“One of the concerns we have is that in order to be able to import ClearOut 41 Plus you have to now become a member of FNA, which requires a fee,” said Lachapelle.
A three-year membership in FNA costs $1,350. It entitles farmers to source major inputs at what the company calls wholesale prices.
But Ottenbreit said he could bring ClearOut in at a delivered cost of $3.85 per litre, which is cheaper than FNA’s $4.25 per litre price.
“It’s another middleman I don’t need. I can do this on my own,” he said.
