WINNIPEG – Lorne Hehn’s appearance before the annual meeting of United Grain Growers Ltd. doesn’t bode well for the upcoming referendum campaign on barley marketing.
A question and answer session between UGG members and the chief commissioner of the Canadian Wheat Board on grain marketing quickly turned into a dialogue of the deaf.
It became clear during the sometimes testy exchange that nothing anyone said would change anyone else’s mind on which marketing system will best serve prairie farmers.
Espouses benefits
Hehn gave the usual pitch in support of single-desk selling and price pooling, saying the board’s monopoly export powers provide a huge financial benefit for prairie grain growers.
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But UGG members who trooped to the microphones to fire questions at their former president didn’t accept that, saying farmers want choice and the board should support their proposal for a dual market.
In an interview later, Hehn said he wasn’t surprised at the way the session went, given UGG’s policy on grain marketing.
“They don’t agree with us,” he said. “They have obviously set our arguments aside.”
He said the session illustrates how polarized prairie farmers have become and justifies the federal government’s decision to bring the issue to a head with a plebiscite.
“In my view, it’s time for a vote and the sooner the better,” said Hehn. “We’ll just have to see how this thing turns out.”
Delegates took Hehn to task over the decline in the wheat PRO, the board’s sales program last spring, Canadian versus U.S. durum prices, pooling and the board’s role in public policy debates.
One farmer said UGG members who support a dual market with a voluntary wheat board seem to have more respect for the agency’s ability to do business than does the board itself.
“You seem to have so little faith in anything other than a system of forced compliance,” he said. “Why should I have faith in the wheat board when you don’t yourself?”
Voluntary system impossible
Hehn said the board is convinced a voluntary pooling system can’t compete with spot markets, adding the board’s monopoly also allows it to extract higher prices and forward sell to the benefit of prairie farmers.
“Those are our reasons and you may not agree with them,” he said, adding there was no point getting into a lengthy debate about whether a dual market could work.
The delegates later easily passed a resolution saying farmers should be allowed to market their wheat and barley either through the wheat board or through any other marketing company or grain buyer.
“We just want to have a choice,” said Joe Calder of Kindersley, who introduced the motion.
