SASKATOON — Some of those bills left over from seeding will soon be a little easier to pay.
Initial wheat payments for the 1993-94 crop year, which ended July 31, were bumped up by anywhere from $10 to $20 a tonne last week (durum and barley payments were unchanged).
The increase boosted top-quality wheat over the $200 barrier, with the initial payment for 1 CWRS 14.5 percent protein set at $203 a tonne.
Farmers who sold wheat to the Canadian Wheat Board prior to the July 28 increase will be paid the amount owed them by cheques that will be mailed Aug. 24.
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Those cheques will reflect freight and handling deductions, which in 1993-94 averaged $24.40 a tonne for wheat (reflecting shipments out of central Saskatchewan).
That means the initial payment of $135 a tonne for 1 CWRS at export position translates into an average farmgate price of $110.60, or about $3.01 a bushel.
Average farmgate payments for other wheats include $178.60 for 1 CWRS 14.5, $90.60 for 3 CWRS, $108.81 for 1 CW extra strong and $88.60 for 1 CW soft white spring.
Even with the increases announced last week, there still appears to be lots of room for another interim payment or a final payment, based on the wheat board’s published estimate of final pool returns for 1993-94.
For example, the board estimates the total payment for 1 CW will be $157 a tonne, well above the new initial payment of $135. For 3 CW, the initial is $115 a tonne while the estimated pool return is $137.
In recent years the federal government had set initial payments at a very conservative level at the start of the crop year, then increased them as sales are made and pool account revenue becomes more predictable.
Last week marked the third time 1993-94 payments for top-quality wheat were increased, and the second general increase for all classes and grades.
The initial payment for 1 CWRS 13.5 was set at $109 a tonne in August 1993. It was raised to $140 in January 1994, to $150 in March and to $170 last week.
