Producer, insure thyself.
Cheaper grain commission licensing and an insurance program to protect farmers in dealings with specialty grain buyers are proposed in the new amendments to the Canadian Grain Commission legislation before Parliament.
“We want to allow smaller specialty grains companies to have access to licences that they can afford,” said Ralph Goodale, federal minister of agriculture.
Goodale said current security requirements in the grain commission regulations are too expensive for small grain dealers working with specialty grains. He said the government intends to make grain commission licensing necessary and affordable. Proposed changes include protections for farmers that buy federal insurance in the event a grain company is unable to pay for delivered grain.
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Mandatory checkoff
Licensing would be required for all grain dealers, with specialty crops buyers paying a $2,000 licensing fee and all taking a mandatory checkoff from producers as they deliver crops.
Larger grain companies that buy federally controlled grains would not have to pay the new fee and should see their security costs reduced as producers pick up the expense under the proposed program.
The insurance checkoff, managed by the Federal Export Development Corporation, would be refundable. Farmers would choose whether to take part in the insurance program annually, before the beginning of each grain year.
“All companies will need to be licensed, but for the specialty grains side of the industry the producer will pay the cost of the security…. This is now being borne by the grain companies at approximately one percent of the liability that is insured for,” said Brian Schledewitz, of the grain commission.
