WESTLOCK, Alta. – Newly elected Canadian Wheat Board director Henry Vos believes the future is bright for cereal grain producers.
With a few changes to regulations, transportation improvements, some strategic investment in research and a little flexibility in marketing, the financial fortunes of cereal grain producers will improve.
“I think the atmosphere is right for change. We’ve got a lot of strengths and can enhance the profitability of crops,” Vos told a sparse crowd at a wheat board farmer forum.
The pedigreed seed producer from Fairview, Alta., said the hurdles to cereal profitability could be leapt with few changes.
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Vos sees cereal production boxed in by the barriers of grain registration, constant transportation hassles, genetically modified organism-free wheat, the wheat board’s single desk model and intellectual property rules.
Recent changes to allow a utility wheat class is an important step to ensuring producers can benefit by growing high-yielding, high-starch grain for the ethanol markets.
Bigger strides won’t happen until the kernel visual distinguishability requirement for new wheat breeds is removed and breeders can concentrate on high yield varieties.
“We’re making small steps but we need to make larger steps,” said Vos.
As a seed producer, Vos has watched technology improve corn and canola yields and saw innovations soar with the adoption of GMO technology. It led to improved yields, better weed control options and eliminated unhealthy fats. Wheat producers could only watch the other crops take off.
When Vos looks at prairie farms, he sees opportunity in grain bins. The bins could easily be used to keep identity preserved crops separate, allowing farmers to take advantage of unique crops, niche markets and higher prices.
“With the amount of grain bins on farms, there is the ability to keep grain separate. We’ve got a huge opportunity in identity preserved crops.”
Vos also believes more money should be invested in cereal research and development.
He estimates only one percent of Canadian farmgate wheat and barley sales goes back into research and development compared with a five percent reinvestment in American corn research.
“We can keep wheat and barley competitive but it’s going to take some investment in research and development,” said Vos, who also co-owns and manages an agricultural research company that does seed variety research and crop rotation trials in Alberta’s Peace River region.
One of the biggest changes that would help farmers increase profitability is to eliminate the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on wheat and barley sales, said Vos, who campaigned for changes to the wheat board to give farmers more marketing choice.
“The monopoly system with single desk has limited what’s done in Canada.”
