Larry Hill, re-elected as chair of the Canadian Wheat Board, wants the grain marketing agency to focus on putting producers first.
The Swift Current, Sask., farmer was re-elected June 4 to his second term as chair of the agency’s 15-member board.
Hill said he wants to ensure that serving farmers’ interests is the number one priority in all of the board’s deliberations.
“One of our top priority items is to do a better job of demonstrating the value of the board to producers,” he said. “That means selling the crop at a good value, communicating better with farmers, and putting producers first.”
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Hill was elected chair last March to replace Ken Ritter, the first and only chair the elected board had in its first 10 years of operation.
He brought with him a wealth of experience, having been elected in the inaugural CWB elections in 1998 and returned to office twice.
Before becoming chair of the board of directors, Hill served as chair of the wheat board’s audit and finance committee and trade committee, and represented the board at international trade meetings.
Hill said the wheat board has focused on farmers’ interests in the past, but it’s always possible to improve.
He said many at the wheat board feel that farmers are not fully aware of everything the agency does on their behalf, and that there’s a need to make the board’s various operations more evident.
The agency also wants to provide more financial information to farmers about the board’s grain sales while not violating commercial confidentiality. By doing so, it hopes to counter some of the criticism it receives regarding grain prices.
Hill said he also wants to focus on business, not politics in the coming year, especially when it comes to dealing with the federal government.
“We may have our differences, but we have to set those aside and focus on doing what’s best for farmers in the present,” he said.
While the governing Conservatives have put plans to end the board’s single desk on the back burner, CWB minister Gerry Ritz and individual MPs haven’t let up on their criticism of the marketing agency.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion on the CWB and the single desk, but we need to get past those kind of petty comments and get down to business,” said Hill. “That’s what farmers want.”
This board chair said the government’s pull-back on the single desk issue has also eased tensions within the board, which is split 8 to 6 between supporters of the single desk and the open market, with chief executive Ian White uncommitted.
While the disagreements remain, he said, the current board, which includes three new members elected last fall, is functioning well.
Board member Bill Nicholson of Shoal Lake, Man., said Hill is ideally suited to be board chair.
“He’s able to express his own strongly held views and at the same time be an effective conciliator for a fairly polarized board.”
He said Hill is knowledgeable and experienced, works well with the chief executive officer and is a strong spokesperson for the board.
“He really has all the qualities you could want in a chair.”
