RED DEER – The fate of the Canadian Wheat Board was not high on Alberta’s wish list when agriculture minister Doug Horner met with his federal counterpart Chuck Strahl Feb. 17.
Alberta presented five priority items in a three hour meeting in Ottawa, said Horner.
“Alberta is still a strong advocate of marketing choice. We see that as a component of a value chain strategy because we want to increase the investment in those areas in Alberta,” he said Feb. 18.
“We have had investors tell us that the board is a hindrance to that because they don’t want a single source supply.”
Read Also
China’s grain imports have slumped big-time
China purchased just over 20 million tonnes of wheat, corn, barley and sorghum last year, that is well below the 60 million tonnes purchased in 2021-22.
However, Horner said addressing the faltering incomes of grains and oilseeds producers must come first.
He also wants amendments to the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program.
Other priorities include a food security and traceability program for all commodities and initiating a biofuels strategy.
Horner said he told Strahl that Alberta already has a road map for change and said the board restructuring must be introduced slowly with farmer consultation.
“We want to ensure that we don’t set up something that doesn’t achieve the objective we want achieved,” he said.
Horner does not want a sudden government decision abolishing the board similar to the way the Crow grain transportation benefit removed in a government budget announcement.
“I think there is going to be more thought into how we transition and we have always said it was as simple as saying we want to move to the Australian model, but then there are steps we have to take to get there.
“I would like it to be within my mandate as minister,” he said.
Groups like the Western Barley Growers Association can support that position, said newly elected president Jeff Nielsen of Olds, Alta.
“We don’t advocate total loss of the Canadian Wheat Board,” he said Feb. 22.
“If the Canadian Wheat Board wants to remain a player in marketing western Canadian grain, that’s their choice,” Nielsen said.
He said there are divergent viewpoints with other farm groups wanting the board retained.
“There are fundamental viewpoints we are never going to ever agree on. Everybody is looking out for the farmer here and the basic needs and make farming survive,” Nielsen said.
Albert Wagner, past-president of the barley association, sponsored a resolution at the group’s annual meeting Feb. 17 asking for a transition plan for marketing choice before the beginning of the next crop year.
The resolution passed unanimously but members realize it is one of many priorities before the new federal government.
“We’ve talked for years about the value of an open market versus a single desk and the way we look at it, there will be an open market,” he said.
The association wants farmers to develop the new marketing plan and feels confident the federal government is committed to the change.
“Will it happen as quick as we want? Time will tell,” Wagner said.
