On the business side of the ledger last week, the Canadian Wheat Board signed an agreement in Thailand that could put $250 million into prairie farmers’ pockets over the next five years.
On the political side, Thai politicians and journalists got a glimpse of the debate over the future of the wheat board that has enveloped the Prairies like a winter cold spell.
Moments after wheat board commissioner Gordon Machej signed an agreement with seven Thai flour milling companies to sell at least a million tonnes of wheat during the next five years, prairie premiers exchanged political shots over the board.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Alberta premier Ralph Klein said despite the sale, prairie farmers would be better served by a voluntary board.
Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow came to the board’s defence.
“It’s an interesting place to have that kind of debate,” Machej joked later in a Jan. 17 telephone interview from Bangkok. “(Local people) would not be in tune with that dialogue.”
They were in tune with the board’s promise to guarantee delivery of increased volumes of high quality milling wheat.
Good for everyone
“We see them as a steady and reliable customer,” said Machej, who signed the agreement during a Canadian trade mission to Thailand led by prime minister Jean ChrŽtien. “They appreciate the support and service that we provide, so we see this as positive for both sides.”
The Canadians also like the financial arrangements.
“We do it the old-fashioned way here,” Machej said. “We just take cash so it’s also a positive market from that point of view.”
The Thai milling wheat market has developed during the past decade.
From five percent of the market and a few thousand tonnes of sales in the early 1970s, Canada’s sales have grown to 189,000 tonnes and 26 percent of the Thai market last year. Thailand has traditionally imported most of its wheat from the United States, but the U.S. share of the market has been declining.
Thai mills produce flour for noodles, bread, biscuits, cakes and shrimp feed.
