SASKATOON – Canadian farmers are reaping the benefits from crop problems south of the border.
The Canadian Wheat Board last week boosted projected wheat returns for 1995-96 by anywhere from $7 to $10 a tonne.
It attributed the increase in large part to some late season sales into wheat markets made stronger by the poor condition of the U.S. hard red winter wheat crop.
A team of CWB analysts who recently travelled to the Southern Plains wheat growing areas to study crop conditions reported the crop is continuing to deteriorate, despite recent rains.
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The new outlook projects an export position price for 1 CW red spring wheat of $250 a tonne, which is $7 higher than the mid-range of the previous month’s forecast and $34 above the current initial payment.
(Prices at local elevators reflect deductions for freight and handling, which average around $40 a tonne for wheat and $48 for barley.)
While the board’s latest price outlook, the Estimated Pool Return, doesn’t represent any sort of guarantee, CWB information officer Deanna Allen said this late in the crop year the forecasts are likely very accurate.
Prices for other wheat classes are up by similar amounts. Prairie spring wheat is up by $8 a tonne to $242, winter wheat up $10 to $247, extra strong up $8 to $251 and soft white spring up $8 to $239.
The new price outlook presents a mixed bag for durum. High protein durum is down $2 from the previous mid-range, while 1 CWAD is up $1 and 4 CWAD up $7.
For feed barley, the new estimate projects a final price of $199 a tonne, the same as the mid-range of the previous month.
In recent weeks, some barley grower groups have complained the board is not being aggressive enough in making sales to buoyant world markets. The board says the market is weakening and it won’t take in barley that would have to be sold at lower prices, thus dragging down the pool return.
The board got some understanding words last week from an unexpected source. Ted Cawkwell, a Saskatchewan farmer and past president of the Western Barley Growers Association, has been a persistent critic of the CWB. But last week he said he understands the dilemma facing the marketing agency.
“Everybody’s between a rock and a hard place, them and me,” he said from his farm at Nut Mountain, Sask.
“If more farmers had signed A and B contracts (the board) would have probably had a higher PRO because they could have sold more into the higher markets,” he said. “It’s a big problem for everybody.”
