Grain board
Re: The argument about the wheat board, it is my opinion that we should have a grain board and that board would be made up of active farmers (no politicians or no lawyers) and this board would set the prices for grain used in Canada at a Canadian price and the surplus would be sold at world prices.
The two prices would cause problems since Canada only uses about 38 percent of the wheat it grows. A ceiling of about 1,000 acres should be in the 38 percent range and that anything over the ceiling be paid at the world price….
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Late season rainfall creates concern about Prairie crop quality
Praying for rain is being replaced with the hope that rain can stop for harvest. Rainfall in July and early August has been much greater than normal.
You might think that this is useless but I will try to show you how we are taken by our friendly businessmen. I live 30 miles from Saskatoon and at 86 I go to one of the large stores for medicine. I passed the flour shelves and noticed that a 22 pound bag cost $11.39 or 51 cents per pound so I tried to find out what the wheat costs per bushel and it seems that it costs the mill over $4. Using a $5 price for 60 pounds makes it 8.3 cents per pound.
When I go to the bread shelf you can get it at 99 cents per loaf if you take five, or there is a higher price for fewer loaves. When the wheat goes in it has 12.5 percent moisture and bread comes out at about 27 percent.
We should go to $12 per bushel; that amounts to 20 cents per pound and there is something wrong if the mills can’t operate at 20 or 30 cents per bushel, the bread store should also be made to lower its price by 20 to 30 cents.
An ombudsman should be appointed to check this matter.
– George C. Wagner,
Hague, Sask.
Prudent approach
Yes, we should be concerned with the markets, as suggested by David Walker in “CWB stand on GMO has merit” (Aug. 16). The business of agriculture is market driven and the decisions producers make every year regarding seeding are driven by commodity prices and forecasts.
But does that mean we stop all research into new technologies and prevent the potential benefits to producers and agriculture from biotechnology? No.
A prudent approach to food and agricultural biotechnology makes sense. Research taking place today, the products being produced as a result of this research, and the knowledge being accumulated daily will pay dividends to farmers and consumers well into the future. Technologies and the regulations governing them evolve together. Public discussion of the issue, and input to the decision making will aid this process.
– Peter McCann,
President,
Ag-West Biotech Inc.,
Saskatoon, Sask.
Blackmail
Concerning the National ID program (WP, Aug. 9) Brad Wildeman is right about one thing. This program was unpopular, but it remains so. Cattle persons I’ve talked with are only tagging because of the threat of fines and calves selling for 10 to 20 cents less a pound.
Ranchers are not doing this voluntarily, blackmail is the appropriate word. The only letters I’ve seen in the WP supporting this are from people who made up the program.
As for disease, you only have to turn to page 65 of the same issue (Foot-and-mouth inspection inadequate) to see ranchers know what to do to protect their cattle but the CFIA and CCIA only know how to compile an intrusive database of farms with cattle.
– Lammie Pavelich,
Kenaston, Sask.
Not good enough
While the CWB could be commended for its new winter wheat contracting program for better milling varieties, for a lot of us who have been promoting this type of program, the end incentives or message to producers is just not good enough. My reasoning for this is as follows:
Over the last few years winter wheat has gone from being priced between a No. 2 and No. 3 hard red spring wheat to a considerable discount and even recently being now priced lower than CPS (Canadian prairie spring) red wheat. The 1999 to 2000 final payments show red winter at a dollar a tonne over No. 3 red and about $9.50 per tonne over CPS red. Today’s latest PROs (Pool Return Outlook) show red winter at a $5 per tonne discount to CPS red.
Contract pricing programs of the Ontario Wheat Producers Marketing Board show price differences between 12.5 percent hard red spring and 11.5 percent hard red winter of $21.30 per tonne.
Current wheat board initials show a spread of comparable grades of $41 per tonne and the PROs show a spread of about $47 per tonne.
What this shows is what some producers had come to expect. Current Canadian western winter wheat is not acceptable to foreign customers for milling purposes. The board has had to resort to blending winter wheat off with other grades of wheat and selling at a discount.
While circumstance indicates that all parties in the industry are to accept some blame for us reaching this state it cannot be overlooked that the CWB has played a role in winter wheat becoming what it is today.
I would suggest that the board’s ability to move money around the pool accounts has in fact shielded producers from the true realities of the marketplace. The board’s unwillingness to address this problem with either different grades or IP (identity preserved) programs has meant that instead of extracting premiums or true value for our grain we have instead had to resort to giving it away.
This leads to the point that a $2.50 per tonne premium is both not representative of the difference in value between our current system (discounted wheat) and the milling value of these segregated varieties nor is it indicative of the true value of milling winter wheat compared to hard red spring.
While it could be argued that there are other benefits such as protein premiums and storage payments until these values are identified they are worth nothing, especially when the board is asking producers to commit in the middle of September.
The message from producers to the board should be the same as for any other variety of wheat. Producers should receive a true value for what they produce and be given the proper incentives to strive for better quality.
Our industry and our reputation as producers of the best quality wheat in the world is at stake.
– Craig Shaw,
Alberta Winter Wheat
Producers Commission,
Lacombe, Alta.
Two perspectives
Last week (U.S. president) George Bush signed legislation to provide $5.5 billion to U.S. farmers and ranchers as compensation for drought, low prices and reduced yields.
Three weeks ago, Lyle Vanclief said prairie farmers need to practice better water management, diversify, live with the present government programs or shut ‘er down.
On one hand, we have a believer in the contribution of agriculture to our quality of life.
On the other, we have a believer in “do as I say, not as I do.”
What is the difference between President Bush and Agriculture Minister Vanclief?
Mr. Bush is a rancher who happens to be a politician – Mr. Vanclief is a politician who pretends to be a farmer.
– Steve Foote,
DeWinton, Alta.
