Our farming enterprise is one of those which have had some success growing malt barley, but in recent years have ended up sitting on it right to the end of the crop year and beyond.
That Canadian agriculture, especially the western grain sector, seems to be going to hell in a hand basket is not news.
But the lack of concern and apparently deliberate inability to get their acts together exhibited by the CWB, the grain companies and, yes, the railroads too, is shameful. The fact that there are farmers at the bottom of the heap trying to make a living in the midst of the mess, matters not to them. The examples of juvenile bickering and buck-passing going on among these corporations, on whom we must depend, is appalling.
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Worrisome drop in grain prices
Prices had been softening for most of the previous month, but heading into the Labour Day long weekend, the price drops were startling.
The July issue of the CWB Grain Marketing Report states that they “fully expect to export 100 percent of the contracted supplies before the end of July.”
On July 31 I called the CWB to draw attention to this misleading statement, and to ask for an explanation as to why our barley, part of that 100 percent, hasn’t even left the farm.
Oh, well, was the reply, as long as the grain companies have been notified by July 31 to contact the producers, the grain is considered to have moved.
I wish it worked that way for all of us. I would like to be able to tell our creditors that we are planning to send them a cheque, and therefore consider them to have been paid.
Also, according to the CWB man with whom I spoke, the variety of barley we produced (Stein) doesn’t sell well; they have trouble finding buyers for it. The elevator agent, he said, should have informed us at the time of contracting. Hmm.
Next, I called the head offices of the grain company with whom we had the contract, to discuss what I had learned.
Great indignation, of course, from the gentleman who answered my call. Not true, he insisted, and furthermore, the CWB has messed up on three potential sales and that’s why the barley is still waiting; it should have been gone in February.
Who does one believe?
Exasperation drove me to comment that it’s difficult to satisfy our creditors while the grain company and the CWB have a little political thing going on, and the barley, meanwhile, isn’t selling. Why don’t you use another commodity to pay your bills, he wanted to know.
Well, duh. If we could guarantee that returns from other commodities would be sufficient, why would we even bother with malt barley, considering the hassle it has become?
So goes this year’s story. I won’t get into the one I have about last year’s barley shipment; it was contracted with a different company, but the process was as disappointing. It doesn’t seem to matter who we deal with, we’re still beat, in the end.
I can hardly wait for next year.
– Mae Eckert,
Stoughton, Sask.
