In response to your June 22 editorial on organic growers’ marketing choices, I am not an organic grower, but I support their independence.
The organic producer does not need the nanny state CWB to market their grain.
They have proved themselves quite capable to marketing grain in the past and see no reason for that to change, just because they were successful at it.
The suggestion that the organic market needs the CWB to deliver large quantities of quality grain is ludicrous. The CWB does not deliver quality grain.
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Farmers produce, then deliver quality grain, either to the end user themselves or a grain company, at a time, price and quantity of mutual agreement.
The CWB does not take delivery of any grain or provide delivery of any grain. It is a self-serving bureaucracy.
It never sees or touches any grain or has any facilities or mandate to do so. It is just numbers on a piece of paper, and control of those numbers. What about producers who do some form of value-adding of their own crop?
Why would they support a system where they have to sell to the board, then buy it back at a higher price to use themselves? Hardly an incentive for value-adding.
The suggestion that big private grain companies – the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool is one – will extract a premium for producers and then charge for this service, is exactly what happens now.
That’s why a free market works so well; premium prices paid for premium products. The lowest basis grain handler gets the most business, just the way every other open market commodity is traded, everywhere else in the world.
Organic producers, take a stand now. Save yourselves from being shackled and hobbled by the CWB. It’s not too late.
But beware. Fear and capitulation by producers and big private grain companies are the lifeblood of the CWB monopoly buying power.
They will not hesitate to use jackboot diplomacy to instill the former to achieve the latter.
– Douglas McBain,
Cremona, Alta.
