Farmers wondering about their marketing plans now that the Conservatives have a majority should be happy that Liberal Stephane Dion was re-elected.
He can give Prime Minister Stephen Harper advice on how to write another Clarity Act , this one for the government’s intentions with the Canadian Wheat Board.
Thousands of farmers are probably now wondering whether the CWB will remain their wheat and barley marketing agent this coming crop year, because it isn’t terribly clear from the Conservatives exactly what they intend to do with the board now that they have the ability to pass whatever legislation they want.
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I called a number of marketing advisors this morning about what they’re telling their farmer-customers about how to market, price and hedge CWB grains now that a giant question mark hangs over the Board’s monopolies and future, and they all gave me versions of “It’s business as usual,” so don’t be afraid to use Producer Payment Options or other mechanisms within the board structure for the 2011-12 crop.
But open, gaping questions need to be answered on matters like this, because huge amounts of farmer money are at stake.
People are assuming that the government will try to eliminate the barley monopolies, but what about wheat? Words from Ag minister Gerry Ritz and a number of MPs suggest the government won’t just shut down the board, but end one or more of its marketing monopolies and leave the board in existence in a reduced capacity.
But what and when are they going to do what? If I was a farmer with a few thousand tones of board grains, I think I’d want to know those answers now that I’m actively pricing new crop production. Even if I’m not going to use PPOs, I’d want to know if pooling for something is going to be gone.
Pooling is a simple hedging mechanism and lots of farmers have never gotten more involved with pricing decisions on board grains. If they need to become so, they should know.
So here is what I think farmers need to have clear about the federal government’s intentions with the CWB:
1) What are you going to do?
2) When are you going to do it?
That’s the clarity farmers need.
