Once again, Cypress Hills-Grasslands M.P. David Anderson is promoting his Government’s plans to kill the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) without a producer vote. How’s that for freedom. As in most of his rants, Anderson aims his guns at Stewart Wells and the Organic producers and what he refers to as “the outrageous buy-back”. If Anderson would study the Producer Direct Sales option of the CWB, he would find out the true facts.
When conducting a PDS, the CWB quotes what it is getting for a similar product in a particular market on a given day (known as the cash price). Farmers then pay this cash price to the CWB pool. The CWB will then pay the farmer the initial payment, and over time, will pay the total value of the grain received by all farmers in the pool. The result of this transaction means farmers can earn the pool price, plus the additional premium they are able to negotiate with a buyer.
The PDS provides farmers with the opportunity to take advantage of marketing opportunities that they identify on their own, without undercutting each other and destroying the power of the single desk. Plus, the CWB will assist with the paperwork.
As far as the Conservative mandate goes, only 24.33 per cent (using Anderson’s own formula) of eligible voters voted for the Conservative government.
As a marketer, in transportation, and as an advocate for farmers, the CWB puts over $800 million in additional money in farmers’ pockets. That’s $11 every year on every acre of western Canadian cropland. The CWB provides numerous benefits to farmers, from premium prices in world markets to helping retain effective access to producer cars.
Without the CWB, what will happen to the Port of Churchill, which gets 95 per cent of its port business from the CWB. In 2010, the CWB shipped over 600,000 tonnes of western Canadian wheat through this Port, saving farmers thousands of dollars in transportation costs. Grain shipped through the Port of Churchill is drawn primarily from northern Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba.
Farmers now have the opportunity to exercise their CHOICE of their support for the single desk CWB in the current CWB vote. Please return you ballots. Don’t let Harper, Ritz & Anderson infringe on your FREEDOM!!
Joyce Neufeld
Waldeck, Sask.