The editor:
In 1973 I received over $6 for a bushel of No. 1 wheat.
That was when a brand new Massey combine sold for about $30,000. Expenses like fertilizer, fuel, chemicals, insurance and overhead and so on, were much less in 1973 of course, so a likely profit on that bushel would have been around $4.
News flash! Forty-three years later farmers are still receiving $6 for that bushel of wheat. The profit is closer to $2 per bushel.
Somehow, farmers have been led to believe that $6 to $8 is a good price for 60 pounds of No. 1 wheat, and we should be thankful to the open market for its munificence.
Let’s not forget that $6 in 1973, when adjusted for inflation, is equivalent to over $30 in 2016.
Now maybe the world wheat market would collapse if Canadian farmers were paid what their product is actually worth. My expectation is not $30 for my bushel of wheat. However, it seems to me that should be somewhat closer to its value.
I wonder what the grain industry actually gets for my $6 bushel of wheat when it puts it on a boat at the West Coast. They won’t tell us. How much more than $6 do you think it might be?
Darrell Stokes
Hussar, Alta.
