The excitement of Christmas morning came a little early for grain farmers, who were excited to finally see freedom in grain marketing become a reality late Thursday evening, reinforced by an announcement at a Balgonie-area farm by the federal Agricul
The excitement of Christmas morning came a little early for grain farmers, who were excited to finally see freedom in grain marketing become a reality late Thursday evening, reinforced by an announcement at a Balgonie-area farm by the federal Agriculture minister, Gerry Ritz, on Friday morning.
Bill C-18, which removes the single-desk monopoly powers of the Canadian Wheat Board for wheat, durum and barley, was passed through the Senate on Thursday, was given Royal Assent by the Governor General, and was signed into law by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, all on Thursday evening. The marketing changes will take effect at the start of the new crop year, on Aug. 1, 2012.
As a result of the new law, the federal government took over the operation of the CWB as of Friday, removing the eight elected directors and leaving a five-member appointed board of directors.
For local commodities broker Mark Bratrud, the news conference on Friday was an exciting occasion to be at.
"For a lot of us, this was like Christmas morning. A lot of people have been waiting for this for a long time," he said.
Another local ag businessman who was there for the news conference was Blair Stewart of Fill-More Seeds, and part owner of the Stewart Shortline Railroad, which operates a shortline rail operation from Stoughton up to Richardson, by Regina.
"At the end of the day, it was about freedom of choice," said Stewart, who noted of the plebiscite for the Canadian Wheat Board an obvious question was not asked: "The problem is they didn't ask if farmers wanted dual marketing. The CWB is going to stay operating."
For Weyburn farmer Dale Mainil, there is a special significance to the change in the CWB's status, as his late uncle, Art Mainil, fought for marketing freedom for most of his life, and just passed away from cancer this year shortly after the bill to make it reality was introduced in the House of Commons.
Mainil, along with a group of 60 producers from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, flew out to Ottawa to witness the Commons pass the bill to send it to the Senate; a number of other local producers also went, including Herb Axten of Minton, Blair Stewart of Fillmore, Kurt Freitag of Lampman, Glen McEwen of Francis, and Allan Johnston of Rocanville.
"We were all up in the gallery watching the final debate, and at about 6:30 that night, they passed the bill. The gallery was full of pro-marketing supporters to cheer the government at the third reading," said Mainil, noting afterwards, they were all able to gather in a side room where they met Prime Minister Harper and Ag minister Ritz.
"It was a very emotional vote; this is the freedom that my uncle (Art) fought for for so many years," said Mainil. "It was a historic day for the farmers who support marketing."
He said throughout this fall, the issue has been hijacked by the pro-CWB faction, and very little was heard about the pro-marketing side of the issue in the national media.
Mainil said he strongly feels that there is a "silent majority" of producers who support marketing freedom, regardless of what the results of the CWB's plebiscite was.
"As farmers, we should have the right to sell our own product. It's all about freedom. It's going to help the whole western grain industry grow," he said.
"It's going to mean some big changes," added Bratrud, who said the grain marketing change is going to be good overall for the agricultural industry.
One change will be that those who relied on the CWB to market their wheat will have to change their view of marketing.
"It's been pretty easy for a lot of guys," he said, as farmers would just deliver their wheat or durum to the Wheat Board "and let them look after it. It's easier for them to do it. I do strongly believe the silent majority was very much in favour of this, and will benefit tremendously."
He added this move will particularly help the value-added grain industry to grow, particularly in regard to the milling of wheat and durum, noting the recent announcement of a new durum processing plant for Regina.
Bratrud said now, for the first time, farmers can sell their wheat or durum to a milling plant here or in Europe or Mexico or South America - wherever the best deal can be found.
"There's going to be a lot of stuff happening in the next couple of years, and it's not all going to be smooth," said Bratrud.
Mainil and Bratrud both mentioned one of the scare tactics of the pro-CWB supporters was to say that producer cars would no longer be available - and as an operator of a shortline railroad, Stewart assured this will not be the case.
He believes the change in the law will be good for the value-added processing industry, and in turn will help increase the business his shortline railway is going to be able to do.
"Producer cars are going to be available to producers. There's so much business you can do with a shortline railway. As far as Fill-More Seeds, I can order 25 or 50 cars for a U.S. miller. Now we can build on our program; before, the Wheat Board did it," said Stewart.
"For my specific location, we'll have much more volume."
He noted there was a misconception common amongst farmers, who believed that if the CWB went down, they wouldn't be able to get producer cars.
"If you want to ship wheat, you have to order the cars two or three weeks in advance. How do we order cars for canola? We did it through the railway. That message never got out," said Stewart.
Of the change in general, Stewart said, "It's a positive change, and I think it's huge for growers. We'll grow Nothing's ever easy. It's a transition time, and we'll work through the changes."
On Monday, the new board of directors chose Bruce Johnson as the new chairman of the CWB, who was a CWB director since 2006.
The five-member appointed board also includes David Carefoot, Glen Findlay, Ken Motiuk and CWB president and CEO Ian White, all of whom have been serving the CWB for a number of years.
In a message issued on Friday, the day the government took over CWB operations, Ian White said, "The passage of Bill C-18 into law heralds significant change for the CWB and for prairie farmers. The CWB has been preparing for this change for many months Amid all the change, one thing remains the same: the CWB will market farmers' grain."
Bratrud pointed out this change in the legislation for the CWB is not about the demise of the Wheat Board, merely a change in how it operates.
"Nobody wants to see the board gone; most farmers just want a choice. Most farmers hope the CWB can continue to be competitive and not go down," said Bratrud.
Stewart added the comment, "I respect the side that wanted their position known, but I also respect those who want marketing freedom, so I'm glad the government has left it there for those who want it."
One of the first moves of the new CWB board was to stop its court action against the government; however, the eight former directors indicated they will continue the court action themselves in an effort to get an injunction against the change in law from going ahead.
Meantime, the new chairman of the CWB board, Bruce Johnson, made this comment at the end of his statement on Monday: "On behalf of the new board of directors of the CWB, I would like to recognize and thank the former farmer-elected directors for their dedicated service to the farmers of western Canada. We have all been committed to a single purpose, which is to assist farmers in the profitable marketing of their grain."
