Wheat Growers enthusiastic about implementation of Marketing Choice
The Western Canadian Wheat Growers are elated that its long-term goal
of marketing choice will finally be realized, following the election of a
Conservative minority government. “Wheat Growers are enthusiastic about
the introduction of marketing choice,” says Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel,
President of the Wheat Growers. “This has been a goal of our Association
for many years, and we are very pleased to see that it will finally
happen.”
A key plank of the Conservative agriculture platform was to introduce
marketing choice for western Canadian farmers. The Wheat Growers believe
the introduction of marketing choice with improve returns to farmers and
lead to greater domestic processing and prosperity throughout western
Canada.
“Virtually every rural riding in western Canada supported the
Conservatives, so they clearly have a strong mandate to implement
marketing choice,” says Jolly-Nagel. “We will be urging the Party to
take the necessary steps to implement choice within the coming
weeks.”
The Wheat Growers are advocating a two-stage approach to implementing
changes to the Canadian Wheat Board. In stage one, the goal will be to
implement marketing choice as quickly as possible. The second stage
involves the restructuring of the CWB so that it evolves into a truly
producer owned and controlled company, and is compliant with requirements
under the prospective WTO agreement. “Our objective is to ensure the CWB
remains an effective marketing tool for farmers,” says Jolly-Nagel.
“Throughout our history the Wheat Growers have been known for
promoting positive reforms to the CWB including pricing and payment
options, protein grading, pool return outlooks and many other progressive
changes. We see this as a further step in the CWB’s evolutionary
process.”
he Wheat Growers note that implementing marketing choice will not
require any legislative amendments. The federal government simply needs to
harmonize the regulations in western Canada with those now in place for
farmers in Ontario. This can be achieved by instructing the CWB to provide
export permits at no cost to farmers and the private trade, and to allow
domestic processors the ability to purchase wheat and barley directly from
farmers and grain companies.
“The Wheat Growers are prepared to work with the government to ensure
there is a smooth transition to marketing choice,” says Jolly-Nagel.
“Our objective is to ensure the CWB is reformed in a manner that best
serves western farmers.”
The WCWGA, an independent producer organization, has spent 35 years
bringing forth innovative farmer-driven solutions and will continue to
lobby on behalf of forward thinking, progressive producers in an effort to
make farming sustainable and profitable. |
