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| The Canadian Government presented the Canadian Wheat Board as "fair and equal to all wheat and barley farmers". It was not that. 1. The "Designated Area" of the Canadian Wheat Board was Peace River (a sliver) area of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Somehow, the geographical majority of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime Provinces were not legislated (forced by law) in the Canadian Wheat Board. The "designated area" is where the highest quality of hard red spring wheat in the world was and maybe still is.
If a farmer from the "designated area" tried to export his wheat or barley without selling it to the government first, he was at risk of being arrested and jailed. Yes, western Canadian farmers did go to jail for exporting wheat and barley production from their personal farms. There was a time they could not even export out of province. One example is, a grain farmer with barley in Saskatchewan could not sell the barley to his brother in law who owned a feedlot 25 miles away, in Alberta without the government knowing about it.
Organic farmers that would sell to the USA end users, had to go through the Canadian Wheat Board and pay a "buy back" fee and only then would they get an export licence. Literally fax in a detailed Bill Of Lading document to CWB along with your credit card number to pay the difference on some convoluted equation that could never be understood, and always changing. I used to broker for organic farmers, small farms it might cost them $4000-$12,000, larger farms were paying up to $28,000 in buy back fees to make organic sales. Basically the CWB took the lions share of the premium in order to stay "fair and Equal" to the rest of farmers in the "Designated area". Keep in mind, all the other provinces in Canada could basically export to whomever they wanted to without these government monkeyshines. In my opinion these actions were extortion. Farmers growing the best quality grains HAD to sign up to sell it to the Government.
The highest population concentration in Canada was in Ontario and Quebec since the country was created. This was a political method of extracting value (wealth) from the west and maintaining food security, wealth and power in Eastern Canada for generations. Its funny strange, how those provinces somehow, did not have to participate in the mandatory Canadian Wheat Board.
So, the oppressive export laws made western Canadian farmers lazy marketers. For 70 years, there was no need to look at basis, supply demand, stocks to use ratios, or any wheat,corn or bean charts because all they had to do was grow it, and sign it over to the government to sell for them. After all, who knows your farm business better than a guy with a suit in an office 700 miles away, in Winnipeg? Year end ( actually 14-16 months after planting) you knew the government would average out the sales to everyone fair and equal. This created an underlying complacency in farmers as well. Fair and Equal just made a farmer realize that, he would take less, knowing full well, his neighbor would not get more.
In the last few years the CWB was nothing but a bloated bureaucratic entity full of pigs at the trough. There were 450 unionized employees in Winnipeg, and offices in different parts of the world all being paid by " designated area" farmers sales. The state of Kansas grows more wheat than ALL OF CANADA.
This is just my opinion, I am not a historian, and probably not completely accurate. I know I am damn close. I get enraged when I think of all the wealth that was extorted from great grandparents, grandparents, parents and my first 10 years farming in the "designated area'.
We did grow a lot of crop and market dynamics are pressuring prices down. There was plenty of opportunity to forward contract profitable prices for all the main grains we grew in 2013. The prices were still profitable STRAIGHT OFF THE COMBINE. This is the open market, there will be gains and losses. As always, the farms here will change Some will figure out a way to succeed, and some will fail. Wheat prices too low? Guess what, grow something else. Oats, barley, flax, quinoa, potatoes, cows, sheep goats, hemp, vegetables, heritage grains, heritage animals, pheasants, chickens, ducks, buckwheat, caraway, dill, coriander. condos, casinos, brothels, hospitals, resorts, rabbits, mink, FIGURE IT OUT. Eventually wheat supply will become less and the price will increase. I don't know when, and I don't know how much. I look at charts and take guesses.
I will proudly take my lumps on an open market now that I am FREE TO CHOOSE what to grow and whom I can sell to. Maybe I will succeed, maybe I wont... but I am free to decide without the risk of going to jail for selling my farm production.
Pretty good chance you will find a difference in opinion and history because it has been engrained for generations. I get so angered by the whole subject, it takes away my positive, productive energy, debating philosophies. I might as well argue about religion.
Edited by skdoog 12/19/2013 01:28
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Wheat Board
