Canada: Doubt slows barley sales

Barley sales by Western Canadian farmers are a little slower than normal due to uncertainty over government legislation to end the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly, the chief executive of the CWB said, according to Reuters, May 13.

"With the issues in the market place, we're not seeing quite the level of take up on the sales side as we would normally see," Ian White, chief executive of the CWB, told Reuters after appearing before a parliamentary committee.

But White said he expected sales to pick up over the next couple of months, adding that they're "still relatively on track."

"There is some uncertainty ... I'm not saying anything other than things are a little slow," he said.

The Conservative government introduced a bill in Parliament in March to end the CWB's barley monopoly by August 1. But the legislation has yet to be debated and is seen as unlikely to win the required support from opposition parties.

White has said in the past it would be difficult for the CWB to forward-sell barley for the upcoming market year, which begins August 1, until the government provides clarity on its mandate.

The farmer-controlled CWB is one of the world's largest grain sellers with annual revenue of about C$5 billion.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he is intent on ending the CWB's government-granted monopoly on barley and, eventually, wheat, but those plans have been stalled by a court ruling that said the changes must be put to Parliament.

White told the parliamentary committee he supports the idea of a monopoly but only if he can prove that it adds value for Western Canadian farmers.

"I support the concept of single-desk selling. But we have to be able to demonstrate ultimately -- because it's the farmers of Western Canada that will I hope ultimately decide whether they want this or not -- it is my role to be able to demonstrate to them the value of the single desk."

The government wants to give farmers the option of selling directly to buyers or through the CWB, a "voluntary" system that critics say is not feasible.

White conceded that the "dual market" idea was problematic and that more study was needed to determine what the CWB's role would be in such a system.

Seeking to quell suspicions that he has been ordered to follow Harper's orders, White said he has never been asked by the government to end the CWB's monopoly.

15 May, 2008