Canadian Wheat Board

Canadian Wheat Board

Susan Allen
Susan Allen
For Today's Farm and Ranch Report I'm Susan Allen. In February this year The US Wheat Association and Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association urged the Canadian government to allow a free flow of grain in both directions across the border. Five years after the closure of the Canadian Wheat board Robin Speer Executive Director of the West Canadian Wheat Growers Assoc, see positive movement.

Speer: Average net returns over the last five years are higher. They have greater liquidity they can go and buy fertilizer and new equipment and crop protection products. They can plan better they don't have to wait for those payments based on that olds system, they are able to invest. We things like new craft breweries popping up, that couldn't have happened under the olds stem. There are new elevators, new investors and in fact just new option with in infrastructure improving as well, One of my farmer directors from Rose Valley uses producer cars , he loads his own cars and ships them to a customer in the United states. That couldn't happen under the board either. All of that is positive and good news. So all of that is positive and good news Farmers have a lot of freedom, for that matter they don't have to worry about going to prison for donating a bag of grain to a 4-h club in Montana. So I think the majority of farmers are seeing a positive system, better prices, better completion good news for modern farming in Western Canada.

The Canadian Wheat Board had been in place since the 1930's with farmers required to sell wheat through the board since WWII.

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