Canada: Western barley farmers brace for more uncertainty in 2007

Western Canadian farmers who thought the fall of 2006 was a tumultuous time in the barley industry should brace themselves for at least a few more months of uncertainty, Canadian Press announced December 31.

A plebiscite this winter on the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on barley sales could significantly change the scope of a debate that has divided farmers for years.

But it's the results of a federal election that could come as early as this spring that will determine the issue's place on the priority list of whichever party takes power.

Farmers who have lobbied for years for an end to the board's monopoly are caught between their optimism that they'll finally see dual marketing and frustration that the minority federal Conservative government didn't take action earlier in its mandate.

"We are as close as we have ever been to achieving this," says Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, a Saskatchewan farmer and president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association.

"I think we're going to get there, I'm really holding on to that. I don't think the timeline is going to be what I want, but certainly we will see a marketing-choice environment. It just makes sense."

The government set off a firestorm in the fall when it appointed a task force to propose suggestions for making the dual-marketing system it promised in the last election work.

Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl said farmers will be allowed to vote on whether they want the monopoly on barley removed, but the plebiscite will be non-binding.

Opponents, such as the federal Liberals and NDP, the Manitoba and Saskatchewan governments and some farm groups, say the government's first step should have been to hold a plebiscite on both barley and wheat.

They argue the Canadian Wheat Board Act is clear that a government needs a mandate from farmers to remove the monopoly.

To drive home the point, the Manitoba government is spending $80,000 on a symbolic plebiscite asking farmers whether they want to abolish the single desk for both wheat and barley. Ballots must be postmarked by Jan. 5.

Some facts:

-The board is governed by the Canadian Wheat Board Act. The act was amended in 1998 so that the board is no longer a Crown corporation but an agency governed by 10 elected farmers, four directors appointed by the federal government and a president appointed by Ottawa in consultation with the board.

-It is the sole marketing agency for more than 85,000 farmers in Western Canada who grow wheat and barley for export or for human consumption in Canada. It returns all sales revenue, after marketing costs, to farmers.

-The board has about 20 per cent of the world's market share in wheat, 65 per cent in durum wheat, 30 per cent of malting barley and 15 per cent of feed barley.

-The Conservatives campaigned on a promise to give western Canadian farmers the freedom to make their own marketing and transportation decisions.

-The government plans to maintain a strong, viable wheat board, but make participation voluntary, starting with barley and later wheat.

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