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How will farmer returns be affected if single desk marketing for wheat and barley is eliminated?
Doesn’t the CWB works to maximize returns to farmers?
How will farmer returns be affected if single desk marketing for wheat and barley is eliminated?
Alberta is proposing the
test open market in order to move towards a more prosperous, sustainable farm
and agri-industry sector.
Farmer returns are
primarily based on the global marketplace. Dividing the small Canadian portion
of that global market into CWB-bought grain and open-market grain will not have
an adverse effect on world market prices.
Alberta’s
producers successfully market other grains on the open market. Marketing choice
would allow them to do the same for wheat and barley designated for export and
human consumption.
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Doesn’t the CWB works to maximize returns to farmers?
No. Only individual
farmers know what is best for them in terms of maximizing their
returns.
The CWB cannot and does
not maximize returns to all farmers. That would suggest picking the highest
price day of the year and selling all wheat/barley through the
locations/customers that provide the best returns to customers. The CWB may
attempt to maximize sales price levels, but it does not necessarily attempt to
maximize volumes.
Alberta
supports individual initiative and individual risk and reward. The CWB does not
know – nor could it know – each individual farmer’s needs in terms of cash
flows, fixed costs, break-even points, etc. For example, a good sale for one
farmer (early movement, early cash payment) may not be acceptable to another
(one who can afford to hold his grain until spring in anticipation of higher
prices).
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