The Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) called for an independent review of risk management strategies at the Canadian Wheat Board.
“This years annual report shows substantial losses of nearly $90 million dollars in it’s pricing options programs,” said Doug Robertson, President of the Grain Growers of Canada.
“We certainly recognize that last year was a turbulent time for grain prices, but this is now the third consecutive year of losses and so one cannot simply blame market conditions.”
“There must be an independent review done asap, it must look at the last three years of operations and further the review must be made public,” said Robertson. “This is an organization that claims producer ownership and so it is essential that a full reporting be made back to those of us who market our wheat through the Board.”
“We understand that last year in the private sector, companies were much more careful in matching grain buying to actual sales and in some cases had exited the markets due to the high level of uncertainty. In other cases the grain industry appears to have had far better market intelligence on yields in other countries, like the Soviet Union, than what the CWB was able to ascertain.”
“For an organization that claims to hold more than 20% of the international market in wheat, one would hope it would be more on top of the situation in a timely basis,” said Robertson. “As a result, we will likely see a wider basis over the next several years at the Wheat Board, which will take money out of producer’s pockets to pay for these losses.”
“Farmers do want a choice of pricing tools within the CWB, so it is critical to identify the failures in risk management and then identify solutions for the future.”
