The Canadian Wheat Board’s annual producer survey of Prairie grain growers finds farmers, whether they support or oppose the CWB’s single marketing desk, insisting that the federal government make no move to eliminate the CWB without farmer consent.
The survey, conducted in early spring among 900 farmers in the three Prairie provinces, found 76 per cent of respondents agreed Ottawa should not eliminate the CWB without first obtaining farmers’ consent. Also, the CWB reported, 79 per cent said the ultimate decisions about the CWB must be made by farmers, not by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
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The survey results, released Wednesday, find about 60 per cent of farmers polled say they believe the federal government has more say than farmers over decisions at the CWB, compared to 49 per cent in 2009.
“The message from farmers is crystal clear: they want to be firmly in charge of their marketing organization and call the shots on its future,” CWB chairman Allen Oberg of Forestburg, Alta. said in the release. “As CWB directors and their elected representatives, we also want assurances that farmers have real clout.”
On marketing structure, 69 per cent of respondents supported keeping the single marketing desk for Prairie wheat, while “almost half,” 48 per cent, prefer the CWB single desk for barley over the open market.
Support for the “dual marketing” concept for barley has dropped “significantly” over the past five years, from 54 per cent in 2005 to 39 per cent this year, the CWB said.
“This suggests the barley debate is about something other than generating the best prices for malting barley,” Oberg said.
The extent of federal government involvement in the CWB’s affairs has made somewhat of a comeback as an issue in recent months, after the Conservative government pledged in this spring’s Throne speech to “ensure the freedom of choice for which Western barley farmers overwhelmingly voted.”
Support for the CWB in its producer survey generally remained about the same, with 70 per cent saying they support the organization. That figure rises to 76 per cent among those who conduct at least 25 per cent of their business through the CWB, the board noted.
Among farmers’ responses to other issues discussed in the survey, 83 per cent said their freight costs are “unreasonable;” 92 per cent wanted the CWB to advocate “strongly” for a government review of railway costs for transporting grain; and 55 per cent said they believe a global trade deal through the WTO would decrease their profits.
The CWB said its survey is considered accurate within 3.24 per cent.
