THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
VOL. 90 | NO. 10 | $3.75
CURLING ROOTS |
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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PRIDE OF THE PRAIRIES BULL SHOW AND SALE
Bull show judge Bob Switzer, from Aneroid, Sask., looks over a group of Charolais Bulls at the 93rd Annual Pride of the Prairies Bull Show and Sale in Lloydminster on March 3. This year there were nearly 200 entries. Producers from Alberta and Saskatchewan showed their livestock March 4 in preparation for the sale, which took place March 5. We’ll have more coverage in next week’s issue. | JUSTINA CONTENTI PHOTO
WHEAT | MARKETING
CWB, Cargill ink historic agreement Preparing for the future | Canadian Wheat Board expects first farmer contracts will be signed by the end of the month SASKATOON NEWSROOM
The Canadian Wheat Board has signed an historic deal — its first commercial grain handling agreement with a major corporate player. The CWB reached the agreement with Cargill, which has 30 country elevators in Western Canada and port facilities in Vancouver, Thunder Bay and Baie Comeau, Que. The company also has a partial interest in a terminal facility in Prince Rupert, B.C. ,and is a joint owner of Prairie Malt in Biggar, Sask. CWB president Ian White said it is an important first step that will clear the way for the formal rollout of new programs and post single-desk contracts. The CWB will continue to seek similar agreements with other grain handlers in hopes of improving delivery
IAN WHITE CWB PRESIDENT
options for growers, he added. “From our perspective, it (the Cargill agreement) is an important landmark … and now we’re obviously on to doing the same sorts of agreements with other companies.” White said the CWB’s first farmer contracts are likely to be signed before the end of March. “It’s probably going to be in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
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Cargill is the third largest grain handler in Western Canada behind Viterra and Richardson Pioneer, which rank first and second, respectively. Cargill’s total storage capacity at primary elevators on the Prairies is estimated at 665,000 tonnes, based on Canadian Grain Commission statistics. That includes 30 primary elevators across the Prairies. By comparison, Viterra’s capacity is 1.98 million tonnes at 92 primary elevators across the West. Richardson has 53 primary elevators in the West with total capacity of 936,000 tonnes. Cargill also controls 176,000 tonnes of terminal capacity at Thunder Bay and 237,000 tonnes of capacity at Vancouver. Cargill vice-president Peter Rowe said the new agreement means Cargill will offer the CWB’s complete portfolio of contracts to farmers.
He said it is still unclear how that volume will be affected in an open market environment. “We’ve talked to a lot of our farmer customers and they indicated they were very interested in doing business still with the wheat board in some form or fashion, so we have to respond to that need.” Critics of the federal government’s move to eliminate the wheat board’s sales monopoly on wheat, malt barley and export barley have suggested that grain handling companies would have no reason to sign agreements with a competing grain handler such as the CWB. In a news release issued last week, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said the agreement with Cargill suggests otherwise. access=subscriber section=news,crops,markets
SEE CWB, CARGILL SIGN DEAL, PAGE 2
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u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv,:! MARCH 8, 2012 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4 The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Inc. Publisher, Larry Hertz Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240; Registration No. 10676
BY BRIAN CROSS