Canada: Barley plebiscite results are not surprising
The results of the barley plebiscite are not overly surprising, according to CWB’s news room, March 28. The CWB has been surveying farmers every year for the past 10 years and these results appear to be consistent with our annual findings.
“If we as farmer-directors of the CWB have not moved to offer farmers a ‘so-called’ dual market or ‘marketing choice’ as the federal government calls it, it is because our analysis of this option has consistently shown that it would cost farmers and reduce their returns from the sale of barley.
Last week we met to again consider the issue and we arrived at the same conclusion: if the CWB does not have the single desk, or a complete set of assets, we can no longer add value to the marketing of barley from Western Canada.
This is the fundamental reason why the results of the government’s barley plebiscite are not meaningful: it offered a choice – option two – that is not realistic, possible or achievable. You cannot have a strong, viable CWB in an open market. The question, as designed by the Minister and as we have maintained from the moment the wording was announced, has skewed the entire process.
It is also the board’s position that if any change is made to the products the CWB markets, the government needs to change the Act through legislative change. You cannot change the CWB’s mandate through a change in regulation.
When we poll farmers, it is to identify their needs from a marketing point of view and we have responded to their needs very aggressively. The farmer-controlled board of directors has gone a long way to provide flexibility in terms of pricing, payment and delivery and we've got plans to go even further.
As well, the board of directors will be meeting in the coming weeks to address this issue.”
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