The revamped Canadian WheatBoard is starting the first day of the new crop year with a grain-handling deal with one of the country’s largest agribusinesses.
Winnipeg-based Richardson International says it will accept grain deliveries from farmers with wheatboard contracts at all its locations in Western Canada.
Wheatboard president Ian White says the agreement will serve Prairie grain farmers who want the benefits of his agency’s pool prices.
“We congratulate Richardson for helping ensure the profitability of farmers and the western Canadian grain industry as we forge ahead into a new marketing era,” he said in a news release Wednesday.
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Federal legislation is now in effect that takes away the wheatboard‘s monopoly on western wheat and barley sales. That means western farmers can sell their grain to whomever they choose, whenever they choose.
It also means the board, which does not own any of its own terminals, must sign contracts with companies that can handle farmers’ grain.
White says the wheatboard now has more than 170 locations across the West where producers can deliver their crops.
The Conservative government was celebrating what it hails as marketing freedom day for western Canadian farmers. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz were to appear at a farm near Kindersley, Sask.
But New Democrat MP Pat Martin has said the Conservatives are gloating about killing what he calls the most successful grain marketing company in the world.
Liberal Ralph Goodale, minister responsible for the wheatboard when his party was in power, suggests an independent organization should monitor what happens in the marketplace to see if farmers are better or worse off.
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