New Saskatchewan report says grain contracts favour buyers

A new report says grain purchase contracts are heavily tilted in favour of grain buyers, putting Saskatchewan farmers at a disadvantage.

The report was written by Mercantile Consulting Venture Inc. and was commissioned by SaskCrops and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS).

The report also found that only 46 per cent of Prairie grain farmers feel that they are being treated fairly by contracts.

The report is a wider scale response to rising concerns amongst Saskatchewan farmers around the transparency of grain purchase contract terms and conditions between farmers and grain buyers.

“We want to get some clarity and transparency around some of the terms and some of the conditions of the contract so that no matter which buyer you sell to, you understand that if you can’t fulfill the contract, here’s the penalty, here’s the process,” said Ian Boxall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan.

“We’re just asking for some consistency, some transparency, some clarity within grain contracts”

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The report also suggests that improving grain contracts for Saskatchewan grain farmers will benefit not only farmers, but also grain companies and the entire industry.

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The Mercantile report outlines several possible solutions to improve clarity and balance between farmers and grain buyers within the contracts.

Boxall says he’d like to have an open discussion next with grain buyers, elevator associations and stakeholders to find possible solutions.

“It doesn’t work if it just works for the grain buyer and it doesn’t work if it just works for the seller. We need a process and a contract that works for both and I think the next step is that we all get in a room, sit down and come up with some solutions that work for everybody.”