WBGA News Release
February 21, 2007

Canadian Wheat Board threatens to stop selling barley

Airdrie, AB - Ken Ritter Chairman of the board of the Canadian Wheat Board is musing that the CWB could somehow ignore their legislated requirement to buy all grain offered to it by producers.*

“Mr. Ritter’s statements are nothing more than empty rhetoric, bordering on violating the CWB’s own code of conduct for directors” says Jeff Nielsen, President of the Western Barley Growers Association. “Directors are to act in the best interest of the corporation, even the threat to contravene the CWB Act but refusing to market barley is in at best very poor judgment and at worst a violation of the directors code of conduct.” Nielsen states, “As the CWB is not accountable to farmers and has no legal duty of care to farmers, then it is up to the Minister and the disciplinary committee of the CWB to decide if Mr. Ritter’s comments are in violation of the Act.”

The CWB operates in the domestic feed barley market and has never complained that they were limited by not having handling facilities, or port terminals.

The CWB is a fully functioning system in the domestic feed business, states Nielsen, and they will continue to be if the open market is expanded to include malt and export barley. The export feed market is already open for feed mills says Nielsen, and the CWB still exports feed barley. “Mr. Ritter’s comments that the CWB cannot compete with an open market ring hollow when the CWB already operates with an open market with domestic and export feed barley. The WBGA is working with farmers and government to provide a choice market environment for farmers with the CWB” concludes Nielsen. For more information go to www.barleyvote.ca

*32. (1) The Corporation shall undertake the marketing of wheat produced in the designated area in interprovincial and export trade and for that purpose shall

(a) buy all wheat produced in the designated area and offered by a producer for sale and delivery to the Corporation at an elevator, in a railway car or at any other place in accordance with this Act and the regulations and orders of the Corporation

Regulation 9. Parts III and IV of the Act are hereby extended to barley.

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