WESTERN PRODUCER — Discontent is growing over the Canadian Grain Commission’s decision to harmonize primary and export test weights for wheat effective Aug. 1.
It has even brought together the National Farmers Union and the Wheat Growers Association, who disagree on many policy issues, to oppose the change.
They say it will cost farmers money and that the commission is not acting in farmers’ best interests.
Sask Wheat and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan have also publicly criticized the move.
The NFU and WGA issued a joint press release July 26 and asked newly reappointed federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay to get involved.
Glenn Tait, an NFU member who also sits on the Western Standards Committee that advises the commission, said the CGC disregarded the committee’s advice to hold off on implementing the change until an economic assessment had been done.
He said today wheat with a test weight of 60.4 pounds per bushel, for example, is No. 1 at a primary elevator.
“Next week, under the new export standards rule, that’s feed,” he said. “It could have a significant effect on some farmers.”
The harmonization will move the standard up to 63.3 lb. per bu. of CWRS, the organizations said, instead of the current 60.1.
The grain commission has said most farmers deliver at the higher standard anyway.
WGA chair Daryl Fransoo said farmers are also concerned that the commission is ignoring the committee.
“We are particularly concerned with the chief commissioner’s remarks stating that the Western Standards Committee’s input is not binding on the CGC, and there was no indication that there would be any further review of the serious and legitimate concerns raised by producer representatives,” he said.
APAS president Ian Boxall said that since concern was first raised a couple of weeks ago, the organization has been hearing from farmers who signed grain contracts and are wondering if their production will be assessed against the standards in place at the time of signing or those in place Aug. 1.
He said APAS is asking grain companies to honour the original terms of the contracts.
“The CGC has not publicly released any data or clear policy rationale for these changes and how they will affect farmers, and we do not believe that grain buyers should be assessing grain against the higher test weight standards until this economic assessment is completed,” he said.
More to come...
