"Whereas additional on-farm activities and local value-added processing are an excellent way to give farmers more influence in pricing, the Committee recommends that the board of directors of the Canadian Wheat Board authorize, on a trial basis, a free market for the sale of wheat and barley, and that it report to this Committee on the subject."
Mr. Robert Dzisiak, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Winnipeg Commodity Exchange Inc. (WCE), said "WCE supports this recommendation and in particular, a voluntary market for Canadian barley".
The domestic feed barley market has become the dominant market force in recent years. Throughout the 1980's Canadian Wheat Board sales accounted for, on average, in excess of 30 per cent of the total available Canadian supply of barley in any given year. This market share dropped to an average of slightly over 20 per cent during the 1990's, and is projected, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Supply/Demand forecasts, to represent only 14 per cent of the Canadian barley supply in the 2001-02 crop-year.
For 2001-02 and subsequent years it is anticipated that the vast majority of Canadian barley will be marketed via the open market system. The infrastructure, lines of trade, risk management products and knowledge levels required to support an orderly transition to a voluntary barley market are already in place.
The malt barley segment of the barley market (both the buy and sell side of the market), a small but high value component, could function in an efficient manner by using a pricing mechanism based on premiums to the open-market feed barley futures contract. WCE is committed to working with all segments of the barley market including producers, feed consumers, grain handlers, malt barley buyers and the Canadian Wheat Board to continue to develop an effective and efficient marketplace.
WCE looks forward to being an active and valuable contributor to the future achievements and success of Canadian agriculture and is committed to providing quality, customer focused products and services with integrity and professionalism.
WCE provides public price discovery and price risk management tools for canola, canola meal, flaxseed, field peas, feed wheat and feed barley.
