national
farmers union
national
farmers unionSWIFT CURRENT, Sask.-The NFU applauds the CWB's decision to protect its price pooling system which delivers increased returns, risk management, and price equity to farmers. Organizers of Prairie Pasta said that they would build a pasta plant in western Canada if the CWB would grant them a separate pool account so that its investors could access higher domestic prices rather than pooling returns with all farmers. Currently, all farmers, including those linked to Prairie Pasta, share the higher prices from the Canadian domestic milling markets.
"A separate pool for pasta plant investors would have eroded price pooling, equity, and support for the CWB. It would have delivered higher prices to some farmers at the expense of others. The CWB directors made a prudent and fair decision on this matter and offered Prairie Pasta organizers a unique package of delivery and price flexibility mechanisms," said NFU Sask. Board member and Swift Current-area farmer Stewart Wells.
The CWB has a sterling track record when it comes to fostering value-added processing. The Canadian barley malting industry is well established and growing, most recently with plant expansion at Biggar, Sask. "Malt plant operators will tell you that CWB marketing provides a positive climate for value-added processing of barley. The same is true for flour milling and pasta production," said Wells.
Wells noted that Prairie Pasta has threatened to locate its plant in the U.S. if the CWB did not grant it a separate pool. "The price processors pay for durum is exactly the same on both sides of the border," said Wells. He continued: "the costs for Prairie Pasta will be the same no matter which side of the border it chooses. If it chooses to set up in the U.S., it will be for political or philosophical reasons, not because of anything the CWB has or has not done."
Wells concluded: "Value-added processing can be good for farmers and the economy, but it must not come at the expense of other farmers. The decision by CWB directors paves the way for Prairie Pasta to move ahead with its plant and it preserves the CWB's single-desk price premiums and risk-managing pooling system. Prairie Pasta must now get on with the extremely challenging task of raising money, building its plant, finding markets, and breaking into the extremely competitive North American processing market."
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