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2000
December 8, 2000
CWB announces new program for organic farmers
Winnipeg - The CWB Board of Directors today announced a new program
for organic farmers. The program simplifies and lowers the cost of
the Producer Direct Sale (PDS), commonly known as the buy-back, by
enabling farmers to deal directly with the CWB, rather than
completing the transaction through their elevator. Farmers will
also be offered credit arrangements that will eliminate the
up-front costs of doing a Producer Direct Sale.
"This simplifies the process for organic farmers who want to find
their own buyers," said Ken Ritter, Board Chairman. "By changing
the Producer Direct Sale and offering credit arrangements, we're
making the process easier and more flexible for farmers. It should
also save them some of the additional costs they have to pay the
grain companies for administering the program."
The new program follows up on consultations held with farmers
earlier in the year, in which organic farmers clearly indicated the
Producer Direct Sale was cumbersome and posed problems for cash
flow. By extending credit, farmers will now be treated the same as
customers or accredited exporters who purchase from the CWB on
credit.
"Organic farmers expressed varied opinions on how to make
improvements to the buy-back process," said Ritter. "The new
programs are a compromise because they eliminate some of the
concerns about the unnecessary administration involved in
undertaking and financing a buy-back, without undermining the
principles of pooling and single desk selling."
Last year, 85 of an estimated 800 certified organic farmers on the
Prairies marketed their wheat, durum and barley themselves under
the Producer Direct Sale program. The balance of organic farmers
sold their grain through companies that market organic grain.
The credit program for organic farmers will run on a trial basis
and be reviewed regularly with users throughout the year. The new
programs will be launched early in the new year, along with more
detailed information on the process associated with undertaking a
Producer Direct Sale. "Our intention is to make it as simple and
easy for the farmer as possible," said Ritter.
The CWB is the world's largest farmer-controlled wheat and barley
marketer. Headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, it is one of
Canada's biggest exporters and the largest net earner of foreign
currency. Marketing prairie-grown wheat and barley to over 70
countries around the world, the CWB returns all sales revenue, less
the costs of marketing, to farmers in Western Canada.
