Dear Editor;
In the August 7, 2008 edition of the Western Producer, Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association (WCWGA), trots out another queer Yankee study claiming Canadian grain producers would receive higher prices for their wheat it only they could sell on the open market like U.S. farmers.
We have heard that claim being made for a lot of years. Probably as often as complaints from the North Dakota Wheat Commission that the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) is price-dumping wheat into the U.S. market.
I for one will not try to change Cherilyn’s mind nor her small band of WCWGA supporters but maybe just maybe she will pay attention to what American millers are saying when buying Canadian wheat.
I have in my file, a statement made by John Gillcrist, chairman of the North American Millers Association (NAMA) while appearing before the International Trade Commission.
I quote, “As we have testified over and over we are forced to pay higher, not lower prices for Canadian wheat. It is so obvious; at least it is to us. The fact that U.S. millers consistently buy more than 80 percent of their supplies from U.S. growers proves we get no price discounts from Canada.”
It is not difficult to understand the point Gillcrist is making, but it sure blows a big hole in Cherilyn’s claim that Canadian wheat producers are short changed with CWB marketing.
John Gillcrist further states U.S. millers buy more American wheat than all export buyers put together and that’s no small potatoes in the market.
For me, Gillcrist’s statements cut a lot more ice than those phony studies the WCWGA keep dredging up.
Henry Neufeld
Waldeck, Sask.