Agriculture Committee on May 14th, 2009

[Ian White]

The judgment, from the Wheat Board's perspective, is that the organic market is an extremely small market. There are very significant premiums to be gained by organic producers, which are quite variable, and the Wheat Board itself actually markets a very small quantity of organic grain.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Eyking for five minutes.

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The reality is that sometimes we don't appreciate something until it's gone. As a vegetable grower, I sold by myself and I sold within a board. I know the difference between being alone and being with a board and the advantages of selling in a cooperative.

Recently I was on the trade committee, and we toured many Arab countries, China, and many other Asian countries, and often we heard the Wheat Board being mentioned. I would ask these people why they buy from the Wheat Board, and they would say it's because of its constant quality, it's easy to deal with as far as purchase agreements go, even transportation issues, and so forth.

You mentioned, Mr. White, how we have to compete with the big boys out there in the world. I know how hard it is for an individual grower to be out there selling on his own. Can you expand a little more on that? When you're selling to places...for instance, I saw our wheat in Yemen and the Canadian Wheat Board bag there and they really like our product, or you're in China. Can you give us a little more detail on when you're selling to those markets? A grower will try to sell in those markets.

I'd like to leave the minute left in my questioning to Monique, so perhaps you can do it in two minutes.

[Ian White]

Generally, the arrangement is that you are selling against large competitors that have origins other than Canada. They are generally large trading companies, and growers from those countries are not selling to those markets. That is accumulated by large trading houses in, say, Australia at the moment and sold into those markets.

You are also dealing with large customers. Generally the customers have significant market power. They can buy from anybody they like. You have to offer those customers a range of services, such as constant quality, consistency, shipping timing to the day, etc., to give you an advantage and to brand your offering over what someone else can do. That's what we try to do in terms of the marketing effort we have.

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

There was one more thing that I found they were saying. It was the consistent quality. There's consistent quality because it goes through a very stringent process. You must go through the Grain Commission. We always had that consistent quality when it went to these countries.

[Ian White]

We draw from the large pool of grain, and we try to understand all the qualities that are evident there, even within classes. We make sure that we service customers with the quality we get. Mind you, that's another area that we should be able to get a premium associated with.

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Monique, Atlantic Canada is a hard place to grow grain. I'm from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. We have a lot of disadvantages, but you mentioned a niche market that we could be filling in Atlantic Canada. How can government help to go after those niche markets, whether in marketing or in getting new varieties to suit those niche markets?

[Monique McTiernan]

Actually, the varieties would help. Because we're so isolated, we get a chance to grow the seed part, the canola part. We can grow the seed, or the flax seed, because we're so isolated that it doesn't get contaminated. But we don't have the infrastructure. For example, we've established a flax market in our area. We've realized we can grow flax, and we have a small niche market established, but we don't have the infrastructure to keep the crop. We don't have the aeration. So that would probably be one of the areas that could be looked at.

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Would you say there should be more cooperation between ACOA and Agriculture Canada to help you with that infrastructure and research?

[Monique McTiernan]

Yes, the best part would be the variety. It has to fit our climate and our very maritime market.

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

What markets do you think we could be going after? Would it be Europe, Asia?

[Monique McTiernan]

We're not even self-sufficient, as you know very well. We can't even fill our own markets. We have our own market right there, but on the island, they actually have the soybeans going to Japan, through Robert MacDonald. So there are possibilities. But we're not even self-sufficient.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Mr. Storseth.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Maybe Ms. McTiernan could talk to Mr. Fowler about some of the varieties of wheat that he testified about at the last committee meeting. We're not even allowed to produce these varieties in western Canada, but they're producing them in Montana to increase yield amounts.

I'd like to talk to the Wheat Board a bit about the Gibson report that Mr. Anderson brought up. You mentioned that Mr. Gibson had indeed worked for the Wheat Board in the early nineties and you didn't think there was a conflict. He was in charge of, or worked with, policy risk management. Is that correct?

[Ian White]

That's right.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Ms. Kaastrawas also part of this report. She worked for the Wheat Board as well?

[Ian White]

Yes, I believe so.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

How long ago?

[Ian White]

I don't know.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Mr. Sauder was also part of this report and he also worked for the Wheat Board? All right.

I think it's important to bring it up, because we have Mr. Easter ranting and raving at our subcommittee about bureaucrats who work for Canada Post conducting the inquiry on food safety. Yet he seems to have no problem with the Wheat Board looking into the Wheat Board on its own report.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Twenty-two people died.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

That's not a political point, Mr. Easter. That is a sad thing for Canadians across this country, and I would appreciate it if you thought that as well.

Mr. White, would you be willing to share this full report with the committee?

[Ian White]

That's a matter for the board of the Canadian Wheat Board.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Would you bring that back to the board of the Canadian Wheat Board for us?

[Ian White]

Yes, I certainly could.