Ken Larsen
July 19, 2011
Benalto, Alberta

I enjoyed reading “New opportunities expected from CWB death” in the July 16 Winnipeg Free Press www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/new-opportunities-expected-from-cwb-death-125680118.html, at least until I thought of who was being quoted and the effects on farmers.

Can any of those private traders / middlemen provide independently audited statements, like the CWB does which show they return over 98% of sales revenue back to farmers?

Of course they cannot because private traders must pay off bankers, risk managers, shareholders, provide executive bonuses, and get a return on investment. All that money has to come out of sales revenue before farmers get their cut. This is all money the CWB sends back to farmers. Could that be one of the reasons why farmers consistently elect CWB Directors who support the CWB’s single desk?

Another reason might be the consistent discontent among farmers with how unfairly they are treated by the private trade. Just this spring there was a strong effort to have canola marketed by the Wheat Board for example.

I know that the more money farmers have the more we spend in our communities and I do not see how killing the CWB so we can have a few more private traders makes any business sense for my farm or my community.

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