Features Business & Policy Business Management
CWB introduces new wheat pricing option for farmers

May 28, 2008

Winnipeg – Prairie farmers have
a new way to price their wheat, the CWB announced today. FlexPro, a year-round
wheat pricing contract with no tonnage limit, has been developed in time for
the new crop year, with sign-up beginning on June 23. 

“Farmers
have told us they want as much flexibility as possible in the way they price
and get paid for their grain,” said CWB President and CEO Ian White. “FlexPro is
the latest addition to a suite of Producer Payment Options specifically
designed in response to the business needs of today’s producers, whether
they’re focused on maximizing returns, minimizing risk or managing cash flow.”

Under
FlexPro, farmers can pick their own market-based prices on any day throughout
the crop year. Producers simply sign up their desired tonnage, with no maximum
limit at sign-up, between June 23 and July 28, 2008. Then, they lock in a price any business day
from August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009. They can choose to
offer all their tonnage at once or price different amounts on different days. 

“Since
2001, when the CWB rolled out its very first Producer Payment Option, we have
been constantly working to refine and improve the available mix of
grain-pricing choices,” White said. “It has been a time of great change for
this organization, led by a board of directors who are firmly focused on the
business priorities of farmers.”

Like
the other pricing options, FlexPro is available online through CWB e-Services,
enabling farmers to sign up and monitor their contracts from their own computers.
A target pricing service is also available on all Producer Payment Options.
Detailed program information on the CWB’s Producer Payment Options is available
at www.cwb.ca. A snapshot has been provided
below: 

• FlexPro: a year-round pricing contract
  for wheat, newly introduced for the 2008-09 crop year. Sign-up runs from
  June 23 and July 28, 2008 with no tonnage limit.
  Producers lock in prices any day of the new crop year for all or part of
  the tonnage committed.

• Fixed Price Contract: farmers choose a fixed price
  for wheat or durum, with tonnage signed up between February 25 and October 31, 2008.  

• Basis Price Contract: producers lock in a basis and
  futures value for their wheat at different times. For 2008-09, the period
  to lock in futures values runs from September
  4, 2007
  to October 31, 2008. The basis portion can be
  locked in between February 25 and October
  31, 2008.
  

• Early Payment Options: to help manage cash-flow,
  farmers can access 80, 90 or 100 per cent of the Pool Return Outlook for
  board grain (less a discount) shortly after delivery. Available
  early-payment values depend on what time of year producers deliver.

 Farmers
also have the option of being paid for all or part of their production through
the CWB pool accounts, which return them the average price received from all
sales made in a crop year, for their particular grade and class of grain.

Controlled
by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in
the world. One of Canada’s biggest exporters,
the Winnipeg-based company sells grain to over 70 countries and returns all
sales revenue, less marketing costs, to Prairie farmers.