June 13, 2007

Canada's wheat board to end barley control on August 1

Monopoly on sales of barley to export markets by Canada Wheat Board will stop on August 1, Canadian Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl announced on June 12.

Strahl told a group of 40 cheering farmers in a farmyard west of Winnipeg that the amendments have been approved and are now effective as law.

Barley futures at the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange rose to their daily limit yesterday, with the October contract ahead CAD$7.50 per tonne, almost 5 percent, at CAD$163.

Barley futures have shot up 19 percent during the past three weeks as traders anticipated the change, which some believed would happen earlier than the usual August 1 date which is the start of Canada's crop marketing year.

The CWB, one of the world's largest grain sellers, focuses on wheat marketing, but barley sales accounted for about 11 percent of its CAD$3.5 billion in revenue in the year ended July 31, 2006. 

US$1 = 1.06 CAD (Canadian Dollar)