Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 8, 1973, Winnipeg, Manitoba Lloyd Clark company limited a Manitoba company 1928 office equipment sales service 326 William ave., Winnipeg 942-2201 Winnipeg free press business be Post tuesday May 8, 1973 Burnell motor 0. 1965 it. 255 Burnell 775-2486 Austin-m6-Triumph Sulho Riith Loyland idols a spotlighted this Issue now crops and carryovers Are Foremost in the thinking of Farmers and marketing agencies As Busi Ness report turns the spotlight on agriculture. Reports include operations of the Winnipeg commodities Exchange the Canada grains Council the Canadian wheat Board the provincial department of agriculture marketing boards the Canadian Grain commission and leather and wheat conditions around the world and Here at Home. Also included Are regular features written by Audrey Morris a. B. Brookes and John Clark. Some of the smaller elevator companies in Western Canada feel the present formula for allo Cating Box cars to country Cleaton gives the larger wheat pools an unfair advantage. Box car allocation problem stumps Grain companies Elaine Brown Western Canadian Grain elevator companies have a problem for which nobody seems to be Able to find a satisfactory solution. The p r o b i c m centres around Grain Box car allo cation under the Bracken formula which the smaller companies feel gives the wheat pools a larger advantage and the Freedom of the Grain producer to de liver to the elevator of his Choice. All of the Grain Compa Nies suffer from the prob world crop conditions at critical stage by John Mcmanus floods tear of further famine and drought presents a critical picture of world crop conditions As the crop year nears an end with the lowest wheat carryover re corded in recent history. The five commissioners of the Canadian wheat Board headed by chief commissioner g. N. Vogl arc in Ottawa to Brief members of the commons agriculture com Mittic on the situation. Dave Suderman information director for the Board summarized current conditions and the Outlook for Canadian producers in an interview. The carryover at the end of the crop year july. 31 for the five exporting countries United Stales Canada Australia France Argentina is estimated at 850 Mil lion bushels. World consumption of wheat is about 34 million a Day. This would leave world Consumers hungry after 55 Days without the current crop to fall Back on. The carryover figure lowest since 1950, is misleading As it does t take into account All crops harvested and actual Supply. Or. Suderman said virtually in eight months the usual surplus has increased sales to Russia and China have helped to melt the usual surplus. Australia one of Canada s competitors at he world bargaining table continues to be plagued by drought. It s estimated the australian crop which had established a 450 million Bushel Norm would be Down 35 per cent. Last year it produced Only 200 million bushels. South Africa is in the grip of a drought. Drought in some Stales famine in of hrs has killed India s goal of self sufficiency in the next decade. Her reserves have fallen drastically and the government has stepped in to control Grain at the wholesale level. Reports out of India blame regional control for the Brink of famine in some areas and hoarding in others. The wheat Board spokesman indicated if widespread famine Falls on India the carry Over countries will be unable to meet the disaster and Supply traditional customers. Earlier this year the chief commissioner of the wheat Board said this year requires not just average crops but really Good crops in All major producing areas just in squeak by. The possibility of building Hack up any significant level of stocks in one year is very in effect or. Vogel said this could t be done even with bumper crops. A similar statement had come in february from the director general of the food and agriculture organization. The chances of there being enough sup plies of food Grain in the critical months this summer until the Middle of next year 1974 will depend entirely on the size the 1973 ire said. This statement had followed a report that there had been a Sharp drop in uncommitted wheat reserves largely in the United Stales was causing concern about the Supply of Grain for human consumption in the year ahead. The wheat Hoard feels the demand for Canadian Grain in the next crop year will he Strong. Kales will depend on production in inc Northern hemisphere. The Board is keeping one Eye on other countries in this sphere and the other on its own currently dry Canadian Prairies. Grain sales experts arc wondering what the weather is going to do every in the . The Winter wheat crop looks Good although no one knows the effect the div staling floods will have on Iho Harvest. It s Corn crop could suffer from a week s delay in planting. A report from Kansas City said the 1973 hard wheat crop is running late about seven to 10 Days but Good weather could make up the Lime lost. Texans have been delivering hard wheat since Early this month. Here at Home the Manitoba department of agriculture has set up a committee to Deal with possible drought conditions. Its main concerns arc Low level of the ground water table throughout much of the province the possibility of Low moisture Avail ability for crops particularly pasture and Bay crops. Because of world conditions the . Has decided to Stop issuing any More authorizations covering exports of wheat until it gets a fresh Reading on the Likely size of this year s Winter wheat crop. Or. Suderman said Russia which is inc world s biggest wheat producer will be a key Factor in Canada s sales even if it Only buys half of the amount it bought this year. He said an Early cold spell curbed the Winter wheat seeding in Russia and its crop could be reduced. A poor crop in Russia has a double effect. It has to buy and it can t Supply the Iron curtain countries that Are dependent on in. Poland of course has now become a traditional Canadian customer and a new contract is under or. Suder Man said. Reporting on other areas of lie world he said severe drought has also hit the Middle Easl. Turkey which normally has a crop of 400 million bushels is suffering. Syria Egypt Lebanon and Israel have All been hit by drought. By the end of this crop year Canada will have exported an estimated lion million bushels. It s carryover is estimated about one third of the world carryover. The carryover of 375 million will have to last until the new crop is in and will pro vide exports to Russia and China from a gust through october. It is scattered in elevators and Board permitted farms across the country. A ten years the total of delivering Farmers has shrunk from to the present total with Little effect on production. India has put out an urgent Call for two to three million tons to relieve her Short age and place a dint in the carryover total. Or. Suderman no cd that the West is the beneficiary of the unfortunate countries and prices will Rise for the Export Grain. Last week the Export Price at St. Lawrence ports was and a at Thunder Bay. The 17v4 difference represents handling and transport Between the two Points. At the meeting in Ottawa the wheat Board was ready with a review and Market Outlook statement. However Here is a possibility Domestic sales will be the main in Terest of Eastern Canada maps. 1cm in varying degrees at times when the elevators Are congested. The problem is nut Evi Dent now since Grain is moving rapidly from the country to the sea ports and extra Box cars arc being Al located to Siose who need them. But recurrence of the problem is inevitable in the opinion of most involved and it could drive the smaller companies out of business in inc eyes of those companies now losing. Basically the problem docs not lie in the actual Bracken formula which worked satisfactorily for 16 years following its inception in 1959, but in the Lack of the former congested policy which became unworkable when the Block loading sys tem was introduced in under the Bracken for Mula Box cars arc allocated to ail 45 shipping blocks within the wheat Board area. Competing companies in each shipping Block receives a percentage of cars based on a 52 week rolling average of handling. A company can allocate its cars within the Block As it wishes but cannot move continued on Page 14 the Canadian wheat Board implements a congestion policy Only during the last three months of the crop year in order to move Grain rapidly to port. When the Harvest begins to come in this fall Many Small elevator companies feel they will again feel the strength of the wheat pools which could push them right out of business. Wheat Pool against new overseas office Little love for master marketing Board by John Mcmanus William p. Bill Jansson says he does t see the need for a master Market ing Board but there could be closer integration of the present boards. He also said in an inter View there Lias been no move to create a beef mar it c i i g Board although there Are obvious weak Nesses in inc route from producer through processor to the Market. Or. Janssen an economics graduate and former teacher at the University of. Saskatchewan is rounding out his third year As director of the planning secretariat at the Manitoba depart ment of agriculture. The Post was created in 1970 to lorm a direct i i Between Day to Day depart mental operation Ami policy decision at the ministerial level. The director said the secretariat has filled an omis Sion Gap i lid created the interest of other provinces. Saskatchewan has set up a similar Agency and Alberta is expected to announce one soon he said. Or. Jansson said he could not see formation of a master Market Board by continued on Page 15 by Elaine Brown establishment of a Canada grains Council office in Japan who Only be a duplication of an already complicated organization is the opinion of the Manitoba wheat Pool. I m not saying Here in t a need for More to be done in Japan but t Don t think we need More organizations in More places. The existing organizations should do More particularly the Canadian wheat r. E. Huff Al Gen eral manager of the Pool said in an interview. The Canada grains coun cil voted to establish an of fice in Japan during its re cent annual meeting at the hotel fort Garry. Or. Moffat said an additional office in the Pacific rim or any other place could Only be either danger Ous or useless. Any new office can Only do two things. It can either say me too and agree with everything the existing of fice does consequently being totally useless or it can become a rival if Only because of professional Jea Lousy which is the Resolution the Council passed states that the office would operate in co opera Tion with and complement the efforts of the Trade and government agencies engaged in promotion and m a r k c t i n g of Canadian in fact or. Moffat. Said the Pool finds the entire Council redundant. It is Good to have an other organization for a while to stir up the older organizations to make them come Back to life but if these become permanent it is merely bureaucratic rivalry which he said. I m not saying the coun cil has not done a Good Job for a while. Nor am 1 saying that each individual in the Council is not doing the Best Job that he can. But inc Council has served its Pur pose and is beginning to do the same old research All Over again. They arc researching the research. By Pic time this has been done it s All out of Dale and it All has to be researched again. We continued on i age 15 Bill Janssen ser ves As Liaison Between provincial agriculture department and the Cabinet. Altai r2s we be got what. It takes to take what you be got ;