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2009
Farmer optimism clashes with weather fears: CWB survey
June 18, 2009
Winnipeg – Ongoing optimism among Prairie farmers, buoyed by strong grain prices, is being challenged by serious concerns about the effect of this year's weather on crops.
The CWB's 2009 producer survey shows 60 per cent of farmers continue to believe that agriculture is headed in the right direction. The upbeat results are similar to last year's survey, conducted when grain prices had reached all-time highs. While prices have since fallen off, wheat returns for 2008-09 will be the second-highest in history.
However, weather has emerged as a serious concern in this year's survey, with one in four farmers citing this as their biggest challenge when the survey was fielded in late April. Conditions have since grown more severe, with western Canadian production predicted to drop by 20 per cent this year.
"We grow food for the world, which means our product will remain in high demand – even in the midst of a global economic recession," said CWB chair Larry Hill, who grows grain and pulse crops near Swift Current. "However, in the short term, most of us face major weather worries: too dry in the west, too wet in the east and a cold spring everywhere."
The cost of inputs such as fertilizer, fuel and pesticides continue to be the top farmer concern by far, with 52 per cent listing this as their biggest problem this year, above grain prices (the top concern for 36 per cent) and weather concerns. Yet worry over input costs is down markedly from last year, when 66 per cent considered them a major challenge and the year before, when 72 per cent listed these costs as a major problem.
Other issues – including those surrounding the CWB – are far less pressing to most farmers, with grain marketing cited as a top challenge by 12 per cent of respondents, while farm labour and CWB issues were named as the biggest problem by two per cent of producers.
"As farmers, we are most concerned with the issues that affect our day-to-day business and our bottom lines," Hill said. "This is where the focus must lie for policymakers – whether those of us around the CWB board table or government legislators at all levels."
The survey also shows that farmers increasingly feel a sense of ownership of the CWB. Eighty-three per cent said they believed the CWB is run by its board of directors, not by the federal government. This compares to 74 per cent last year and only 57 per cent in 2000, the year after sweeping changes were made to the CWB – including creation of a mostly farmer-elected board to oversee CWB operations.
Seventy-two per cent agreed that the CWB is farmer-controlled, while 61 per cent said they feel as though they are one of the owners.
"We conduct this survey to gauge how all farmers view the marketing organization that they elect us to run, so this trend is encouraging," Hill said. "Our goal is to achieve 100-per-cent awareness that farmers are in charge."
General support for the CWB among farmers is up six percentage points from last year, with 71 per cent indicating they support the CWB (46 per cent "strongly"), while a similar number said the views of the CWB were "very close" or "somewhat close" to their own.
The survey was conducted among 1,300 producers in the three Prairie provinces. Results have been posted at www.cwb.ca/public/en/farmers/surveys/producer/ .
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 organization sells grain to over 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less marketing costs, to farmers.
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For more information, please contact:
Maureen Fitzhenry,
CWB media relations manager
(204) 983-3101
Cell: (204) 227-6927
maureen_fitzhenry@cwb.ca
2009 CWB Producer Survey
Summary of key points:
Most farmers remain optimistic for the future of agriculture:
- 60% say agriculture is headed in the right direction. Optimism is highest in Saskatchewan, where 64% believe things are looking up.
- While generally optimistic, 65% expect conditions to be worse than last year
- 52% cite input costs as a major challenge, compared to 66% last year and 72% the year before. 36% of farmers said grain prices are their biggest challenge, 24% cited the weather.
- Other issues, including CWB issues, are far less important to farmers.
More producers feel a sense of ownership of the CWB:
- 83% believe the CWB is run by a board of directors, not the federal government. This is up from 74% last year and 57% in 2000.
- 72% agreed that the CWB is farmer-controlled because farmers elect a majority of its directors
- 61% said they felt as though they were an owner of the CWB
- For the first time ever, less than half of farmers (49%) believe that the federal government has more say over major CWB decisions than farmers do. 43% believe farmers have more say, up from 26% last year and 12% in 2000.
- 71% rated the CWB as "excellent" (41%) or "fair" in being accountable to farmers
The CWB continues to have a strong support base among farmers:
- 70% said the views of the CWB are very close or somewhat close to their own, up from 64% last year.
- 71% said they support the CWB (46% "strongly"), up from 65% last year.
- 43% indicated that their impression of the CWB is better than it was two years ago, while only 12% said it was worse.
Marketing preferences are stable:
- Support for single-desk marketing (for both wheat and barley) has increased for both wheat (up three percentage points) and barley (up six percentage points). These are among the highest support levels for the single desk since this survey was first fielded in 1998.
- For barley marketing, support for so-called "dual marketing" has dropped to its lowest level in the history of the survey (40%). Of those who preferred a "dual market", 52% said they would not choose it if they thought it would lead to the end of the CWB.
- Support for an open barley market declined four percentage points to 20%.
- When asked to choose only between the CWB single desk or an open market for wheat, 63% chose the single desk and 31% the open market. For barley, 42% chose the single desk and 46% the open market, while 12% refused to answer.
Genetically-modified (GM) wheat
- Most farmers (69%) oppose the introduction of GM wheat at this time. Only 9% want it to be grown as soon as possible.
- 51% of farmers said they are not interested at all in growing a GM wheat variety.
