(OTTAWA) – Now that Western Canadian barley growers have spoken on how they want to market their product, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) asks the government to reveal its plan on maintaining the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) but allowing producers to market outside the CWB.

“Barley growers have spoken. They have however chosen an option that we don’t really understand or know if it’s even possible,” said Bob Friesen, CFA President. “There remains considerable uncertainty as to how the CWB can remain a viable marketer of barley in an open market. The federal government, which gave farmers this option, now must present a credible plan for a viable, open-barley-market CWB.”

CFA opposed the inclusion of the second option on the barley ballot which proposed not only maintaining the CWB but also giving barley producers the choice of marketing outside the CWB. CFA felt it was premature to suggest this option to farmers when the government has not made a case that the CWB can remain viable without single-desk selling.

“The accountability and mandate of any plebiscite must be based on clarity and understanding of the question and its inevitable impacts. Can the CWB be viable in barley markets without the single desk? That is a very legitimate concern,” said Friesen. “This has tremendous impacts also for the future of the wheat plebiscite as well. If the government cannot present a clear plan for wheat then wheat growers must be given a simple choice: single-desk selling, yes or no.”

CFA is also concerned about problems that occurred with the voting mechanism during the barley plebiscite: the compilation of the voters list, some voters receiving multiple ballots while others received none, accessibility issues for farmers wishing to get on the voters list, and questions about whether numbered ballots violated voter privacy. These problems must be fixed before the wheat vote.

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Founded in 1935 to provide Canada's farmers with a single voice in Ottawa, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is the country's largest farmers' organization. Its members include provincial general farm organizations as well as national and inter-provincial commodity organizations from every province. Through its members, CFA represents over 200,000 Canadian farmers and farm families.