CWB expands wheat storage program

Sign-up begins today for the Canadian Wheat Board’s expanded wheat storage program, which will offer farmers up to $15 per tonne to store high-quality wheat.

The CWB announced on Tuesday that the storage program, in its second year, will be expanded to all delivery points across Western Canada that have access to high-quality spring wheat and are able to load 25-, 50- or 100-car blocks.

The program is meant to help farmers hold wheat in reserve from good harvests to offset the risk of being unable to supply premium customers in “valuable, long-term markets” in years of lower quality or smaller stocks, the board said.

Farmers can sign up for the program by providing samples through their local elevator agents. Farmers loading producer cars can provide samples directly to the CWB.

The program is to preserve up to 150,000 tonnes of top-quality spring wheat from the 2007 crop. Farmers can get an extra $15 per tonne, for example, for No. 1 CWRS with 15 per cent protein or higher. The payment drops to $10 per tonne for wheat with 14.5 to 14.9 per cent protein. Storage payments of $1 per tonne per month are also offered.

If the payments go up during the crop year, farmers who signed up early will be paid the difference, the board said in a release Tuesday.

The board noted on-farm storage space is “at a premium” and is also offering farmers an offsetting delivery opportunity for equal tonnes of other wheat from their 2008-09 crop. Farmers who sign up wheat for the storage program can opt to price grain into either the current pool or the 2008-09 pool.