Increases effective this week in the Canadian Wheat Board’s 2010-11 initial payments may not be the last for this crop year.
The board on Monday announced it has sent a recommendation to the federal government for further increases to the 2010-11 initials for wheat, barley and durum, over and above those approved Nov. 26.
If this next proposed round of increased initials gets federal approval, it would further increase payments to the base grades of wheat, durum, feed barley and malting barley in the range of $33 to $54 per tonne, the board said.
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The timing of payments can’t be confirmed until the government approves them. As the guarantor of initial payments, it must approve the level at which they’re set.
The most recent approved adjustment payments, effective this week, are due in eligible farmers’ accounts by direct deposit Dec. 14, with cheques to follow later that week.
Those increases, by comparison, ranged from $39 to $91.30 per tonne.
Federal approval for increased initials has to pass analysis from the federal agriculture and finance departments and get approval from the Treasury Board.
The government brought forward legislation in May which, among other things, would end the requirement for Treasury Board approval for such payments.
Such a move, if approved, is expected to speed up the process for CWB initial, interim and final payments by as much as three weeks.
That legislation, part of Bill C-27 on the government’s order paper, passed first reading in May but hasn’t yet moved forward for further debate or discussion.
