Monopoly or Bust?

Thomas Hewson, vice-president of the Western Barley Growers Associations, raises some interesting questions to farmers who do not believe a voluntary CWB to be possible.

There is going to be increased pressure on any government to end the single-desk
marketing monopoly. The past government took the first step toward that by
agreeing to allow it on the table at World Trade Organization talks. Greater
farmer participation in value-chain relationships does not bode well for the
monopoly. A voluntary marketing agency may well have more life expectancy
than a single-desk CWB.

An excellent question. Would the die-hard supporters of the monopoly rather have a voluntary CWB, or no CWB at all? A lot of the same people who are fighting to maintain the monopoly fought to keep the Crow Rate subsidy. When the subsidy was eliminated in the early 'nineties, farmers received only a fraction of earlier, more generous, buy-out offers.

I believe that a voluntary CWB has an excellent chance at success, and is the best option for farmers in the designated area. Hopefully this vision comes to fruition before the CWB simply ceases to exist.

Your three options: A continuing series

I would like the option to market my barley to the Canadian Wheat Board or any other domestic or foreign buyer.

So reads the second option of the upcoming barley plebiscite. The CWB calls it intellectually dishonest. Any editorial in favour of the single desk suggests that it should be struck from the ballot because a dual market cannot exist. A dual market is simply a rhetorical device that is right-wing conspiracy code for the destruction of the CWB. Sounds pretty scary.

It made me wonder: What has happened when other government agencies have transitioned from single desk powers to independent competitors in an open market? Did they fold like a cheap lawn chair?

The single desk for pork marketing was removed in the mid 1990's, but Manitoba Pork Marketing still has a website, so I thought I would check it out. The history page is really interesting:

Changes to the Natural Products Marketing Act resulted in the end of the single-desk status, effective July 1, 1996. Today, Manitoba Pork Marketing is a member-owned co-operative, governed by an elected board of directors that are hog producers.Manitoba Pork Marketing continues to be the marketer of choice for the majority of Manitoba's independent hog producers.

Manitoba Pork Marketing is the provinces premier marketing agency.
Working on behalf of approximately 900 producer members that produce 1.5 million hogs annually, we represent the single largest volume of hogs in the province.

"The marketer of choice." They are operating in a dual market and by their own admission, they are not only surviving, but thriving. It makes you wonder what the CWB is afraid of.