Doug Chorney

The future of the Canadian Wheat Board and flooding were the two main issues discussed at Keystone Agricultural Producers' General Council Meeting in Brandon yesterday.

After an initial two-part resolution related to the CWB was defeated, two separate resolutions brought forward from the floor were passed by the delegates in attendance.

The first CWB resolution aims to give Manitoba farmers a voice in the federal government's plan to move to a dual market.

"We want to be developing a plan within KAP to deal with the transitional phase of the wheat board. We want to make sure the interest of producers are represented at the table as part of that transition," explains President Doug Chorney. "We are to immediately form a working group to come up with positions on how we will transition to a dual market."

The second resolution calls for the federal government to cover the cost of the transition away from the single desk.

"Producers should not be left on the hook for some unexpected costs in the future," says Chorney.

Other discussion centred on the excess moisture situation.

One resolution that was passed asks the province to waive the deductible for Excess Moisture Insurance in municipalities with 25 percent or more unseeded acres.

"The purpose of the deductible is to prevent abuse of the program but if a municipality has 25 percent unseeded acres there was not much a producer could have done to get his crop seeded in that municipality," he explains.

Another calls for the expansion of the federal tax deferral program announced for flooded livestock producers earlier this week. KAP would like to see the deferrals made available to livestock producers throughout the province, especially in the southwest, and not just in the area around Lake Manitoba.