Who Will Market Western Canada's Grain?

Invited Paper In this review paper, the intense current debate on the appropriate role of the Canadian Wheat Board in the domestic and export marketing of prairie wheat and barley is overviewed. The role, functions and powers of the board, a legislatively specified marketing institution, have changed over time. Numbers of broad socio‐economic influences are affecting the environment in which this body operates and are likely to affect the marketing of prairie grains in the future. These include changes in communication technology, the increasing integration of national economies across international boundaries and associated pressures for decreased protection and less market regulation for agriculture, among other sectors. These forces tend to favor continuation of the gradual deregulation of the market structure for prairie grains, a process that has been occurring in Canada since feedgrain marketing policy changes were instituted in the mid‐1970s. Recent studies of the performance of the statutory grain marketing system involve economic arguments, use quite different assumptions and consequently arrive at conflicting conclusions. Despite the focus on economic arguments, political influences and social attitudes have considerably influenced the institution and development of the board. Both economic and political forces will continue to have a major impact on the extent and timing of future deregulation of Canadian grain marketing.