By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney with files from the Western Canadian Wheat Growers

Wheat growers petition for user fee cuts as Grain Commission sits on $100 Million surplus

Jan 4, 2017 | 4:49 PM

SASKATOON –  To call a $100 Million surplus ‘massive’ would be an understatement.    However, that is how much money the Canadian Grain Commission is sitting on, as it continues to collect user fees from grain farmers.

Information on the Western Canadian Wheat Growers web site, states farmers are charged about $1.80 per tonne of delivered grain, which covers inspection and weighing certification of grain being sold for export.  This past year, an average grower who delivered 5,500 tonnes of grain to an elevator for export would have paid about $10,000 in user fees, which resulted the approximate $100 million surplus.

Levi Wood, President of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, is calling for an immediate reduction on Grain Commission user fees, and for tens of millions of farmers’ dollars, which have been collected in overcharges, to be returned to growers.

“With approximately $100 million of farmers’ hard-earned money having piled up into this enormous surplus, it’s time to immediately give growers a break and reduce these user fees.”

Wood, who farms at Pense, Saskatchewan, also noted: “User fees are supposed to help pay for their operations, but a nine-figure surplus in user fees is shocking.”

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The Director of the Wheat Growers Association pointed out that export volumes have been higher in the past few years than first estimated, so the volume of fees has also been much higher.  But, Matt Sawyer, of Acme, Alberta, says that’s no reason to hoard farmers’ money.

“However, it is a great reason to now reduce these user fees—which are clearly out of line for their intended purpose of those operations—and it’s time to refund the surplus, giving the money from growers back to the growers.”

The 2017 growing season was a tough one for many farmers due to weather extremes and a refund on user fees would go a long way to helping out with reduced incomes.

The Wheat growers have launched a petition which asks all western grain farmers to ask for an immediate reduction in user fees, as well as having the surplus funds returned to growers.

The Wheat Growers petition can be signed by western grain growers at on a document attached to the Wheat Growers website