OTTAWA, ON: Last Friday, the federal government approved the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) request for adjustment of the 2009-10 Initial Payments. This means farmers should soon receive their long-awaited payments.

“We know farmers have been eagerly awaiting their adjustment payments,” said David Anderson, Cypress Hills – Grasslands MP and Parliamentary Secretary for the Canadian Wheat Board. “Our government has approved the payment request. It’s now up to the Wheat Board to get cheques out.”

The Canadian Wheat Board submitted a request for the increase to the initial payment in early September and then pulled the request back.  They resubmitted their request on September 30th. It typically takes eight weeks for the request to be processed by the departments of Agriculture, Finance and Treasury Board. 

“When the request for the adjustment finally came, we processed it as soon as possible. And, we have introduced legislation to make sure these payments come even faster,” Anderson said.

The proposed Bill C-27 would speed up the approval process for payments, potentially cutting the time in half. It would also reform Canadian Wheat Board elections so that only current producers of barley and wheat would be eligible to vote.