The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) is seeking input from farmers on their experience with grain companies, particularly in terms of this year’s drought-related production shortfalls.
Announced Thursday, the APAS grain contract survey will collect information to document the range and type of costs producers face due to contract shortfalls and disputes with grain buyers.
“APAS is committed to working on behalf of producers to improve the contract system,” President Todd Lewis said. “By working together, producers, grain companies, and governments can meet at the table and find a solution that results in these contracts being fair to all parties involved.”
This year’s extreme heat and drought led to yields well below long-term production averages for many farmers and ranchers throughout Saskatchewan. Given the shortfalls, many producers in the province are not expected to be able to fulfill their grain contracts, potentially resulting in farmers having to pay thousands of dollars to buy their way out.
In more normal years, production shortfalls are more localized, so if a producer is short on their grain contract, that producer could purchase another farmer’s grain to fulfill contract obligations. However, the 2021 drought was widespread across Western Canada, resulting in historically high grain market prices. As such, producers short on their contracts face substantial costs to buy out the contract in a rising market.
“It’s been a tough year for Saskatchewan producers, and during these unprecedented events that we really notice the flaws in the system,” Lewis said.
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