Canadian Wheat Board Ships First Load of Canola Overseas

By CnAgri Print

The Canadian Wheat Board recently dispatched its historic first shipload of canola from the Port of Prince Rupert. The cargo of 42,000 tonnes of Prairie canola is now travelling aboard the vessel Tai Health, enroute to customers in Japan.

Changes to the western Canadian grain-marketing system, implemented by the federal government this year, include provisions for CWB to market canola for the first time in history - expanding its crop mix beyond wheat, durum and malting barley, reports TheCropSite.

"We are very pleased to have successfully executed our first export sale of canola," said CWB president and CEO Ian White, who travelled to Japan this month to meet with canola buyer Zen-Noh, the Japanese agricultural co-operative that has made CWB its preferred supplier of Canadian grain.

White said strong performance from CN Rail and Prince Rupert Grain Terminal helped deliver this canola to port on schedule. Because the sale was executed through Prince Rupert, all canola was sourced through elevators located on CN lines. White said the canola in this first vessel is a mix of cash purchases from companies and farmers, as well as canola committed by farmers to the CWB pool.

He notes that pooling provides farmers the certainty of a good average return that will capture market rallies during the year. For the first time in history, Canadian farmers have the opportunity to pool canola as part of their overall marketing and risk-management strategy. CWB's canola Harvest Pool runs from harvest to June 2013.