Mistake costly for PEI grain farmers

(Prince Edward Island) Grain farmers who sold milling wheat for less than it is worth after a mistaken communication from their buyer will be compensated by the province, says acting Agriculture Minister Wes Sheridan.
The issue caused major upset among grain farmers on PEI when they were told by Dover Mills, the main wheat buyer for the Island, the company would not accept any milling wheat containing toxins of more than one part per million.
The allowable Canadian standard is actually two parts per million.
The company now admits the discrepancy was a misprint and that it will indeed accept milling wheat with toxins of up to two parts per million.
But some PEI farmers have already sold their wheat as animal feed for less money.
After meeting with industry stakeholders Tuesday (Sept. 22) afternoon, Sheridan said the province will pay the difference of what the farmers could have received, but only if they can prove their grain was within the acceptable toxin levels.
"They will be judged on a case-by-case basis," he said.
Sheridan believes only a handful of farmers actually sold their wheat for less, and that most of the grain was stored in elevators. That stored grain can now be sold at the proper price.
There was also worry some farmers may have simply dumped the rejected grain in order to collect crop insurance, but Sheridan said any grain that was dumped contained much higher levels of fusarium toxins than any allowable limits and wouldn't have even qualified to sell as animal feed.
"There may be a couple of cases of those that would have taken their (grain) where it was one part per million or two parts per million and sold it for feed, but we don't think there's many of those out there," he said
"We're talking a handful, two or three instances where that may have happened, and that's going to be compensated for."
But Anthony Nabuurs, who was at Tuesday's meeting representing the Island Grain and Protein Council, said he believes Dover Mills' mistake affected many more farmers.
"Every farm that's dealing with this issue right now has a separate hurt," he said.
David Mol, president of the PEI Grain and Protein Council, agreed, but said the extent of the damage is still unknown.
"We know there's an impact, we know there's a significant impact on some but we really haven't quantified how extensive it is yet."
He and Nabuurs believe every grain farmer's situation should be examined individually to ensure everyone is fairly compensated for any impacts resulting from Dover Mills' mistake.
Those problems have caused major headaches among the Island's grain farmers who are already on their second year of low prices and fungal problems due to poor growing weather.
"The growers are very tired and very frustrated," said Emmerson McMillan, chair of the PEI Grain Elevators Council.
"They're not angry with anybody but they do have some concerns that we have to address this and we have to take a proactive approach and we have to have a three-step program moving forward."
The larger issue of grain being scrutinized more intensely than before and rejected at higher rates is a nationwide problem that many in the industry believe needs addressing. Wayne Easter said he will be bringing the issue before the federal Standing Committee on Agriculture next week.
"It's a broader issue that we're taking before the committee than just what happened here, but this is the issue that provoked this to it," Easter said.
"Fusarium is a major problem across the country."