Mr. J. T. Hetland (Humboldt):

Mr. Speaker, as the farmers in the west are having considerable difficulties in harvesting their crops and as they are concerned-

Mr. Speaker:

Will the hon. member put his question?

Mr. Heiland:

Yes. Will the minister make a statement on wheat, oats and barley at this time?

Right Hon. C. D. Howe (Minister of Trade and Commerce):

Mr. Speaker, hon. members are aware of the difficulties being experienced by western producers in harvesting their 1951 grain crops. For nearly two months now frequent and widespread rains have repeatedly delayed harvesting throughout the prairie provinces, and the long weathering of fully matured crops has caused some loss in yield and a lowering in grade. However, for the past week weather conditions have been favourable throughout the prairies and harvesting is finally under way.

At this time I should advise the house of the plans of the Canadian wheat board in distributing final payments on the 1950-51 pools. Final accounting is now under way, and I am in a position to state there will be surpluses to distribute to producers in respect to the 1950-51 wheat, oats and barley pools. The final distribution on the barley pool will commence next week; on Monday, October 15, to be exact. The final barley payment will be followed by a final payment from the 1950-51 oats pool, and then the board will proceed with the payment on the 1950-51 wheat pool.

I would estimate that the three payments I have mentioned involve a distribution to western producers in excess of $100 million and these payments will all be completed before the end of the calendar year, I hope before December 1.

I will now give a summary of the details of the final payment on barley which will commence on October 15. Members will recall that on February 1, 1951, all initial barley prices were increased by 20 cents per bushel and a payment of the same amount was made on all barley delivered to the board between August 1, 1950, and January 31, 1951. The final payment which I am announcing today, therefore, represents the second payment distribution over and above the initial prices which were originally established for 1950-51.

The 1949-50 barley pool was closed as at September 30, 1950, and the 1950-51 barley pool was closed as at September 22, 1951. Therefore the operating results of the 1950-51 barley pool reflect board sales between October 1, 1950 and September 22, 1951.

I should also add that in winding up the 1950-51 barley pool, slightly over eight million bushels of cash barley were transferred

Wheat and Coarse Grains to the 1951-52 pool under provisions of section 29A of the Canadian Wheat Board Act. Futures contracts covering the barley transferred to the new pool had been sold prior to the transfer date, and the transfer involved pricing the various grades of barley transferred to the new pool in relation to the closing price of the October future on September 22, 1951.

The net surplus from the 1950-51 pool amounts to $15,112,054.03. Producers delivered 83,521,106-07 bushels of barley to the 1950-51 pool. Therefore, the average final payment on all grades of barley delivered to the board in 1950-51 will be 18-0937 cents per bushel. On the basic grade, namely three Canada Western six-row barley, the final payment will be 20 [DOT] 882 cents per bushel, bringing the total realized price for this grade of barley to $1-33882. On No. 1 feed barley, a principal grade from the standpoint of producers deliveries, the final payment will be 16-164 cents per bushel, bringing the total realized price to $1-23164. On No. 2 and No. 3 feed barley, the final payment will be 18-300 cents per bushel and 18-712 cents per bushel respectively, bringing the final realized prices for these two grades of barley to $1-18300 per bushel and $1 -13712 per bushel. The final payment on many of the lower grades of barley delivered to the board in 1950-51 will range considerably higher than the final payment on the top grades. Payments on some of the lower grades will range as high as 30 cents per bushel.

The board is now winding up the 1950-51 oats pool and within a short time I will be in a position to advise the house of the final payments to be made on 1950-51 oats delivered to the board; and before the oats payment is completed, I shall be making an announcement about the wheat payment.

Mr. P. E. Wright (Melfort):

There is one further question that I wish to ask the minister. Will the government give consideration to a further amendment to the wheat board act at this session which will permit the wheat board to make an advance payment on properly stored wheat on the farm?

Mr. Howe:

The government does not intend to ask parliament to amend the wheat board act at this session. The question as to payment on wheat stored on the farm is of importance this year due to the lateness of the harvest. The harvest is six weeks later than normal. The government has been watching the situation carefully. However, exceptional arrangements have been made for the transport of wheat to market. It is now felt that the farmers of western Canada will

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Wheat and Coarse Grains be able to deliver considerably more wheat this autumn than was delivered during the same period last year. If that is possible it would not seem necessary to make new provisions for the storage of wheat on the farms. However, the situation will be watched, and if there are sections of the country where adequate deliveries cannot be made, the government will take steps to see that the farmer does not suffer unduly from that cause.

Mr. J. G. Diefenbaker (Lake Centre):

There is one other question arising out of the statement made by the minister. What is the number of bushels for which storage space is available in the elevators of western Canada for the present wheat crop, at the present time? In order to meet the situation, which is not quite as cheerful as the minister seems to think it is, has any consideration been given to the suggestion that a payment be made to the farmers for storage of wheat on their farms, a payment equal to that being paid today to the elevator companies?

Mr. Howe:

As I remember the capacity of all the country elevators, it is about 280 million bushels. It is customary to reduce that by 10 per cent to provide for handling space, so I presume the country elevator space is about 250 million bushels, and I would judge that there is something in the neighbourhood of 50 million bushels in store in the country at the present time. These are figures from memory. I think they are roughly representative. Therefore there is about 200 million bushels of open storage in the country. I think that there is at least another 100 million bushels of storage available in eastern Canada in the Georgian bay and St. Lawrence elevators and in the maritimes. The movement of wheat has been expedited in every way, but the fact is we have not had wheat sufficient to take advantage of the cars and the boats available up to the present time. The lack of grain has enabled other commodities to be moved in the interval, so that grain will have a fairly clear field from now on.

My hon. friend thinks I am overly optimistic. I may say that this morning I had a meeting with the chairman of the wheat board and with the transport controller, and the statement I have made is a considered statement after obtaining the advice of these gentlemen.

My hon. friend asks whether it is the intention to pay storage to farmers for wheat held on the farms. The wheat board act makes the necessary provision but it also makes provision that that storage will be paid, as all other storage is, from the gross revenues of the pool. It seems to me that if

IMr. Howe.]

the quota system is operated fairly, as in past years-and I think it will be-to pay farmers for storage on the farms would simply be to ask the farmer to pay storage to himself.

Mr. Diefenbaker:

It would not cost any more than paying the elevator companies.

Mr. Howe:

It would not cost any more, but it would be an additional payment from the farmer to himself, as it would come out of the pool receipts, which are the property of the farmer. Payment of farm storage would not speed up the payment for the wheat in any way. It would simply mean that the producer's initial payment would be increased by perhaps a cent a bushel a month, and that his final payment would be reduced accordingly. That proposal has been carefully examined, and it is not the present intention of the government to adopt that policy.

Mr. Cruickshank:

May I ask another

question? Has any consideration been given to providing the Pacific coast with frozen wheat of poor quality for cheap feed?

Mr. Howe:

The Pacific coast, like all other parts of Canada, is being provided with grain at the going market price. We have no cheap wheat; we have some frozen wheat. I assure my hon. friend that he can buy frozen wheat, as can any other part of Canada.

Mr. Fair:

I should like to ask the minister a question. Has any further consideration been given by the government to increasing the price of wheat supplied to Canadian millers for consumption in Canada above the present international wheat agreement price to class II wheat prices?

Mr. Howe:

The answer is no.