Spring
2016
Grains
West
20
Feature
BY LEE HART • PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN ARCHIVES
CONDITIONS COULDBE RIGHT FOR A RETURNOF
FARMER-OWNEDGRAINCOMPANIES TOTHE PRAIRIES
VER THE PAST CENTURY,
we have seen the rise and
subsequent fall of a western
Canadian grain handling system run
by co-operatives—its fall due in some
measure to management mistakes. But
that doesn’t mean there isn’t opportunity
for a farmer-owned grain company to
once again flourish on the Canadian
Prairies, according to business experts.
There is nothing inherently wrong with
the co-operative model, according to
academic and business leaders. In fact,
there are several examples of successful,
multibillion-dollar businesses in Canada
and the United States operated by
member-owned co-ops.
As Glencore PLC—one of the world’s
largest globally diversified natural
resource companies—suggested in a
statement to shareholders in late 2015,
it might sell off some of the assets from
its Canadian grain handling company,
Viterra. If so, is there opportunity for a
farmer-owned co-operative to get back
into the Canadian grain business?
The answer to that question varies
from a solid “yes” to a more conditional
“maybe,” depending on the school of
thought.
A co-operative could definitely
manage a Canadian grain handling
company, said longtime business
professor Murray Fulton, director
(currently on sabbatical) of the Centre
for the Study of Co-operatives at
the University of Saskatchewan.
Meanwhile, Milton Boyd, a professor and
agricultural economist at the University
of Manitoba, said there are several big
“ifs” to overcome, and he isn’t sure if the
political mindset is there to support a
co-operative in the 21st century.
The Canadian grain industry
was largely run by farmer-owned
CO-OPPORTUNITY
