New Handling Agreement, Logo for New CWB

It's the start of a new era for the Canadian Wheat Board.

The CWB's single desk monopoly on wheat and barley sales will come to an end on Wednesday, but it will continue as a voluntary, competitive option for farmers to sell their grain.

"A great deal of work has been done over the past few months to prepare for this day, and I'm very pleased to announce that the organization is ready," Chairman Bruce Johnson said at a press conference at CWB's head offices in Winnipeg today. "We have a new competitive business model in place. We have the support of Canadian farmers, customers from around the world, and of course, the Canadian government."

The new CWB unveiled a vibrant new logo, pictured above, which features new colours. The logo signifies the green of nature, the blue of the prairie sky, and the gold of harvest, and the rays of the rising sun in the "W" symbolize a new beginning for CWB. The logo is already in place at the CWB office in Winnipeg and their website at cwb.ca.

The organization also announced today a new handling agreement with Louis Dreyfus, a network of 10 high-throughput elevators across Western Canada, making it now 130 locations where farmers can deliver grain to CWB.

"With this new agreement, CWB remains well on track to serve farmers into the future as their expert grain marketing partner," said CWB CEO Ian White. "Our network of partner delivery points will continue to grow, ensuring that farmers can sign CWB contracts with confidence."

Other significant handling agreements have been made with Viterra, Cargill, South West Terminal at Gull Lake, Mission Terminal at Neville, and West Central Road and Rail.

CWB also announced the 2012 crop production projections and 2011-12 crop year-end figures during the press conference, and those are available at cwb.ca.