bigideas - Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association

Convention Program 2016
BIG IDEAS
IN
The Big Easy
Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association
46th Annual Convention
March 1-4, 2016
The Westin New Orleans Canal Place
New Orleans, Louisiana
Welcome
Wheat Growers, friends, and industry
colleagues,
Welcome to New Orleans!
And welcome to the 46th annual Wheat
Growers convention: ‘Big Ideas in The
Big Easy’!
Our board of directors chose this
exciting city in which to hold our annual convention this year, tasking the
convention committee with taking advantage of the excellent port location and
lining up unique and insightful tours and speakers for those attending. And line
up we have…
As a farmer-run advocacy organization with a great history of promoting
market-based policies to strengthen the profitability of farming, our speakers at
this convention will present on how to improve your modern grain marketing
strategies, on international relations and trade, on public policy and politics,
and on free enterprise.
And our tours also align well with our farming activities back home, where here
we’ll visit a fertilizer plant, watch a major elevator on the Mississippi River in
action, and learn first-hand how glyphosate is produced.
We believe this program provides great value to our grower members and our
industry colleagues—we hope you agree!
There’s also great value in the networking and having a bit of fun, so let’s
take advantage of this great city, enjoy the convention, and take in the
entertainment, meeting friends new and old!
After convention, we have a busy year ahead back in western Canada, where
we’ll need your continued support as we keep up the fight for open and
competitive markets, an improved grain handling and transportation system,
a science-based system in biotechnology and food safety, and ensuring a fair
regulatory system—among many other key issues for our farms and livelihoods.
Finally, we’d like to extend a big ‘thank you’ to all of our generous sponsors, who
ensure our convention—and annual activities—are a great success. Thank you!
Enjoy the convention, have fun in NOLA, and Godspeed to a successful 2016 on
your farm!
Regards,
Levi Wood
President
Cherilyn Nagel
Convention Committee Chair
About the Wheat Growers
The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association - About Us:
The Western Canadian Wheat Growers are a voluntary
farmer-run advocacy organization dedicated to
developing policy solutions that strengthen the
profitability and sustainability of farming, and the
agricultural industry as a whole.
Our origins date back to December 1969, when
a concerned group of producers and industry
representatives met to discuss how they could create an
effective farm organization to promote positive, marketoriented policy solutions. On April 3, 1970, a charter
was granted to the Palliser Wheat Growers Association,
today known as the Western Canadian Wheat Growers
Association.
• Grain transportation reform
• CWB pricing options
• The elimination of Kernel Visual Distinguishability
(KVD) as a criteria for registration of new wheat
varieties
• Grain marketing freedom
• Extension of the rail interswitching distance
from 30km to 160 km, creating the opportunity for
greater rail competition
Back in 1970, the first policy objective was to obtain
protein premiums on wheat. Since then, the Wheat
Growers have been instrumental in achieving many
policy goals, including:
• The elimination of inter-provincial boundaries on
feed grains
• The removal of quotas on canola, flax, and
feed grains
• Separate pool and grade classes for malt barley
• Protein premiums on wheat and finer
protein increments
• The introduction of CPS types of wheat
• Creation of the Pesticide Management Regulatory
Agency (PMRA) for streamlined pesticide
registration applications
• Removal of oats from the Canadian Wheat Board
• Freer trade with the U.S., Mexico and Europe
• Pre-harvest glyphosate
• Plant breeder’s rights, leading to greater
development of new crop varieties
Today, the WCWGA supports:
• Open and competitive markets
• A commercial and efficient grain handling and
transportation system
• Agricultural innovations that add value,
enhance competitiveness and increase net
returns to farmers
• Sound, science-based environmental and food
safety policies
• Greater operating freedom to manage our
farm businesses in a profitable and sustainable
manner
• Elimination of production-distorting subsidies
• Removal of barriers to market access
Innovative, farmer-driven solutions
Bay 6A – 3602 Taylor Street East · Saskatoon, SK · CANADA S7H 5H9 · T: 306-586-5866 · F: 306-244-4497 · www.wheatgrowers.ca · info@wheatgrowers.ca
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
3:00 pm
Registration desk open
The Westin
7:00 pm
President’s reception
Crescent City Brewhouse
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
8:00 am
Breakfast
9:00 am
Welcoming Remarks
9:15 am
Speaker: Elaine Kub, Author Mastering the Grain Market
10:00 am
Refreshment Break
10:30 am
Annual General Meeting
12:00 am
Lunch
1:00 pm
Speaker: Sara Wilshaw, Canadian Consul General, Dallas
1:45 pm
Speaker: Kevin Kane, President, Pelican Institute for
Public Policy
2:30 pm
Refreshment Break
3:00 pm
Speaker
3:45 pm
Speaker: Quin Hillyer, Political
Commentator
6:30 pm
Wheat Growers Riverboat Cruise
Convention Agenda 2016
Speakers
Elaine Kub is a farmer,
trader, analyst, and
author of Mastering
the Grain Markets. She
will give a presentation
on modern grain
trading practices
and stragegies—an
indispensable topic for all grain growers.
@elainekub
Sara Wilshaw is the
Canadian Consul
General in Dallas.
She will address our
convention, speaking
on Canada–U.S.
relations and
international trade.
With experience helping Canadians trade
in Japan and India, as well as now in the
U.S., her insight on trade will be of great
interest to all in attendance.
@Sarawilshaw
Kevin Kane is Founder
and President of
the Pelican Institute
for public Policy, a
nonpartisan research
and educational
organization—and the
leading voice for free
markets in Louisiana. He will speak on
free enterprise and individual liberty,
and what it means for agriculture.
@PelicanInst
WHEAT GROWERS
RIVERBOAT CRUISE
CRESCENT CITY BREWHOUSE
Wheat Growers President Levi Wood hosts
the opening reception in NOLA.
@levijwood @crescentbrew
Quin Hillyer is a
Contributing Editor
of National Review
magazine, a Senior
Editor for The American
Spectator magazine,
and a nationally
recognized authority
on the American political process. He will
given an exciting talk on American politics
and government, including the current
state of the U.S. Presidential race (the day
after the ‘Super Tuesday’ primaries of the
Democrats and Republicans), and what
the various outcomes might mean for
Canadian–American relations and trade in
later 2016 and for the next several years.
@QuinHillyer
Thursday, March 3, 2016
7:15 am
Breakfast
9:00 am
Commodity Classic Preview Show
(open to those registered for Commodity Classic)
1:00 pm
Tour: Monsanto Glyphosate Plant
6:30 pm
Reception
7:15 pm
Banquet
Friday, March 4, 2016
7:45 am
Breakfast
9:00 am
Commodity Classic
(open to those registered for Commodity Classic)
9:15 am
Optional tour: Zen-Noh Grain Terminal and
Yara Fertilizer Plant
4:30 pm
Arrive back at hotel
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Guests on their own to attend
Commodity Classic
(open to those registered for Commodity Classic)
Convention Agenda 2016
Tours
MONSANTO will show how glyphosate
is made while touring their major
facility in Louisiana. @MonsantoCo
ZEN-N0H GRAIN CONVENT LOUISIANA
ELEVATOR on the Mississippi River will
demonstrate world-leading efficiencies in
unloading barges, railcars, and trucks, and
then loading Panamax vessels (which they
can do in 24 hours, at a rate of over 3,000 MT/
hr—or 120,000 bu/hr).
YARA will provide a tour of their large
fertilizer terminal in the NOLA port area.
@yara
Thank You to Our Sponsors