The timing couldn't be worse, as far as barley producers go, although the government may be of the view they need to "strike while the iron is hot."

Recently, a month after a ruling by the Federal Court that their proposed action was not legally possible under Canadian laws, the federal government announced they are appealing that court ruling, in their efforts to remove the single-desk monopoly for barley marketing from the Canadian Wheat Board.

The government was following up on the results of their plebiscite, held with barley producers earlier in the spring. The results of that plebiscite, in which nearly 30,000 barley producers took part, showed 62 per cent want to be able to market their barley to whichever party can get them the best possible price for their grain.

The process the Federal Court objected to was the method of change, namely the government was told they cannot make such a major change to the CWB's mandate by a regulatory change, such as with an Order-in-Council, but it has to be enacted by a vote in the House of Commons by the MPs.

The problem with the government now deciding to appeal this ruling is that the timing is really bad for barley producers. At this particular time, barley prices are especially strong, due to production problems in other barley-producing countries. This has made Canada one of the world's prime suppliers of malting barley, and the price for this grain is very strong.

With the government's appeal of the court ruling, however, there will be much uncertainty in the international marketplace as to whether the CWB will be able to continue as the marketer of barley for western Canadian producers.

As CWB director Rod Flaman pointed out in a recent interview, if you are an international customer, and the very agency you're dealing with to buy barley from was under threat to have their ability to market barley taken away, would you be willing to commit to them? Not likely, especially if you don't know if they will be able to meet their contractual commitments.

What guarantees would you have that the CWB can deliver the volume of grain you want, if their very mandate as the sole marketer of barley is jeopardized by the federal government?

There is also the sobering fact that the high prices for malt barley are only relevant if you are a barley producer with a crop of sufficient quality to be acceptable to maltsters. There are a number of farmers who won't have much of a crop, if any at all, either because they were hailed out during the season, or they had bad growing conditions during seeding time.

For those fortunate enough to have a good or reasonably good barley crop, the prices will indeed be good news to them - but the marketing opportunities they should be having may not materialize if malt customers decide it's simply too risky to contract business with the Canadian Wheat Board.

The government who claims to be giving farmers what they want will have to take responsibility if those same producers are hurt by their actions in court. - Greg Nikkel