(Chicago Board of Trade) where you can find information about just about any elevator and find out, in a fairly accurate way, what price they’re paying.” As a result, he says, there can often be a wide variation in prices paid depending on where a grower finds a buyer. Unlike the conventional marketplace where prices per bushel fall within a 20-cent range, the spread in organic prices is often $5 or more. With quantities required often smaller than conventional, a contract can quickly be filled by one or two growers. Often the buyer for the next contract, St. Jean explains, seeks a wildly different price because there’s little or no knowledge about what transpired the day before. “I know Agricorp has struggled the same way in trying to determine prices for crop insurance,” said St. Jean, who oversees Beechwood’s organic soybean business in Ailsa Craig, organic corn business in Arkona, and organic business in other crops in Parkhill. The Hub, Levert says, seeks to allow growers to overcome these limitations. She says it will “empower farmers with real-time pricing insights and connect them with reliable buyers.” Levert explains. “By fostering a sense of community and collaboration, we believe that the Hub will play a pivotal role in driving the growth and success of the organic grain industry. “We invite all Canadian organic grain growers to join us in this exciting journey towards a more transparent and a connected future.” Participation is exactly what St. Jean believes needs to happen for the Hub to be successful. He says a price discovery tool was tried a few years ago in Ontario’s organic sector, with Beechwood Agri among the buyers who published information from the initiative on its website. But growers gradually came to realize it was insufficient. “The quality of the information just wasn’t there and, as a result, it wasn’t an accurate and true representation of where the market was at.” Growers weren’t necessarily the problem, St. Jean quickly noted. It was, to a greater degree, buyers who didn’t participate sufficiently to supply enough information. “And if the volume isn’t there in terms of reporting prices, the data can become skewed pretty quickly.” He calls on stakeholders in the sector to support this new effort, to hopefully build a system in which both growers and buyers can be confident. At organicgrainhub.com, you’ll find an Organic Price Discovery Tool, which aims to provide up-to-date and reliable prices. According to the launch news release, the Discovery Tool prices “are based on data collected from bi-monthly calls to Canada’s major organic grain buyers an crowdsourced farmer data from within the platform.” There’s an International Organic Grain Directory, which aims to highlight buyer options that farmers may not be aware of. One can also receive an Organic Grain Market Intelligence Newsletter complete with “in-depth analysis to explain the swings in pricing while providing farmers with the insights they need to prosper in this competitive international market.” “We are delighted to see the fruition of our vision to empower organic grain farmers in the world of international marketing,” said Manitoba Organic Alliance Chair Liz Karpinchick. “By collaborating with organic associations across the country, we have created a platform that not only addresses industry challenges but also fosters a spirit of unity within the organic grain community. We believe that the Organic Grain Hub will play a vital role in enhancing the success of organic farmers and contribute to the growth of the organic grain industry as a whole.” ORGANIC FEATURE 57 Organic Feature | Promotional Supplement December 2023
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