The Minneapolis Grain Exchange, home to U.S. spring wheat futures, is betting on the demise of the Canadian Wheat Board and trying to head off competition from the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE.N) by accepting non-U.S. wheat for delivery against its 128-year-old contract, traders say. "You've got a lot of eyes focused on Canada with the potential of the Canadian Wheat Board going away. With that, you're going to open up a lot more commercial trade," said Scott Cordes of grain brokerage Country Hedging and a member of the MGEX board of directors. The Conservative government in Ottawa will use its majority in the House of Commons to end the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on marketing wheat and barley, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in May with the changes effective August 2012. The MGEX board of directors voted on Aug. 16 to allow non-U.S. wheat for the first time, notably from Canada -- the world's top producer of high-protein spring and durum wheat.
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