An exultant Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, farm leaders and dozens of farmers celebrated the passage of Bill C-18, the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act, at a news conference Friday at a farm east of Regina.

"First they said it shouldn't be done. Then they said it couldn't be done. Then they said it wouldn't be done because they'll take us to court," said Ritz, referring to supporters of the Canadian Wheat Board, who have taken Ritz and the Harper government to court over Bill C-18.

"But here we are. Finally you have marketing freedom," Ritz told cheering farmers at the Strudwick farm.

The legislation, which was given royal assent by Gov.-Gen. David Johnston late Thursday, gives western farmers the right to market their own wheat and barley, effective Aug. 1, 2012, when the CWB's monopoly over western wheat and barley sales is ended.

Meanwhile, the CWB - shorn of its eight remaining elected directors - announced Friday that it would drop its application before the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench seeking an injunction against the implementation of Bill C-18. But the former elected directors and other individuals and groups that support the CWB single desk proceeded with the application. A judge was expected to hand down a ruling Friday evening.

Ritz was also found to have broken the law by a federal court judge earlier this month for failing to consult with the CWB and farmers before moving to eliminate the single desk, but the ruling has been appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal.

Ritz told reporters the court actions would not affect the implementation of Bill C-18.

"There's no doubt in my mind," Ritz said. "The first ruling - Justice [Douglas] Campbell's ruling - was a declaration. He also put qualifiers on the end of that ruling that this declaration - in no way would impinge on Parliament in passing C-18. We took that to heart, we went ahead and passed C-18. [It] is now the law of the land."

As of Friday, western wheat and barley farmers now have the ability to forward contract for the delivery of wheat and barley to the Canadian Wheat Board or the buyer of their choice for delivery after Aug. 1, 2012. Under the CWB's single desk, all wheat and barley grown in Western Canada for human consumption is marketed by the wheat board.

With the passing of Bill C-18, the first steps are in place to remove the monopoly, including the removal of the eight remaining elected directors (two Alberta-based elected directors resigned last month). The CWB will be a voluntary marketing option for farmers, financially supported by the government as it moves to become a privately owned entity over the next five or six years.

"This is a historic day for western wheat and barley farmers, the grain industry and Canadians," said Saskatchewan Conservative MP David Anderson, parliamentary secretary to the CWB. "The Harper government promised to give western wheat and barley farmers marketing freedom and we have delivered."

But at a technical briefing Friday, senior officials of the CWB pointed out that the single desk remains in place for the remainder of the 2011-12 crop year. "It's business as usual," one official said. As of Aug. 1, 2012, the new voluntary CWB will be able to market all grains from all parts of the country, the official added.

Several farm groups with representatives at the news conference spoke in favour of Bill C-18 and applauded the Harper government for making marketing freedom for farmers a reality.

Stephen Vandervalk, president of the Grain Growers of Canada, said agriculture has changed dramatically since the Second World War, when the CWB's monopoly was imposed on wheat farmers.

"With this bill becoming law today, I will now be able to use my BlackBerry to choose where I sell my first load of wheat," said Vandervalk, who farms near Fort McLeod, Alta.