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[ALLFARMER]

Add your nail to the coffin! Could you imagine if
we all had to sell our calves to the same buyer,
shipped them when they said for who knows
what and got paid over the coarse of a year?

[kato]

Let's see. We all pretty much sell our calves to two buyers now. And we get paid who knows what now. I guess we're not told when to ship them, but the price set will dictate the time.

So, no, I couldn't imagine. ;-)

[ag-boy]

yes after the CWB HAS NO MORE MONOPOLY
AND CLEAN HOUSE AT wINNIPEG OFFICE WE SELL WHERE WE WANT LIKE WE DO WITH OUR CATTLE .
THIS hARPER GOVERNMENT WILL GET RID OFF THE MILKBOARD AND CHICKENBOARD NEXT .
MILK IS DUBBEL THE PRICE IN ALBERTA THEN ACROSS THE LINE IN MOTANA !
SAME IS FOR CHICKENPRICE TO THE CONSUMERS HERE
QUOTA HIGH COST IS ADDED ON TO THE PRODUCT , THIS GOVERNMENT IS GOING THE RICHT DIRECTION
WHY ONLY A FEW CAN BUY MILK QUOTA AND CHICKEN CONTRACT AND HAVE HUGE PROFITS AND SAME TIME CONTROL .
ALREADE TWO WHEAT BOARD MEMBERS RESIGNED ! AFTER IT IS ALL OVER LETS GET ALONG AND WORK TOGETHER

[grassfarmer]

It's strange how grain producers can become so confused about a marketing board working on their behalf that they see it as the enemy they are forced to sell to.

As you say Kato, beef producers have been in a worse situation in recent years - especially those of us who spent time on a certain packers blacklist lol.
Funny too that on the beef side the emergence of NorthWest Cattlemans Alliance - a marketing board type organisation that lists cattle for sale generally from smaller feedlots and packer blacklisted feedlots was quickly able to secure weekly bids higher than the national average price. Clear proof of the power than an organisation marketing collectively on behalf of producers can achieve.

But no, a few grain farmers think they can go it alone and outwit the Cargills and ADMs of the world. Reading the endless windbag tirades on the subject over on the commodity forum you've got to laugh - many of these guys can't spell simple words yet they think they have the ability to get the top dollar every time they market their product without the CWB. Keyboard geniuses aided by a Con government whose sole agenda is to help the grain companies.

[wd40]

The "concept" is right.

"Single desk selling" will always take the power.

The problem is the people in the ivory tower in Winnipeg.

Socialistic bureaucrats! The epidomy of liberal accedemia.

[kato]

Socialist bureaucrats on one side, and corporations who are just champing at the bit to get in there and plunder on the other. Pick your poison.

There's a reason the Cargill's of the world have been working so hard to get rid of the CWB.

Think about it.

There's a reason the Americans have been campaigning so hard to get rid of the CWB.

Think about it.

If a corporation made a good sale, who would get the extra share of the profit? The people who sold them the grain? Or the shareholders...

Think about it.

Ask a cattle producer how easy it is to use the marketing clout of one against the power of a multinational corporation.

Listen to his/her answer, and then..

Think about it.

Be careful what you ask for.. you may get it.

[grassfarmer]

So I'm not sure what all that was about agboy? You want producers to get lower returns for their chicken and their milk? Is that why you want to see the CWB gone too? so grain producers can enjoy lower prices too?

Actually, historically research has shown that the price of a basket of dairy products is sometimes dearer in Canada and sometimes dearer in the US. The difference with supply management is that Government holds the processing industry in check to ensure adequate returns for the producer, processor and a fair price for the consumer. Why any ag producer would want to see supply management end is beyond me as they are the only consistantly profitable sectors of Canadian agriculture.
Last time I checked anyone that wanted can buy either milk or poultry quota so feel free to put your money where your mouth is and enjoy the prosperity.

[15444]

My advice to small grain farmers would be to sell your farm and invest it all in CNR, CPR, Viterra, Cargill, etc. and reap the rewards when the shares rocket upwards.

Payday is coming for the big boys.

[Happytrails]

Obviously there is a range of views on this subject. What I don't get is how some of you believe with all your heart that the grain company's main purpose in this world is to bankrupt grain farmers. With no grain, they have no function and their business ends. That is shooting yourself in the foot. If some of you think that grain companies are that stupid I would suggest an awakening is sorely needed. HT

[Happytrails]

BTW regarding supply management marketing boards. I will never side with those who defend the power of government to ban farmers from producing food. Try to sell eggs without a quota and somebody with a gun will show up to shut you down. Is that right? For those with quota it is a license to print money. What about the rest of us and the rest of society. Competition is what got us here. Who is to say that now is the time to change the rules. HT

[grassfarmer]

Their main purpose is to buy as cheap as they can and sell as dear as they can. Just look at the packers in the cattle industry in recent years - they did just that and in a way they did shoot themselves in the foot because so many people left the business they are now running under capacity and having to pay more for cattle and losing margin as a result. Of course they have fat bank accounts because they got so much aid from the Government that I'm not feeling too sorry for them.

Now I've nothing against buying cheap/selling high it's common business practice which farmers and ranchers employ too. But the difference is we are all competing with many other farmers/ranchers when we try to buy/sell so it keeps the trade honest - and caps the times when there may be outrageous windfall profits. But when there are many sellers and only one or two buyers the trade is not honest or transparent because their is an unfair advantage in favor of those buying.
And don't equate that to the CWB as being the only buyer - it isn't it's a marketing board working on behalf of farmers. Through the board many sellers can find many buyers - take it away and you will have many sellers and few buyers.

[kato]

Actually you can sell eggs. The caveat is that you must sell direct from the farm, and you must tell the customer they're ungraded. You can't sell to stores, or at the farmer's market. At least that's the rule in Manitoba.

[burnt]

kato, it will not likely take too many years to show the veracity of your prophecy. Wait a minute, when an opinion is rooted in experience, does that remove it from "prophecy" (foretelling the future)to "observation"(seeing reality)?

There could well be a few surprises and more than a few rude awakenings.

[grassfarmer]

HT, my reply was to your first post last night not your second - it maybe makes more sense if taken in that context.

I'd like to recount again the experience of the "milk marketing boards" in the UK before and since deregulation as I think it is relevant to the CWB debate.
The boards were introduced in the 30s to ensure a fairer return for producers in tough times. They were monopoly sellers of the countries milk but there never was any form of Government regulated milk price like there is under CDN supply management. In the 80s they brought in production quotas which regulated production but it was still all sold through the boards with no government mandated price.
In the early 90s a campaign started to "deregulate the milk market" and abolish the boards. This was partly spurred by the EU, largely by the milk processing companies and partly by some younger dairy farmers getting greedy.
Milk price at that time was about 19-20 ppl. Dairy companies began to tell young ambitious producers that they would pay them 25 ppl under an "open market" system and in return they should help persuade the Government to do away with the boards. Many took the bait, some good friends of mine included, they borrowed money, ramped up production in anticipation of the good days ahead. Built bigger barns, new parlors, more cows, more land. Eventually the boards were abolished. First thing that happened was the milk companies wouldn't pick up milk from smaller producers or those in outlying areas that had always been aided by the pooled milk price system under the boards. So production was concentrated on the bigger operations, with many leaving the industry. Furthermore they soon learnt what the milk companies were like to deal with in an unregulated environment - within the next decade instead of the price going up to 25 ppl they were promised it drifted down to around 16 ppl much lower than the price a decade before in the regulated market. Lots of these guys now in their 40s are very disillusioned, heavily in debt constantly fighting to try and get another penny a litre to recover their cost of production and many of them realise now that the system established by their grandfathers was a wise system set up for a reason. There have been attempts to re-establish marketing cooperatives but they always take a piece meal which don't work - it needs to be all or nothing.
I think the CWB issue will play out pretty much the same way if the few succeed in getting rid of it in spite of the views of the many wanting to retain it.

[rkaiser]

Is this whole thing not simply about "choice"?

If you "choose" to grow Wheat, are you forced to sell through the Wheat board?

It seems to me that you can sell eggs and chickens and hogs,through a number of non conventional routes. Yes it takes more effort and a few risks, and we also have the right to sell beef to other companies beyond Cargill and Nilsson's.

Even in the milk industry, those who don't want to deal with the quota system can get into the cheese or yogurt business if they "choose". I do feel that the selling of raw milk or non commodity milk is a problem that needs attention.

The wonderful part about living in this country is that we can "choose" and we can also affect "change".

If the wheat board was holding people back from choice, maybe it needs to go. If the farmer is holding himself back from choosing another route, maybe he should rethink his goal.