Not a great market

[kato]

If you live in Manitoba, only the big guys get to lock in anything. Futures, contracts, options and all that are only available to the big operators. Nobody's going to cover the small numbers. Those smaller operators are on their own.

And that's how the big get bigger.

[grassfarmer]

This cattle price insurance deal is an Alberta
provincial thing at the moment chances are if it
proves successful it will become a federal thing
available across the country.

[ALLFARMER]

That's life Kato

It's all about the choice WE make.

We still live in a free country. Could be much
worse off. An estimated 200,000 people are
imprisoned in North Korea. They would kill to be
in our place.

[15444]

Or, Kato, you could be in Ontario, which has a cattle insurance plan that is a joke compared to Alberta's. Only here you can't complain about it because you are treated like an ungrateful prick.

[brian99]

The cattle price insurance program administered by AFSC is truly that, an insurance program. No options are bought and no hedging is done by the insurer or the insured on futures markets. It is a completely user funded program, no spec money to cover losses. It's hard to see it being sustainable long term without spec money. Right now it will work because cattle look bullish, but when this thing reverses and everyone who subscribes collects every year for a few years, what then? I assume premiums wil go up and up, until it doesnt make sense.

This program is for everyone, so you could theoretically insure 20 pounds if you wanted to. Maybe AFSC should do that, let guys try 20 lbs for free, to get a feel for the program.

[Horse]

GF If this becomes federal we know we are getting screwed. Whatever hapened to the saying we farmers are an independent lot? Once you contract you have lost all independance and have strayed into the relm of the millionares and packers club. Do you supose there was any smsll to medium producers that had a hand in putting this insurance scheme together? Not that we should all stay small but not so many yrs ago I talked to Lee Nielson and he told me that 90% of thier sellers were under 50 cows at that time.