Incredible

[grassfarmer]

Anyone spot the article in the AG-VISER titled
"Working the records - moving beyond production"?

"Farming is a text book example of perfect
competition" says Ted Nibourg, farm business
management specialist with Alberta AG-Info centre,
Stettler. "As an industry agriculture is made up of
many buyers and many sellers. In this world of
perfect competition it is difficult for individual
producers to earn more than a minimal return or
profit"
Nibourg says that as a result of this type of
competition, farmers are essentially price takers.

Wow, just wow.

[grassfarmer]

I see the whole article is posted here
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/newslett.nsf/all/agnw20944

[wilagro]

Good Lord..."essentially price takers"...self-evident for ALL of my life on the farm. We don't need some AB AG rep to spout the obvious.

Until farmers unite in some meaningful way in marketing it will always be the case of price take and price SCREW.

We did have a little bit of influence over grain marketing at one time but everyone knows what happened to that.

The AB government has NEVER encouraged farmer or rancher initiative towards marketing except for FOREIGN NATIONALS and their minions...and there they fell all over themselves assisting financially and legislatively. Remember the Taiwanese hog influx and the controversy that engendered. When Cargill went into High River they couldn't do enough for that venture as well.

[grassfarmer]

It wasn't being told that we are price takers that
amazed me it was that we are price takers "BECAUSE
OF PERFECT COMPETITION" part.

[perfecho]

It is laughable...until you pay bills, or your buddy in the oilfield tells you how much they make!
Always new farming was not the best business decision, but has been a lifelong dream...so I chased dreams for a while. We will likely do OK due to land prices in our area, however now everyone is in that boat.
My wife finally got tired of waiting to hook up a couple of sinks we had purchased....gotta plumber in for a few hours, over $800.......should have looked at the "honey do" list closer!
That's a least on commercial calf....

[wilagro]

Grassfarmer: Yes, that "PERFECT COMPETITION" is a bit strange...perhaps it deserves another press release to flesh it out in its interpretation and method of employment. Mostly, I'd say that it is just plain BUREAUCRATIC BALONEY.

[grassfarmer]

Again the point is missed... it's not that i'm bitching
about being a price taker. Its about the assertion by
an AB AGF employee insisting that perfect
competition exists in Canadian agriculture and this
causes farmers to be price takers.

Here is a definition of perfect competition:

"In economic theory, perfect competition (sometimes
called pure competition) describes markets such that
no participants are large enough to have the market
power to set the price of a homogeneous product."

Now can you see the problem with his assertion?

[wilagro]

grassfarmer: I see your point...you explained it well. It makes one wonder if these bureaucrats really live in the real world.

[littledoggie]

Another FLAW in the statement - "many buyers". Surely he's talking about somewhere else.

[grassfarmer]

Exactly.... I don't think it is the bureaucratic
gobbledygook of someone not living in the real world
though. Given the guy's position I think this is clearly
manipulative propaganda on behalf of the AB Gov.
designed to keep dumb farmers happy in their
ignorance while the corporate benefactors continue to
line their pockets.