ABP Zone Meetings

[grassfarmer]

An interesting point that a learned friend of mine and I were discussing the other night concerns the ABP/Packers and advertising issue.
We as producers pay checkoff levy to ABP - part of which advertises Alberta beef at home and around the world. Kind of strange as we are selling a raw material to the packers who add value to it and make huge profits(currently)-why should the packers not be paying anything to advertise Alberta beef? This was raised before on agriville by rpkaiser I think - does the company that makes the steel for cars/trucks pay for all the advertising that Ford motor company does? - I think not.
The point my friend and I were discussing was that in ADDITION to this cosy deal he has a suspicion that Cargill and Tyson actually get part of their company branded beef products advertising costs paid directly out of ABP funds. This will be raised at Fall producer meetings - does anyone have more info on this?

[BFW]

I see th problem with our industry (not just the ABP) of having no clearly defined picture of where we want the industry to be. This makes working together towards common goals very difficult. Farmers Son you say that the role of an organization is to serve the interests of those funding it. What are those interests? You will find that they very significantly from on end of the province to another. Many resolutions passed at the AGM's leave you puzzled as to their significance to the beef industry. I suggest that it is high time that we examine what the role of the ABP is going to be in the future and ensure that the monies that it collects yield a reasonable ROI to the shareholders.

RPKAISER, delegates to the feeder council are not appointed anymore as they were in the first year. THey go through the same process that any other person seeking a delegate position in the ABP would. The proposal for industry council as I understand it also involves elected positions.

[BFW]

BFW When you say elected, do you mean elected along side the regular Candidates. This is not how I understand it. They may be elected, but elected by putting their names up for feeder council, not general election.
I would expect industry reps would be the same.

What I am suggesting is for these special interest groups to run along side the normal candidates, and then put any title they want on their position after that. Why special treatment. Why would we not have a purbred breeders council, or a Grassroots opposition council, etc. etc.

If ABP is to be spoken of as a democratic voice of the industry, why not keep it democratic.

One more point I would like to make. I am personaly a founding member of BIG C. We have been seen by a lot of ABP folks as a boil on the ass of their group. Why is it that the government in Ottawa has a opposition. Maybe they should just call them a boil on their ass, and negate everything they say.

Sorry about that one, I do not intend to say that everything ABP does is wrong. I do however beleive that everyone in this country has a right to opinion,and if ABP does not, then drop the democracy facade and make whatever rules suit the power of the day.

[BFW]

Actually, I think that having a cow -calf council,as you are suggesting Rpkaiser, dedicated to issues directly affecting that segment of the industry would be a great idea! The goal would be to have an overarching board equitably representative of the entire industry acting on behalf of the industry. It is alright for producers (specifically cow-calf) to have a majority on this board but a strong, effective board of directors is well served by having a broader cross section of experience and opinion. Besides the democratic process will still favor the primary producer as he will hold the majority of the board seats. I do not want to belittle the democratic process but I sometimes think that when it comes to our industry associations we put to much emphasis on democracy and not enough on ensuring that we see positive returns on our investments in checkoff dollars.

[BFW]

if all Agri-ville participants that are eligible to vote at the ABP Zone meetings will pick up two or three neighbours on their way to the meetings, all those additional votes will make a difference.

[farmers_son]

Grassfarmer, you asked about advertising and promotion. Does it work? Yes. Does it benefit producers? No. Are there better places to spend that money? Certainly.

I have seen some really marvelous promotional efforts initiated by the ABP and BIC with our checkoff dollars. Unfortunately the benefits all accrue to the retailers and packers, not producers. There are many reasons for this but the best explanation I could offer is no matter how much we attempt to influence our domestic market there is an unlimited supply of offshore cattle that will quickly move in and fill any demand we are able to create. There are other reasons involving derived demand versus market demand, price elasticity at the farm gate, non functioning markets and limited competition amongst our supply chain partners, the packers and retailors. Bottom line, generic promotion of beef can never benefit the producers other than to offer them some false hope that they can somehow influence their fortunes through advertising.

But what if the money spent on promotion was instead directed towards producer owned packing plants? The proposed 2005/2006 ABP budget is $13,500,000 of which roughly $10,000,000 is for promotion of some kind or another. I think it is a fair comment to suggest those promotional dollars are mostly benefiting the packers and retailors much more than producers, if they benefit producers at all. But if that money was directed towards a producer packing plant there would direct and immediate benefits to the entire production sector. $10 million a year is a lot of money. We really can build and operate a producer owned packing plant with that kind of annual cash injection.

Would something like this ever happen? Not unless there was widespread and vocal support from producers themselves. I think the ABP is hoping producers are all worn out and don’t have the energy to attend any more meetings and demand needed changes. We will see in the next few weeks.

[cowman]

I wonder how that would work? If we directed the $10 million to operate a producer plant? Do you think Cargill/IBP/XL might consider it unfair?
I do agree with you that it is not in our best interests to be doing the advertizing for the people who are making the money on our products. I also do not agree that our forced check off dollars are being spent to do the governments work! International trade is their responsibility and yet here we are spending millions to lobby in the USA. If they did their bloody job we wouldn't have to?
I also really resent that my forced checkoff dollars go to defend the right of a chosen few to keep ripping off the Alberta taxpayer to the tune of over $40 million a year! So that a forced cattle tax(mandatory checkoff) goes to fund a lobby to steal $40 million from surface rights that in reality should belong to the Alberta people!
Bottom line: The ABP is not needed. It is costing us too much for whatever percieved benifit we might be getting. Time to either radically change the whole structure(and the way it is funded) or scrap it?

[kpb]

cowman I agree with you that the ABP needs to be radically changed or eliminated but my biggest complaint about them is that they are totally misguided. I do not want them chasing foreign markets because there is no possible way that, even if they are successful, that that will benefit individual producers. This is a complete waste of time and money. I would support money going to a producer packing plant but only if the government would support, through legislation, such a plant. Otherwise it cannot succeed against the big packers.
All of our industry organizations are misguided by thinking that our problems will be solved by finding foreign markets willing to take our beef. Do we really want to rely on more foreign governments to make decisions that will benefit us? All these groups need to re-examine their ways of getting us out of the current jam because what they're doing so far cannot work.
If you're producing too much of something you don't get yourself in a better situation by producing even more and hoping that some innocent will buy it.

[kpb]

The first of the ABP Zone meetings in tonight, it would be appreciated if any of you folks could provide feedback from any of the meetings this week.
It will be interesting to see how well they are attended, and if producers really do provide feedback and direction to the organization.

[kpb]

Got a report on the Zone meeting last night, apparently you did very well with your speech Randy