Rally

[grassfarmer]

Update!!
Plans are progressing well for the event with a good crowd anticipated. The rally will proceed as mentioned on Thursday on the legislature grounds. We have a live exhibit of two cows and a sheep attending. The Alberta Government has agreed to accept a cull cow from the group with the other being there as a companion animal. The sheep will be presented to represent the plight of owners of the other bovine species affected by this crisis. An official actually called back to see if we had any suggestions where they could get the animal butchered !! Of course they were told "welcome to our world" take your place on the waiting list to get a kill spot. So you see Government can be made to learn! The attendance of the animals as well as comprehensive media work before hand will hopefully garner plenty attention for the event.
After the rally is addressed the Minister of Agriculture will meet with a small group of the delegation leaders for a discussion of the problems affecting farmers.
This is a great opportunity, please choose to be involved and show that you care for the future of fellow producers and our industry.

[kato]

Good going. Moral support is the best I can come up with from this distance, but I wish you the best. Anything that keeps the media attention will be good for all of us. Now that the electioneering is all over, the risk of being forgotten is very real.

Personally, I have read more than one release by the NFU in the past several years that made a lot of sense. I'd not be too quick to dismiss them.

They came out with a good news release a while back that stuck with me. It was about the concentration of power in the food sector by large multinational corporations. Is that now what we are struggling with in the beef business now? Seems to me they were ahead of the game on that one, because it came out before the BSE crisis hit. At the time, everyone was rolling along quite happily, and dismissed it as being 'off the wall', but now it doesn't look quite that way.

[jensend]

kato that discussion paper on the myths of efficiency and economies of scale is on the nfu website at www.nfu.ca. i've always voted as far right as i could and never had much respect for the nfu but when i read that paper it was everything i have been thinking for the last five years or so. it begs the question of how we as producers can get so much more efficient and everybody else in the chain can take the benefits of that efficiency.

[grassfarmer]

Thanks for the support guys, jensend reading that document was a turning point for me too. It explained how things that were shaping my experiences as a farmer came about - and makes me realise how things will not go back to "the good old days" - we need to use this information to create a new future for ourselves.

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer, sounds like your group is well organized, congratulations and hopefully your efforts will make a difference !!!!!

[farmers_son]

Grassfarmer: Certainly I see you have none of the producer apathy that is so prevalent amongst many producers. I think emrald1 gave good advice when he said better to not try and embarrass the Minister. It does sound as if your group has planned this event carefully and I hope it is positive for everyone in the industry. I give you credit for trying.

I checked out the NFU paper on Efficiency and Scale and frankly I was very disappointed. Underlining the discussion was the preface that Canadian farmers need to go back to the way things were in the 1950’s, a simpler life on smaller farms. Unfortunately that is not likely to happen.

There was no discussion of the need for farmers to change, rather the focus is to revert to the past. The NFU sneers at value adding as a solution saying the problem is value theft. I agree that there is quite a bit of theft going on but the NFU offer no solution on how to stop it other than to look to government. The half truths contained in this paper may offer a pleasurable read for farmers who are looking for excuses for their problems without the seeking the need to actually change the way they are marketing their production. Many readers of these pages support producer owned packing plants as offering a solution to the price fixing of the major packers. I think that is a more logical and practical solution than any solution offered by the NFU.

See: http://www.nfu.ca/briefs/Myths_PREP_PDF_TWO.bri.pdf

[jensend]

rsomer - i guess i missed the conclusion that we could revert to the future. maybe you are trying to read an impossible conclusion into the discussion. the document outlines the way distribution of market proceeds has changed over the past decades. that is valuable to point out and let producers and government decide if there is a problem and how to deal with the situation, if required. producer owned packing plants are one option, branded programs are another. it has been pointed out here a number of times that we will probably be returning to retained ownership but marketing in different ways than in the past.at any rate, i think it is valuable to have the situation described as it was in the nfu document if only to clarify the situation for some producers.

[grassfarmer]

farmers_son, I would be happy to discuss the NFU document you refer to in greater detail at a later date. For now I am devoting my time to getting a good turnout and meeting with the minister on Thursday.
I'm surprised at your analysis though as this is one document that has received very little negative comment in Canada, Australia, in Europe and in other countries around the world where it has been brought to the attention of Agriculture ministers and Governments.
I think this in itself is quite an achievement for an organisation as "insignificant" as the Canadian National Farmers Union.
Perhaps at a later date you could show me a similar document that the intelligentsia of the ABP have come up with?
Emrald1 - I hope you will be joining us on Thursday?

[Bruce14]

I wish you luck grassfarmer.

"We will present them with a list of problems facing the industry that require action from the Alberta Government. We are not content to wait for a border opening that will solve few of the underlying problems."

What are the NFU's ideas of solutions to the list of problems?

[boone]

Good luck grassfarmer.

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change.
Robert F. Kennedy,

[grassfarmer]

Bruce14, I do not have the finished document yet that will be presented to the Minister. I will share the highlights with you once I receive it - hopefully it will provoke some thoughtful dialogue on Agriville and not NFU bashing because their ideas are "wrong". It is clear that our problems are many and varied as will be the solutions - no-one knows it all or has the perfect solution. We are trying to ensure that producers concerns are not swept under the carpet as the crisis grinds on through yet another winter while farmers sons leave the land to work in the oil patch.

[grassfarmer]

You are doing this at an opportune time grassfarmer, as you are meeting with a new minister, who, from what I understand, is a very bright fellow.

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer, just one more comment. We in Alberta are fortunate in that farmers and their sons can find off farm work in the oil industry if necessary, particularly now with the 'patch' booming the way it is. Other provinces aren't as fortunate.

[grassfarmer]

Heard about the rally this AM on the 6:00 news on CFCW. Good news item and excellent interview with one of the organizers. Positive comments about the Ag Minister which will likely help the cause significantly.
Hats off grassfarmer to you and your group. Hope it gets good support across the province. Any chance you can get an interview on Caitlynn Ressors Alberta at Noon on CFCW tomorrow ? All you need to do is call CFCW in Camrose and ask to speak to Caitlynn or be put through to her voice mail. The number is 679-0790.

[grassfarmer]

Emrald1, I'm not involved with the media side of it but I believe there will be an interview with the person you mentioned.