Big Pirates and little ones!

[cowman]

We've all taken great delight at ripping Cargill and Tyson as pirates and carpetbaggers, however what about our homegrown little bunch of scoundrels? XL, for the most part has gotten a free ride and what about the local abbatoire? Seems to me they were right in there doing their fair share of screwing right along with the big boys?
And what about some of our feedlots and auction marts? Not to mention our own ABP? Did they take advantage of the situation?
The feedlots took a good hit without a doubt, but I suspect they are rapidly gaining back a good portion of their losses? The auction marts? Commissions are up?
And last, but not least...the ABP? Raised the checkoff $1.00? Lack of revenue you see, because the darned farmers refused to give their cattle away! I wonder if they will drop the checkoff back to $2.00 when all those pentup cattle hit the market? Unlikely?

[perfecho]

You are right! The reason.....we really don't have a choice. And yet we take the price we are given, manipulated or not. The really sad part is, we produce the actual product the rest of the chain make a living on. We COULD control the whole line, but then why would we want to take that control....after all we are only farmers.

[blackjack]

cowman...the thing I was get a kick out of is how us Canadians think we are always somehow more moral than the states...this commission is a total joke these crooks(all the boys involved) should be thrown in jail...the part that pi$$es me off here we have the CBC a real taxpayer haven... always deflecting the the blame somewhere else...heck who knows maybe we can blame the americans...

[farmers_son]

If you are concerned about $100 million that disappeared into thin air how about the Parliamentary Committee that was looking into excessive packer profits, in the order of many 100 million dollars that did not disappear into thin air but instead went directly into the packers pockets.

According to the Western Producer, this week the House of Commons agriculture committee will report that an audit of slaughter plant books in the aftermath of the BSE outbreak showed a sharp spike in packer profits but no obvious collusion or inappropriate gouging.

Which leaves me to wonder just what is appropriate gouging?

[rkaiser]

Every time I look at Martin I see a man who is a pround Canadian and Prime Minister of our country,,,,,,,, and a man who avoids paying tax here by locating his Canadian Stemship Lines in some country with backasswards tax laws.
I generally throw up a little bit in the back of my mouth when I hear him speak.

[rookie]

You said it.... I wonder if there is an American T,V program comparable to Rick Mercers " Talking to Americans ".

You know the one where he asks them stupid questions to prove how uninformed they can be.... well, we have to be embarrassed to hear what went on in Ottawa.
And just as embarassed to know in the end it will all just go away at the tax payers expense.....

[rkaiser]

You mentioned ABP cowman, and I am not totally anti but -
I registered Cam, Doug and Myself (BIG C) for the Alberta Beef Industry Conference in Red Deer next week. We each paid the $175.00 out of our own pockets. Will ABP delegates pay - hell no - they will be paid and will get gas money and maybe a hotel room on top of ABP paid registration.

How di do di.

[SASH]

I couldn't help but notice this fall that the cattle buyer who usually takes my cattle to the livestock yards had added a surcharge onto his normal bill.
It seems everybody is capable of charging more for their services except the producer.

[kpb]

cowman, backgrounders and feedlot owners have had the best winter they've had in a long, long time. As a backgrounder myself I can tell you that the profits from feeding this winter will be the best in at least a decade. As I told everyone last fall, that was the best time to buy feeders because they were so cheap that you could make money even if the border did not open. If it did, well...So everyone who went out and bought feeders of any kind, or who kept their own, are doing very, very well.
As for farmers keeping their own calves to feed--it's never going to happen on a big scale. Don't forget the average cow herd in Alberta is 50 head. The guy with 50 cows is not going to want the hassle of weaning and feeding his calves. He will always want to sell his calves in the fall. Those are the guys who the auction markets love and those are the guys who I buy from.

[15444]

farmers_son,

I too wonder what is meant by such a phrase. The committee came to the conclusion that the packers did make excessive profits, but shrugged their shoulders and said it was a good economic move that any profit-driven company would have taken.

Inappropriate gouging....hmmm. Would have to be based around the purchase price...so if paying 0 cents/lb. for a cull equals stealing and 5 cents/lb. equals good economics, where does gouging fit in? 2.5 cents?...1 cent?

My conclusion, inappropriate gouging was the term used to make the concluding statement seem more official...regardless of any lack of sense it makes regarding the actual issue.

[grassfarmer]

I can believe that kpb, we sold calves on Tuesday and were pleasantly surprised. Averaged $768 with 7 weights.(Calves were weaned November 1st at 580lb worth @$535. Keeping them has cost @$90 a head feed and bedding. So $768 - $90 = $678 plus we got $80 a head off the stupid calf setaside program for doing nothing we wouldn't be doing anyway. Total value of calves $758 - over $220 a head better than selling them in the fall (of course we have still to consider the yardage and labour etc)What a difference from this time last year. I'm wondering now if we sold a week early - but again if the US announcement had come out against the border opening this week prices would have gone the other way. We saw a price we could take and pulled the trigger - I don't see the feedlots buying them getting much out of them with US futures showing the values they are for August/September.

[grassfarmer]

rkaiser, are you going to ask some pointed questions during the open sessions at the conference ? I hope anyone with concerns or issues will raise them so that other attendees can hear the various opinions from the stakeholders of the various groups involved in the conference.

[cowman]

Well rpkaiser, I guess you should have played to the crowd a bit more and got yourself elected instead of being such a darned old rebel! Then you to could be tipping them back for free with the ABP boys and the Ag Service Board crews!
However having said that I will admit we need a few old rebels in this country who will stir the pot and keep the free loaders accountable...so go get them!