The corn thing?

[cowman]

I'm not right up on the politics or economics of the whole corn problem in Manitoba/ Ontario? Is there going to be a duty placed on American corn coming into Canada?
The contention is the Americans are subsidizing corn that is being dumped into Canada at low prices? It happened out here in Alberta a couple of years ago but we were told the subsidys were "green" and not countervailable? What has changed?
Livestock producers claim they can't compete if they don't have access to this subsidized corn...so I assume the corn is being sold in the US just as cheaply? What is the American farmer getting for his corn and what is the American/Canadian feeder buying that corn for? For example: Is the American farmer getting an actual $3/bu for his corn but selling it for $2 with the US government making up the extra buck?
How can the Canadian corn farmer(or barley grower) be expected to compete?

[JD4ME]

They can't but that isn't the corcern of the cca they don't understand a strong Ag economy is benifical to all because lower grain prices at a cetain point translate into more "marginal" land being put into grass and livestock production and hence more cattle and then lower prices for cattle producers, there's an equilibrium that produces best results for all and subsidies distort that equilibrium.
The last corn trade challenge went no where becasue it was launched by the manitoba corn growers and didn't have the required level of support from the other corn groups this one has the ontario corn growers involved as well.

[WoolyBear]

The whole corn thing is politics. Its just going to start another pissing war with more tariffs etc. Tit for tat and all that.

The hog boards don't like it because they just expect another fight like they had last year when the US put tariffs on pork. I understand it cost Manitoba alone nearly $7M to pay lawyers. More fights on against the CWB, another tariff on beef and God knows whatelse.


The corn producers are justified in their claims, the hog producers are scared of more tariffs, RCalf will challenge our beef exports and we ALL know that the only ones that win are the lawyers.

[farmers_son]

I do not think anyone has any doubt that U.S. corn producers are unfairly subsizied and that subsidized corn enters Canada. It is naive to think that Canada can ignore the impact this has on our farmers for much longer. The feeding industry needs to consider that they need a viable local source of feed grains if they hope to be competitive long term. Cheap feed grain imports are squeezing the profit out of feed grain production and threaten the viability of local grain producers. Even though they do not yet see it, subsidized corn imports threaten the Canadian feeding industry too.

[cowman]

Have to agree with you on this one farmers son! It is bad enough the USA has stolen a lot of our export grain markets through various schemes but when they invade our domestic markets with highly subsidized grain it is time for the government to do something.
If the government doesn't do something meaningful and very soon I can see the day when the grain farmer won't be able to operate.
In 2002 the barley price around here was in that $3.30/bu. range? The yields were down due to the drought but a lot of the two row barley was quality stuff, but with too much protein to make malt. Then in came the cheap corn and the price dropped to $2.80 real quick! A double kick in the teeth for the barley grower!
The CWB abandoned the barley grower because of the lack of barley available!
To top it off the Alberta government threw all the rules out the window and did everything in their power to allow in fusarium infested grain, straw and hay from Manitoba/eastern Sask. to save the cattle industry! We still are waiting for the bill on that one!

[WoolyBear]

Its not just the grain farmers that are suffering now either. The independent hog farmers are getting shafted by US base pricing that all the Canadian processors base their prices on. Last week a good market hog on the hook at about 95kg DW brought our neighbour only $120. If the price of barley goes much higher than $2/bushel, they don't know if they would be able to afford to buy any more in the New Year. This guy doesn't have a big new barn and any staff, so thats all that saving his "bacon". The propane costs, the freight on his soyameal and the cost to grow his own barley and feed wheat has really caused problems there too. As it has for the beef, grain sheep, dairy etx.

[silverback]

Did you bother to ask him about the huge profits the hog industry was enjoying over the last two years or so? The good operators were enjoying the "best prices ever" as one guy told me.

[silverback]

There must be money to be made in the hog industry in AB. because it has been expanding steadily, and is expanding even more in Sask and Man.

[WoolyBear]

With the price of grain the way it is, and with so many fellows wanting to get out of cattle, etc there will be a steady stream of conartists with feeder barn proposals coming around trying to build up the finishing barns to look after all the hogs needed to supply that new plant in Manitoba and the other one in Saskatoon. I wonder if Red Deer will go to a third shift!

Personally a lot of the independent hog fellows I knew were busy repairing their barns and paying off old bills when the hogs were sooooooooooo profitable this last year. It was a job that was put off too many times in the past 10 years when the prices caved in. Big processing plants don't translate into more monies to the producers.

[cowman]

In Alberta it is a pretty tough proposition to even build a hog barn? The business has changed dramatically over the last several years with the farrow to finish operation going the way of the Dodo bird!
Ask just about any hog producer what their biggest problem is? You'll most likely get the answer...Olymel! This is a tough packer who really puts the pressure on the hog producer! Things aren't all that rosy in the hog business.

[cowman]

cowman, if you listen to the guru's at Alberta Pork they will tell you that the NRCB is their worst problem. Seems they don't like being regulated, particularly having inspections of the older operations. I would suspect that construction costs will play a large part in whether there are more feeder barns built in AB., that combined with public acceptance of any more hog operations. At the present time there are expansions in many of the hutterite colonies and some expansions in the Peace region.