Why would Canadian Cattlemen support the monopoly?

[parsley]

read carefully cowman,

1. FEED Barley/wheat DA growers can sell to any feedlot in Canada including Alberta. That's off-Board feed grain. Right?

2. Off-board feed grains can't be exported. Only the CWB can export DA FEED Barley/wheat. Right?

3. That's a prohibition of off-board feed grain. Right?

4. That's a violation of NAFTA Article 309. Yes it is.

5. R-CALF is looking for a way, (not to stop grain imports as has been done in the past), but to STOP CATTLE IMPORTS.

6. BEEF IMPORTS, HOG IMPOTS, LAMB IMPORTS, just like dominos, you get the picture, right?

Why would Canadian Cattlemen support the monopoly?

Parsley

cowman, please reply in this thread.
I started the new thread in respect to you CP.

[cottonpicken]

Oh my a violation of nafta.
We should be ashamed of ourselves.

[parsley]

Cattlemen won't be happy when the border is slammed shut.

Parsley

[cowman]

I think R-CALF tried that early on when the US government slapped the 5.5% tariff on Canadian cattle? R-CALF contended Canadian cattle were being dumped at below production costs and I believe the CWB was mentioned as part of the problem? They later lost their case?
Hey, I'm not against barley prices going up. For too long barley prices have been a joke up here. In my area it is basically barley and canola...everything else is just too risky to grow!
There is an incredible amount of land growing silage/hay/pasture that could be easily converted into barley/canola production...and I believe we will see a major shift in that direction? I'm not sure, but I think we are in the process of liquidating the Canadian cowherd in a significant way!
I also think the American farmer will not be happy if we start undercutting their domestic feed market? I really do not see how we can compete in feed barley in the non- North American export market? The transportation/elevation/cleaning etc. costs are too high to justify a low priced commodity like barley...especially when the Canadian government refuses to match US and EU subsidies?
The good news is we may not need to rely on the US market, the international market, or the livestock feed industry very much longer? My local Agrium boy says new research in barley is pointing the way to bio fuel production! I don't know how much of that is hype, but would certainly work, in a barley/barley/canola rotation? I will tell you though this year it is going to be very "yellow" around here!
My cousin tells me that now you can use your own RR canola seed...as long as you don't spray it with roundup! Might be some fairly dirty crops out there this year!

[parsley]

Yes, R-Calf did challenge Canadian cattle using the CWB as the reason.

R-Calf lost. Why?

They lost because R-CALF challenged the selling of CWB-grain.

The last dozen or so challenges have all been the same....attacking the CWB selling their own legally-owned CWB grain.

cowman, you have to legally separate Board-owned grain from off-Board grain.

The threat will be refreshed when R-Calf focuses on the vulnerability of the CWB, concerning the grain the CWB doesn't sell...the Off-Board grain.

The CWB absolutely prohibits the export of off-Board feed grain, and that is a violation of Article 309.

That's when all livestock, not just beef, will sit at the border, waiting for the CWB to "un-prohibit".

Meantime, that meat is going to be aged a little more than the customer is accustomed to.

Parsley

[wilagro]

Tempest in a teapot.

When the CWB is GONE watch the American border "slam shut" on Canadian exports of grains of all descriptions.

[charliep]

wilagro

Just courious as to what evidence to indicate the US would close the border?

Looking at the question in front of farmers today, would you make the same comment if barley moved to an open market? Of the average 5 MMT of barley that the US has produced over the past years, 60 % is used by the malt industry. From a supply security side, they need western Canadian barley access.

I would also make the same comment on feed barley if they drive corn use in ethanol to the level forecast. Can they afford to cut off a source of supply of feedgrains?

[charliep]

The thread started with the cattle industry that consumes 80 % of the feed barley in western Canada. Regardless of the results of the plebicite, they will be the dominant barley user in the future. The question then becomes how to ensure barley remains a competitive crop relative to other alternatives. It may be the cowboys have to learn how to feed wheat with their competition for supplies the emerging ethanol but again off topic.

[parsley]

wilagrow,

If the CWB continues,farmers can look forward to enjoying MORE legal battles, MORE well-paid "appreciated" lawyers, MORE trips to Geneva for the Directors, MORE appointed judges, MORE international travel bills.

More of what the CWB has already provided.

Since 1989, according to the CWB website, there have been 14 American trade challenges of Canadian wheat, and all under the CWB's spending-arm, guaranteed by the Bank d' DA Farmer.

And wilagrow, you want more of the same.

I am impressed with what you have learned.

Parsley

[cropduster]

Willie,just like the Am.border has been slammed shut to canola,flax,rye oat,pea imports????Brain up!The price will be the same on both sides...less freight.Funny,tho`,I`ve had to pry info from cowpokes about the upcoming COOL legislation.That is NOT a tempest in a teapot!!

[cottonpicken]

HA HA HA

And then american subsidized farmers bid up the price of canadian made fertilizer to a point where there may be a shortage here.

HA HA HA

And then american subsidized lentil growers ship their product north undercutting us and the markets we developed.Ive seen this with my own eyes.Dozens of north dakota plated trucks at pulse plant.

HA HA HA

Canadian cattle-who needs them their inffested with mad cow dont you know!

HA HA HA

Iraq-bomb em their liable to take us over any minute.
Iran-same thing

HA HA HA

Canadian grain?Oh dont worry we'll never mess with that.

HA HA HA

Lets hear it parsly,your one person deffinatly not afraid to defend an undefendable position.

[cowman]

Charlie: Without a doubt the barley/cattle thing has been good for Alberta farmers? Not saying it was always equal...and readily admit over the years the cattle industry did better than the barley producer!
I would point out that it is a "symbiotic relationship"...and quite often the barley producer and the cattleman are the same person!
The times are a changin...and the fact is if I can make more money selling my barley to a "bio-fuel set up" or a new type of "malt set up(minus the CWB)" then...I will grow barley!
As I have said before on here...barley and canola really work well in the area I live in? They are the dominant crops...and for a good reason.
In central Alberta we really have no use, or need for the CWB? That is why we continue to vote Jim Chatenay in with huge majoritys?
Do I like what I am seeing with the end of the "cheap barley/high cattle prices? Well no I don't...I like raising cows...but not enough to take a bath on them, and raise them for fun!

[parsley]

cotonpickin and cowman,

My position is all farmers must be able to sell what they grow.

It is a very defensible position, economically, sustainably, socially, politically,and morally.

Thank you cowman for acknowledging the latter.

I agree, that morally, there is a fairness factor absent in the present sysyem. Cattleman have enjoyed the benefit of cheap captive feed grain, whilst grain farmers have been held hostage through the denial of CWB export permits.

We've lived in both worlds, and learned that what the cattleman needs to thrive is the same as what the grain farmer needs to thrive. You can't raid one to benefit the other, because one disappears, and I don't want my neighbor's farm, I want my neighbor as Wendell Barry so aptly writes.

It's called decency. Farmers must respect each other's views and interests, with a position that ALL farmers must be able to sell what they grow.

Parsley

[charliep]

cowman

Agree with your statements. Changes in the grain industry and other factors will have a big impact on the livestock. Don't know if I would be ripping up all that pasture land yet. It may be that 4 legged critters are just as good for harvesting crops as quarter million combines. Likely will always have a group of guys who check calving cows before bed and at 3 am in the morning. The question will be where they get fed out - here or south of the border.

[parsley]

charliep, the CWB Act was changed to allow imports of foreign grain.

Foreign grain comes into Canada all the time, but Canuck grain can't get out.

Do you recall opposition to letting cheap grain in?

One thing cattlemen will appreciate, is that the CWB Act was changed specifically to allow imports to come into Canada freely. Not even a license required anymore. Cheap American, or Russian or Argentinian etc. feed grains come in. The cattle industry in Canada prepared itself.

Now, feed grain growers need to do the same or we're out of business, but could sure use some help from the cattlemen.

Parsly