NFU REPORT

[LWeber]

Kodiak:

So the Liberals pander to their constituents and the Conservatives pander to no one...

I was told that Ritz gave White's name to the CWB and for months they debated Ward W. and what tradeoff occurred for White - the rest of us will never know.

Great system.

[charliep]

Will note that the board of director election is occurring (ballot deadline Friday). The B of D provides the strategic direction that will influence the direction and tone of communications from the CWB operations side. It is important for farmers in districts 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 to vote.

Also note the stretch of having the Chief Executive officer sitting on the B of D and having the deciding vote/influence. Perhaps this should be one of the first changes - CEO does not sit on the B of D and keeping their focus solely on the operations side.

[kato]

I thought the Neudorf plant just declared bankruptcy. As for the Winnipeg plant, it's a sore subject around our neighbourhood with just about everyone who originally signed up with it being owed money for cattle that they don't expect to ever receive.

Which is my point. The Manitoba government is choosing to back this particular plant, even knowing that they have already burned a significant number of Manitoba cattle producers. They insist on taking checkoff funds, and giving it by the millions to a business plan that has already failed once.

My thinking is that they would be better off sharing that money amongst the many smaller operations already in existence, and doing what they can to let them expand. Better not to have all your eggs in one basket as they say.

I also think the direct route has a lot more potential than 10%, but it needs a culture shift to do it. I got a taste of direct marketing this summer with vegetables and the Farmer's Market, and from what I saw there, there is a real interest from city folk in knowing where their food comes from. They do value quality, and they do value freshness, but in a lot of cases, they just don't know where to find it.

I think our checkoff money could be put to a lot better use helping them do so.

[Burbert]

Ritz, Ritz, Ritz, likely he is the fellow who hired Mr. WHITE. Ritz really knows ag and is a true genius, that's why he is the Ag minister. His performance to date, proves he is probably one of the greatest Ag ministers, Kanada has ever had. Hardnosed, joker, that survived the cabinet cuts. Ritz will probably be Prime Minister one day, cause doin the right thing seems to come naturally for him.....

[grassfarmer]

Kato, my comment on 10% market potential was referring to beef only. Vegetables and smaller items are an easier sell because they are lower price purchases. I don't think you would get more than 10% prepared to spend $450-$500 up front on a beef quarter.
I think to get the massive shift to direct purchasing we would need a culture shift as you say - maybe export some Canadians and import some French folks LOL. Sadly the "Walmart culture" is too engrained in most Canadian consumer's make up nowadays - and sadly a similar "American plague" is also rapidly spreading across Europe.

[TOM4CWB]

Bucket;

We have a very forgiving spirit... and are blessed with prosperity IN SPITE of CWB tactics!

"You can't keep good folks down!"

I believe Minister Ritz simply confirmed the request of the CWB BOD... and agreed with the selection of White for the position. AS IF Minister Ritz HAD ANY CHOICE.

"Conservatives are known for eating each others babies"... comes to mind here!

Beat up on Goodale for a while... he created this whole mess in the first place!

[Sawbones]

Sean, while I agee it would be nice to receive a premium for "higher quality", I believe the first step is to remove the inefficiences in the system. This is first obtained by having the product produced close to the food source. The next step is to have the slaughter facilities at an economical size with labor and transportation and within reaonable distance of the cattle. The slaughter facility should then work with a "local" retail outlet to produce products that are desired in that area. We have tried to work with a retail outlet that sells 7% of the meat in Western Canada and that would work well with the number of cattle that we could potentially deliver. The sad fact is that to start we have to "buy" marketshare to take it away from the major packers and of course they will not custom kill at a reasonable rate to sell to their former clients. short ribs to Korea, Hallal products, tongues to Japan are all nice perks but our main client is still our local Canadians. By having mid-size plants across Canada, we can compete with "our story" and there are retail outlets that are looking for solutions to the Walmart phenomena.
Kato..I understand your frustration with the former start up attempt. We have also invested heavily in what looks like a failure but at least you have a government who will re-invest your dollars for you. If you have access and a guaranteed price of slaughter locally, your initial investment will have been a success

[Kodiak]

This is off topic, so while I agree with you Tom that Goodale created the mess, he is not in charge. Harper and Ritz are. I don't see them cleaning it up.

This government was elected to govern. Their election platform was marketing choice. They did not say marketing choice only if is easy. They brought the industry together in 2006 to help them move forward. The advice was 100% ignored.

They way they are bumbling and stumbling around its clear they have no plan to get it done. If they were serious, we'd see some real concrete action.

I'm afraid the farm vote is being taken for granted. In their mind, there is no upside to change. Reading between the lines, they have as much as told us that. The Liberals/NDP coaltion has them spooked.

Come to think of it, maybe Goodale is still in charge.......

[TOM4CWB]

Kodiak,

As long as we have a minority parliament... Goodale has the last laugh.

If grain growers don't elect a majority of 'choice' candidates for directors... WHY SHOULD MINISTER RITZ OR PM Harper risk their Conservative government on us?

NOW... phone some 'designated area' grain growing neighbours and get them to put their ballots in the mail box!

[cottonpicken]

Think before you type Tom.

If the government was defeated today by a non confidence vote over the wheat board the conservatives would be handed a majority government.

I bet 90% of canadians dont have a clue about the board.

They dont want it to change,it doesnt matter who you elect things will not change.

[stubblejumper]

If Tom and bucket disagree would they both be idiots?

[GrainBeetle]

LWEBER: so if none of the 15 bod's have the skills to run a 7 billion dollar company, who's fault is that? Your hero steve harper replaced 5 qualified business skilled bod's and replaced them with simpleton redneck farmers (and former SWP exec Bruce Johnson who took that company's stock from 26 bucks to penny stock.

I hear Parsley likes your 70's porno-moustache.

[TOM4CWB]

Grainbeetle,

How about the majority of the BOD... which are 'single desk' supporters... who believe "designated area' grain growers should wear the risk of the most volitile market in history.

Not a smart move... they knew years ago that this needed to change.

The pool... and lack of astute management... is costing us billions... this has very little to do with the 'single desk'...

Bad managment is bad management. Poor governence on top of awful management... is what Goodales legacy left us.

Goodales revenge... he knew the CWB had to change 5 years ago... and failed to force the needed changes.

Goodale created the monster that now is near impossible to control... and is bleeding our money profusely.

[smcgrath76]

I guess I would argue that even in the commodity business these poor cattle are an inefficiency. It costs the same to kill an animal that doesn't grade and yield and the loss will be bid out of live cattle that do so the plant will make a profit in the end.
I think that the shift in base price has to come from offering a premium (in some way) type of product and shortening of the supply chain. Once in that chain or market the premium or discount on the cattle needs to reflect their actual relative value.

[furrowtickler]

Grain Bugg - carefull, I think pars could snap you in half. Play nice! BTW, nice typical CWB response to a question.