Dear CWB, Take me to Jail!

[cottonpicken]

Pars,et all

Hlg,is right by saying our fore fathers brought this
in.

I have an unusual perspective of the situation
because i am fifth generational farmer,with the
sixth on my lap.





Generational knowledge when it comes to your fore
fathers thinking and competence is hit and miss at
its best ...but...does offer insight.


Stories of straight up robbery from grain companies
are fresh in my mind from the day they happened
over a hundred years ago.

-can any anti board supporters fathom the worries
of old school pro-boaders?

Can old school boarders except the fact that the
board has failed recentlty?

I doubt it it.

Both are infalllable in their own egos and we all die.

[rockpile]

Cott puts a pretty simple synopsis of the situation
in a very concise statement. What I read out of it is
that most farmers refuse to pool their intelligence
and resources to maximize personal benefit and
would rather suffer and cry than do something
'about it'. Those who believe that the CWB is the
only salvation and those who believe that if the
market place is left alone everything will properly
settle out are both ideologically central planners
and not that far separated. The world doesn't work
that way. Everything is dictated from currency
values, interest rates to production volumes as per
current economic circumstances. So rather than
fighting old wars, why don't you all get your heads
around creating a 'new' way of doing business, by
increasing your marketing power through working
together, which would generate clout? I guess I'm
suggesting a co-operative approach, and oh, by
the way, this strategy is being employed world
wide, but as usual, Canadians seem to be the last to
catch on. Come on, quit whining and invent a new
wheel!
Rockpile

[vvalk]

Rockpile. Who do you suggests sell my grain for me in this cooperative? I assume you want everyone equal.

[gregpet]

Have not sold anything to the board since growing Andrew in 2005. No regrets and more money in my pocket.

[parsley]

I've learned a wee bit from owning my 1883 family farm's dirt.

1. Love the Board you claim? There is no such thing as crazy in love unless it's two way. You can learn that tidbit at any age; yup, hence more and more farmers turn away from the Board. Farmers might love the Wheat Board, but the Board sure as the hell doesn't love you. They are government run and they only view farmers as a cheap source of grain from which cheap flour can be made to keep the cost of living down. They despise farmers mosty of the time.

2.The original long long ago Wheat Pool co-operative went dead broke and cried for government bail-out. And the most recent SWP as you know it cott, got sold down the expansion-river, you know,...... its' own farmer-delegates electees approving buying everything not nailed down. Is colorful fuzzy recollection really about the stupid recalling the stupid?

3.And if you really want to take an adult walk down memory lane, and feel warm and fuzzy in embarrassment all over from a farm organization's real act of history, take your mentor, the ex-SWP, by its' shifty hand, and ask for their talking-tour about their canola futures slight-of-hand at the WCE. Compare. Add the numbers. Ask why no one went to jail for fraud. Just don't have the nerve to claim the SWP is a marketing example we should aspire to.

3.

[hlg]

I guess I missed something.It sounded like Rockpile suggested change. The CWB does need changes that better reflects REAL market prices for farmers.And pointing out SWP mistakes does not mean everything they done was wrong. This pointing fingers atitude will never help us.We need to learn from previous generations,right or wrong. Power should be in numbers. Divide and conquer has always worked.

[Burbert]

Why don't we get serious about marketing our grain. Lets be like the dairy/cheese people, or the egg people. Let our marketing board become STRONGER, not weaker. Get rid of the government losers that have been appointed to oversee/control the CWB. Lets take control of the damn thing ourselves. Farmers know what is best for farmers, not politicos......

[parsley]

Then perhaps you have learned that forced participation is folly.

Perhaps you have learned that co-operatives can speak with large voice, but any mandatory co-operative eventually speaks with a corrupt voice, a voice gone out of control busking for itself.

For heaven's sakes, learn from the past. Pars

[wilagro]

I agree with burbert...the farmers alone should control the CWB. It could be the salvation of farmers if run properly. We need a marketing board that will work for our interests...the multinationals will not work for us, EVER.
==

[hlg]

pars Sounds like every thing that happened in the past was a mistake, your`e just a weeeee bit negative tonight. Look at the bright side, our problems means the world has to much food. Good crops lead to marketing problems.