So you want to be "Free"?

[dmlfarmer]

Good question Furrow:
-Canadian Wheat Board Act passed by parliament on JULY 5, 1935.
-Defense of Canada Regulations (WW II enactment of War Measures Act) passed by parliament on SEPT 3, 1939

OOPS!

[highwayman]

Ooops is right dmlfarmer. Single desk implemented SEPT 1943 in order to stop rising price of wheat. All made possible by the war measures act.

[dmlfarmer]

Read Furrow's post again Highwayman. He wondered "why the cwb was set up", NOT when it became a single desk. I simply pointed out the CWB was in existance more than 4 years before Canada joined the war, and the war measures act was enacted. So no oops here. But I too am interested in getting more information about why the CWB was created by the government in 1935.

[highwayman]

Simply put the CWB was set up as the governments political solution to the marketing blunders of the 3 prarie wheat pool and the CSA(central selling agency)Holding unhedged grain in a declining market. CWB task was to dispose of the inventories that had been transferred to the newly formed crown agency. Along came WW2, price freezes and voila, the single desk monoploy to keep a lid on grain prices.

[dmlfarmer]

Highwayman:
How big were the inventories (bu or tonnes) that you say were transferred to CWB? Who were these inventories transferred from? Who got the money from these inventories when the CWB sold them? How long did it take for the CWB to sell the inventories (1 year, or more than one year)?

[Fransisco]

This won't give you all of the details but its a reasonable account.

http://www.cwb.ca/public/en/about/history/

[dmlfarmer]

Thanks Fran, but nowhere in that link does it say anything about inventories being transferred to the CWB for sale as Highwayman claims. That is what I want details on.

[fjlip]

CWB was voluntary from 35 to 43 and non board prices were higher, due to the war demand.I guess it would work.

[PrairieSodBuster]

Okay so not everyone really wants to be really free. Here is another solution that might work. I'm going to be nice in the hopes that there will be less "I love the wheat board, I hate the wheat board" rhetoric.

How about we declare North America to be an open market with no CWB and we let the CWB continue to have exclusivity outside of North America. This will allow farmers to sell their grain to anyone in North America without having to do anything with the CWB. That way most of you who are "free marketers" will be happy as most of you are selling to the North American market (The U.S.). This means no more export buybacks in Canada, US and Mexico. However if you ship to Indonesia the CWB is still in the picture. You only would get after payments if you shipped through the wheat board (I'm sure many wouldn't really care). If you sell outside of the CWB, what you get is what you get.

To answer those who asked why the CWB should affect Farm Fuel and Farm Plates. I know there are many Commercial Truckers that are right ripped that we get cheaper fuel, we have cheaper plates for our Super B's (where as what they pay is based on tonnage) and we don't have to go through as rigorous inspection policies. Now I know most of us abuse our "field" trucks and most of our Semi's and Super B Trucks look pretty good. However if you want true free markets then we should be prepared to live like other industries. Maybe our Super B's should be treated like commercial vehicles, maybe we should be running clear diesel and not marked and maybe we shouldn't have a separate department, but have to deal with the same ones every other business does. If you want the extra's then you need to expect more government interference, the more you are willing to do for yourself should make government "assistance" less important.
I guess my biggest beef with most of you is that I've heard the same arguments for the last ten years...ad nauseum, but no one has really talked about solutions, or compromise or anything it's just black or white. Right now I believe the CWB needs to be fixed to make it work better for farmers and if that means they lose some of their control I can live with that. As long as it helps ALL farmers and not those who are so small as not to be viable or so big that they will have all the advantages. Then again in a true free market those who are most able to take advantage of the "advantages" will be the winners. That might just mean a bunch of farmers get together to create a corporation to really "go big" to gain economies of scale. If that happens when do they cease being "farmers" and are just "shareholders"?
So my final thought is the rhetoric should end and we should find a way to a solution that either helps all farmers to win, or we should hasten the day where there are no more "family farms" and more "grain producing companies".
I hate being compared to the Indians...that we can't be business like enough to take care of ourselves. If there is a CWB in the future it should be truly farmer directed and if losing the federal guarantee and preferred interest rates is how it is done then so be it.

[charliep]

Australia started with direct selling to the domestic market in the AWB's road to change.

Perhaps even in Canada not a big change to have a North American barley market. About 85 to 90 % of western Canadian barley is sold in an open market. Corn can be imported into Canada with no restrictions as can other feed including DDGs. The CWB is only involved in malt barley (domestic and export) to the tune of 2 mln tonnes depending and when things are right feed barley export.

[charliep]

Too aggressive on my domestic percent. More like about 80% domestic/20% CWB. Corn and malt barley (6 row this year given limited production/crappy quality) can flow north unresticted.

[highwayman]

dml grain stocks were transferred from the Central Selling Agency to the newly formed Crown Agency, the CWB, in 1935. These stocks were reportedly in excess of 200 million bushels unhedged and unpriced. I would assume proceeds from sales would have been retained by the crown since the government had assumed the CSA financial obligations to the banks who were ready to forclose. As for how long it took to sell these stocks, how much they received, who the buyers were or what color there hair was , do your own research, the internet is a wonderful tool! Have a nice day