Best De Pape yet!!

[stubblejumper]

Goodbye Board



Some people think grain farmers would be better off without the Wheat Board.

Others think we can have a Wheat Board that is not a single desk seller. They believe a CWB without inland elevators, terminal elevators at port or any capital can compete by asking its competitors to handle grain it has a sale for.

They are really saying the CWB should establish a price, which they and their friends can undercut to compete for sales.

This idea has just been tried in Australia. Find out why it failed by going to: (Link to: Notes on the Loss of the Australian Wheat Board Single Desk)

It has also been tried in Canada several times. Remember what happened when oats was removed from the CWB? A Look back at the Oat Debacle: (Link to: Oat Debacle)

Of course realistic politicians understand that in commodity markets single desks, like the CWB, benefit the producers of the commodity. As Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall recently observed, ending the single desk in potash would make Saskatchewan “transition from being price leaders to price takers.” (Link to: Single Desk Good for Potash - Why Not Grain?)

[Fransisco]

Really, Canpotex and the CWB are the same thing? I don't think so. That's just as kooky as trying to pretend that supply management and the CWB are the same.

If anything Canpotex is a cartel. Maybe it does have the market-share and the power to affect prices but the CWB certainly doesn't.

[Fransisco]

And if things are so bad in Australia how come wheat acreage hasn't dropped post monopoly?

And the former board still has about 20% marketshare?

Oh, and there are now other private companies down under offering pooling? I guess they didn't get your memo saying voluntary pooling just couldn't work.

[bucket]

If anyone thinks the cwb can be like canpotex their head is so far up their ass they are probably choking on it.

[Fransisco]

Why stubble, I overestimated you.

Here I thought you were actually starting to think about things and debating the issue but instead you're just copy and pasting without even bothering to list the source.

http://www.cwbafacts.ca/goodbye_board.html

There's nothing particularly wrong with this but at least have the courtesy of giving the appropriate credit to the person or persons who came up with the argument.

[Fransisco]

Here's another question for you boardies who want to pretend that Canpotex and the CWB are the same thing. What kind of royalties does the board pay to the Saskatchewan government?

Because when Brad Wall talked about Canpotex he talked a lot about those royalties. He also said this,

"We believe there is a significant risk to net loss to revenue for the Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada, revenue that in our province that would require deficits, or tax increases, or program cuts, or some combination of those things."

That doesn't sound like someone who's worried about whats best for potash producers. That sounds just like every other tax and spend politician who thinks they know better what to do with your money than you do.

And if the argument is all about tax revenue for governments the gazillions of dollars in lost revenue that the board has cost farmers over the last 70 years translates into lost tax dollars from farmers as well.

[jdepape]

stubble:
I went to the website www.cwbafacts.ca and was unimpressed. Same old rhetoric, same old misrepresentations, same old skewed conclusions based on inaccurate understanding of the market place.

I have sent an email to them to invite them to discuss their facts (I'm not concerned about their conclusions - but they should at the least get their facts right.) We'll see if they respond.

Example of factual inaccuracies:
"“basis” includes transportation and the other costs of moving a commodity from production to the international price location."

Sorry, but that's wrong.

Here's another:
"One of the largest malting plants in the world is located at Alix, Alberta."

At 39,000 tonnes (storage capacity), Rahr actually comes in fourth in Canada - after Canada Malt in Calgary (89,330), Prairie Malt in Biggar (107,380), Canada Malt in Thunder Bay (80,900). In the US there are many plants bigger than Rahr in Alix. Even more around the world.

There are many, many more examples like this. It's too bad that someone went to so much effort only to get so much wrong.

[stubblejumper]

depape you are just like the Farmers or Just Me who pay for your blog. You are allways right and everyone else is wrong.

[Fransisco]

If its so obvious to you that he's wrong stubble can you please point out where and how?

[jdepape]

Calling Farmers for Justice "Farmers for Just Me"...

Let's see if I have this right:

Open-market guys want an open market where EVERYONE will benefit, including single desk supporters.

Single desk guys want to keep the single desk at any cost because it suits them, even though others are saying it doesn't work for me and I want a choice.

So, logically, which group should be called "Farmers for Just Me" (or Farmers for Just Us")?