How would you vote on the CWB

[charliep]

Way off Shaun's topic but would watch for the next annual CWB producer satisfaction survey. Would watch the direction and tone of the questions. Assuming will be done late May/June for least last half June (normal) or early July.

[Ruken]

Wilagro, firstly let me acknowledge my ignorance around the selling regulations within the CWB. However, as a buyer of feed barley, I have many grain growers that I can access grain from. Assuming that the quality is the same from many of them, I can work one against the next for their product to get the cheapest price. After all, there are so many of them and only a few of us buyers and by standing alone, they do not have a firm pricing base. It would be a whole lot harder for me to dicker with them if they would all stand together, which is one of the aspects that the CWB does for the grain growers, albeit with a whole set of complexities along with that feature. An I'm happy for you to tell me I'm wrong and I'll retake grade 2!

[charliep]

Would these same principles apply to the fall run of calves? Would you favor a more regulated single desk system of your calf crop? Do you think you would get a higher price?

[parsley]

Ruken, feed wheat and barley growers are captives of the domestic buyers. I can't export it. Feedlot operators can set a price and take their pick. Ontario can turn their nose up and export. Uh huh.

I'm right with you silver. Who in their right mind, would even contemplate a bloody vote?

[Ruken]

Well I don't know. Yes, i can sense the frustration that you have in marketing within the limits imposed by the CWB but the free enterprise model isn't cake with icing either. There's got to be a better way. I can appreciate the frustrations with the buyers side as well, being the feedlots trying to operate within their margins....not simple. Is there something we can adopt from the dairy industry?

[charliep]

The difference with the dairy industry is they control supply and meet the needs of the domestic market. Their profitability based on ability to manage supplies is built into quota values.

Cattle and beef are both based on export markets. Canada only consumes about half the beef we produce (could be a higher percentage today with declines in cattle herd). We need access to outside markets. Trade rules govern what we can and can't do.

Strangely, barley is moving to the same stage you talk about with dairy. Canada will produce 9 million ish tonnes of barley. Livestock industry will use 6.5 to 7 millions tonnes (down 9 million tonnes historically because in the reduction of livestock numbers). Domestic malting industry at capacity - 1 million tonnes. Seed - 300,000 tonnes. 1 million tonnes available for export (likely malt). Lack of profitability in barley is pushing farmers to other crops - your wish will come true in that barley will only be produced for the domestic market in the future if the current trend stays in place. The livestock industries safety valve is they can import US corn. Can the Canada be competitive as a feeding region if rely on imported corn?

Way off the original topic but what both the livestock industry and the grain side need is an effective western barley futures contract to provide a more visible price and hedging opportunities. More open access to export markets could (not guranteed) bring more trading volumes to this contract.

[FarmRanger]

Ahh yes, the dairy industry. Permanent ever-increasing consumer subsidies which become capitalized into the piece of paper that says you can sell your milk.

If someone succeeds in creating that monstrosity in the grain industry, I'm retiring the next day. The free market may not be perfect, but I'll take it over government controlled markets any day.

[wilagro]

Well if the feller in the green hat hadn't set up the dairy marketing boards there wouldn't be a dairy industry in Canada and our dairy products would be mostly imports from the states and owned by big business.

Marketing boards aren't perfect but they saved the industry and protect the consumer as well as the producer.

[sumdumguy]

Willagro, how do they protect the consumer?

Do you think American dairy is unsafe?

[Ruken]

Good thoughts here are various levels. Can we go the petrochemical industry to adopt a new model? They operate on a world market to find a base price and then they work by formula to cover their costs and then charge at the pumps accordingly. Surely the food world (us) should be able to figure something like this out. Yes, they work within a set of constraints and (are not free) to do thier own thing, but they also operate within a certain level of security that we in the free enterprise model do not have... and they export...