Either way life will go on!

[PrairieSodBuster]

Funny how throughout the ages, when people have won or they have gained power, they are not humble, but kick the "enemy". In this case the anti CWB guys have won, the system will change and they will be able to market their grain freely to whomever they want or can. The "enemy" is the CWB supporters who have lost, though the CWB is trying to fight one last "Last Stand".
One is always reminded that the things one asks for never completely work out the way we want or expected. So instead of kicking people when they are down or shaking our fists at them when they are up, maybe we can just all accept that there will soon be a new reality, new challenges, also new opportunities.
The CWB will soon be a part of history, good or bad. The family farm in its current guise may disappear and maybe that is also necessary. Just understand there are smarter people out there who will find the opportunities and take advantage if you can't. There is always someone smarter or better or has more bucks.
Most people think that I am pro CWB, I did think it had some benefits, but felt it needed to work better for the farmers. Sometimes they thought of themselves too much as "civil servants" and not servants of the farmers. That is with any organization though. I was amused by the fact that the pro boarders thought I was anti board and vice versa. Then when I said I was looking for common ground, I was accused of not taking a stand for or against. I'm not as convinced that the "free market" will serve the farmers any better...especially those who still call themselves "family farms". Then maybe that is the way it should be, survival of those who are the biggest, the best capitalized, those who are innovative and have the market connections.
In closing try to remember that if you can't make it in the current system, there is even less of a chance you will make it in the "free" market and maybe that is how it should be too.
When you win, try to be humble, because one day someone may be kicking you and you'd wish they would be a bit more gentle too.
Soon I hope all the radicals and the extremists who have flooded the pages with both Pro and Anti vitriol will soon call it quits and maybe we can find something else to do. It's been over 20 years now, it's time to declare victory or surrender and get on with what will come next. I relinquish the soapbox and you may all have one last shot at me. Good luck to you all which ever side of the fence you were on.

[cottonpicken]

Whats funny to me is when we start bypassing
elevators and dropping containers onto ships
ourselves.

But forward thinking to some is a little scary.

p.s-you don't think chindia was going to back haul
empty containers forever did you?

[cottonpicken]

WHOOOPS-did somebody just show somebody they
don't actually need an infrastructure,but we do
need a broker for our wheat and barley and the
1000 other things we could ship,to the over seas
customers.

And pppppfffff,what is the western canadian market
cap of exportable goods.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDD...........??????????????

Talk about mental ruts,an accredited export agency
in the heart of the worlds bread basket,oil
basket,potash basket,water basket and everyone is
scared about a lack of work.

lemons=lemonade

[charliep]

Your assumption is the CWB will disappear. Perhaps this is view.

In a different way, how would you generate a discussion about what the
CWB could be in an open market. What are its strengths? Market
analysis/intelligence? Producer cards? Risk management services?
Financing? Customer reputation and service? What needs to happen to
empower the CWB via regulation/a new act? What things should the CWB
be responsible for negotiating with the supply chain/its partners - it has
commercial relationships today.

I apologize for my rant in the previous thread. The CWB producer
payment options are there and worthy of farmer consideration. My issue is
the lack of competition and tranparency. That issue will be solved in the
new world. On the other hand (good economist), what needs to happen to
empower the CWB to be apart of this new competitive market and provide
the supply chain with needed services.

You are right though. Life will go on. Like a hand in bucket of water. As
long as you have a hand in the bucket, you can make waves. Take your
hand and the water soon fills the emptiness.

[cottonpicken]

Devils advocate-No no no,cotton,this is how it
works,we drive our grain in monstrous semis for
hours and hours to giant terminals where they do
all the work and allow us the privilege of coming
there and paying them,this is how its always been
and always will be.

Cotton-what about the idea of direct supplier to
processor relationships ?

Devil-why would anyone do that

Cotton-efficency/profitability

Devil-how can you compete with bulk carriers

Cotton-external/internal efficiencies of processor
requirements,import export realities,the world has
been designed around containers.

Devil-When in the history of the world has the
middle man been cut out hahahaahahahahhaah

[Hopperbin]

PS
One is always reminded that the things one asks for never completely work out the way we want or expected

Get with the times, now that Canada Western Red Spring is a specialty crop cause of there is **** all of it grown we should get some sort of a premium for it don't you think??

[rockpile]

Sod and Cott, those are great thoughts from both of
you. I'm retired from 35 years of active grain
farming, but am now actively involved in educating
our local urban populations on appreciating the
evolution of the Western Canadian grain industry
and its vital importance to our food supply and
economy. And guess what, I don't get paid for it.
Call it a passion. My prediction of the upcoming
changes is that neither side of this acrimonious
debate will be happy in the end. For those who
support single desk and its benefits, the CWB will
only survive if they support with their inventory.
And only if the CWB uses its reputation among
customers and its marketing capabilities effectively
to draw in new business with all you folks, then and
only then will it survive. As for those thinking an
open market opportunity will create a rush of
competition to your gates to bid up prices, you are
dead wrong! The competition will be to find and sell
to end user customers around the world and in a
global market, peddling a homogenous product
available from several continents, your only tool is
completive pricing. Producers will scramble for left
overs. I predict there will be even less wheat and
durum grown in the future and there will be no
export market for feed barley, malting premium
will shrink. I feel the best opportunity would be to
start buying Viterra shares - that is the way of the
future, and what Mayo has been telling investors
since the Ritz announcement.
Cott's onto something - an opportunity for the CWB
to take advantage of its widely respected and well
connected global reputation to grow into a much
larger and broad based commodity trading
organization. If a private sector company had these
advantages like the CWB has - they'd be all over it.
And if I was Oberg, this would be my thinking and
vision - an opportunity to diversify, grow and
expand to bring value to those we serve. And stop
trying to ignore reality and change.
One final thought - container shipping. My
neighbour is a container dispatcher with CN and
tells me that the system is very close to being
maxed out. Anymore, to afford container access,
you have to have really valuable cargo and bid high
for timely access. I just don't see where bulk grain
has the value to incorporate this type of modal
transport. And there is no such thing as empty
containers coming back. They sit indefinitely until
they are filled. Remember, we are talking in terms
of doing this on a large scale. Some specialty crops
are shipped by container, but if you are talking
wheat or durum, sheer weight will add a huge
premium.
Well, like Forrest Gump said - "and that's all I've got
to say about that". Hoping for a successful
conclusion to your crop year and may you all have a
tax problem next spring!
Rockpile

[farmaholic]

Rockpile:

As for those thinking an
open market opportunity will create a rush of
competition to your gates to bid up prices, you are
dead wrong! The competition will be to find and sell
to end user customers around the world and in a
global market, peddling a homogenous product
available from several continents, your only tool is
completive pricing.

This is exactly what I've been thinking. The competition talked about won't be so much at the farmgate but, like you said, many sellers vying for the same customers. It may well mean lower prices for us at "times".

One can only hope that the new system will be more streamlined and efficient and hopefuly some of the gains will be passed back to the primary producer.

This change to the CWB marketing structure may make the producer more market oriented than production oriented. If I want to grow a cheap bulk commodity instead of looking for something niche to fill, I will have to be satisfied with a bulk commodity price. There will have to be alot of niches to fill to accommodate all of the production.

I've said it before, nothing is ever so bad it couldn't be worse or so good it couldn't be better. Watch what you ask for, you might get it.

[Fransisco]

Personally, I don't see a lot of 'gracious' losers on the mono side. I see a lot of kicking, screaming, moaning, complaining, fear-mongering, and whining.

[silverback]

There was no graciousness shown by you socialists over the past generations so why are you asking for it now?

I have seen no over the top gloating at all. I have seen people simply asking for their freedom and the anti freedom folks think that is just too much to ask for.

If it was up to me, the conservatives would have come back on May 10 and said this crop year was it. No mercy, and no more chances. Suck it up and move on. Too bad. What do you think would have happened if the roles were reversed? The liberals would ram it through in a heartbeat.

[wilagro]

Fransisco: Perhaps we heard the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" many moons ago and see this same story being repeated in the CWB Single-desk loss.

Freedom of choice for less return...yep makes sense...but we got our "magic beans" and that's all that matters.

"We are marketers" all...yep...smart as rocks but we know how to use our computers to find where the markets are.

[Fransisco]

Willy your chicken little routine is getting old.

All of the verifiable evidence shows that farmers get less in the current closed wheat board system than farmers who aren't chained to some 400 overpaid bureaucrats at 423 mainstreet.

[wd9]

Wilagro said:
Freedom of choice for less return...yep makes sense...but we got our "magic beans" and that's all that matters.

So if canola was on the Board, i'd be getting a premium for it as opposed to the lower price i receive today because of the cost of choice? If i supposedly get a premium for a crop that is grown in every country (wheat) i should be able to get 20 bucks a bushel for the crop grown in few countries (canola)?

Every crusher and exporter would have to buy thru the board, pay more than world price as a premium, and i would be rich because i have no choice where to market?

Is this what you are saying Willie?

[wilagro]

Whatever the way you want to interpret...doesn't matter any more. Will just sit back and watch chaos set in as the feds dismantle the CWB brick by brick.

[TOM4CWB]

Willy,

Actually the CWB has been dismantling themselves brick by brick... ship by anchour... day by day...

It is/was really simple.

A competitive CASH price is needed.

All the CWB needed to do... was to stop pooling their (our) cash grain sales... and start selling that grain at competitive prices to those buyers who would pay a fair price.

So the pool is pulling apart the CWB... one brick at a time.

The Pool leaks Willy... and I am tired of dumping good money after bad.

If the CWB was throwing their bricks at you... Willy... perhaps you would agree with us!