Here are another couple of articles that
we've put out the last couple weeks, on
the future post-monopoly.
*****
An Open Market System
It’s easy for producers who are excited
about marketing their wheat, durum and
barley in new and different ways next
year to be highly critical of those who
continue to fight the government’s move
towards an open market system. The
Canadian Wheat Board (CWB)’s leadership
and its supporters are getting dragged
through the mud these days for gross
abuses of power, including doctoring
voters’ lists and lying to the public.
Unfortunately, such comments are no more
productive than the CWB’s demands that
the government honour the results of
their internal survey.
We need to move immediately past this
high-browed blather and start thinking
and talking about what an open market
for wheat, durum and barley will look
like. Some find this difficult simply
because they don’t trust or understand
how markets function.
The question of how to transition a farm
to an open market system can only be
addressed once one has a basic
understanding of the economics of
commodity pricing. For most producers,
just hearing the phrase, ‘economics of
commodity pricing’ causes them to cringe
with hateful memories of their least-
favorite courses in university, or it
puts them to sleep.
This reaction is unwarranted.
Recognizing and responding to market
signals is actually much simpler than
most of the technology, machinery,
accounting, credit, chemical and
fertilizer formulations producers are
constantly working through. Furthermore,
producers already respond to market
signals for non-Board crops, which will
come through in the same way for wheat,
durum and barley in an open market
system.
The CWB has done a lot of interesting
things over the years, but they have
never helped producers make individual
business decisions or manage the
workload of marketing their crops. The
organization has done branding and
market development, which will continue
in an open market system in a format
similar to the Canola Council or Pulse
Canada. Price pooling, the other aspect
of the CWB’s operations that many
producers value, will be available as
well, just like it is in Australia.
All that’s required for most farmers to
move successfully through the transition
to an open market system is a small
amount of study in the economics of
commodity pricing, just to reinforce
their understanding of how supply and
demand determine prices. Producers are
going to be surprised by how quick and
painless this transition is, especially
compared to carrying around a fear of
the unknown.
www.farmlinksolutions.ca
we've put out the last couple weeks, on
the future post-monopoly.
*****
An Open Market System
It’s easy for producers who are excited
about marketing their wheat, durum and
barley in new and different ways next
year to be highly critical of those who
continue to fight the government’s move
towards an open market system. The
Canadian Wheat Board (CWB)’s leadership
and its supporters are getting dragged
through the mud these days for gross
abuses of power, including doctoring
voters’ lists and lying to the public.
Unfortunately, such comments are no more
productive than the CWB’s demands that
the government honour the results of
their internal survey.
We need to move immediately past this
high-browed blather and start thinking
and talking about what an open market
for wheat, durum and barley will look
like. Some find this difficult simply
because they don’t trust or understand
how markets function.
The question of how to transition a farm
to an open market system can only be
addressed once one has a basic
understanding of the economics of
commodity pricing. For most producers,
just hearing the phrase, ‘economics of
commodity pricing’ causes them to cringe
with hateful memories of their least-
favorite courses in university, or it
puts them to sleep.
This reaction is unwarranted.
Recognizing and responding to market
signals is actually much simpler than
most of the technology, machinery,
accounting, credit, chemical and
fertilizer formulations producers are
constantly working through. Furthermore,
producers already respond to market
signals for non-Board crops, which will
come through in the same way for wheat,
durum and barley in an open market
system.
The CWB has done a lot of interesting
things over the years, but they have
never helped producers make individual
business decisions or manage the
workload of marketing their crops. The
organization has done branding and
market development, which will continue
in an open market system in a format
similar to the Canola Council or Pulse
Canada. Price pooling, the other aspect
of the CWB’s operations that many
producers value, will be available as
well, just like it is in Australia.
All that’s required for most farmers to
move successfully through the transition
to an open market system is a small
amount of study in the economics of
commodity pricing, just to reinforce
their understanding of how supply and
demand determine prices. Producers are
going to be surprised by how quick and
painless this transition is, especially
compared to carrying around a fear of
the unknown.
www.farmlinksolutions.ca
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