The Canadian Wheat Board is spending $1.4-million on a media campaign

[LWeber]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/wheat-board-takes-fight-to-the-people/article2226394/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home& utm_content=2226394



The outlay is “entirely justifiable,” says wheat board chairman Allen Oberg – amounting to 7 cents a tonne of wheat sold, and a drop in the bucket compared with the potential loss of $500-million in cash benefits that, according to the CWB, it returns to farmers each year.
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$1.4 million would be based on a 20 million tonne program.

Did they do the math per tonnes when they lost $220 million in discretionary trading and advise the media of that result?
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http://cwb.ca/public/en/hot/legal/judicial/

On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application from the CWB for leave to appeal a ruling on the Government of Canada's advocacy directive. No reasons were provided. As a result, the directive - initially issued in October 2006 - remains in force. It prevents the CWB from spending money "advocating retention of the CWB's monopoly powers".

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How many Directors have stood up and expounded that the Government was breaking the law with C18 but are themselves happy to break an order from Government that was upheld in a court of law?

[HFL]

Can't they be held in contempt? There should be serious consiquences to their actions.

[Integrity_Farmer]

Is there any consequences for giving $500,000,000 of farmers money to the grain companies and brokers?

[parsley]

If I want to give my money, I earned from selling
my grain, to a Maori amputee immigrated to
Nigeria and living in a tiger hut, it is none of your
bloody business

That's the point of ownership. Pars

[FarmRanger]

I_F, the difference is that the $500million benefit
is imaginary, but the $1.4 million (and counting) is
real, and it's not their money to spend.

[oneoff]

Tell me again how jumping though the CWB buyback hoop (and paying their pint of blood money) adds to the value of retaining CWB control over barley sold into the USA. It's just an unjustified deduction to prairie farmers; and an apparent marketing opportunity that the CWB sales people apparently aren't now serving.

[wd9]

As we've seen over and over and over oneoff, they can't. No matter how you ask, I_F and crew just taunt. Its getting pretty old and pathetic cuz there is no battle. The CWB is gone.

Its like shooting a beaver with a 22. First shot they just spin in circles kicking the water like they done their whole life. We all know what happens next. The CWB has just had one shot, the next one is coming real soon.

[malta]

Neither our government or our justice system have spine to enforce the authoritative directive. The CWB directors are like the occupy idiots or the mohawk warriors, some people are above the law.

[mcfarms]

I agree with the previous post , send an email to our M.P Mid week no reply back. Guess it was confusing to him because it wasn't an invitation to a parade or something.
He must be supporting the boards violation of the judicial order .

[gustgd]

A reply sent to Mr. Pitts by our executive director Blair Rutter.

Dear Mr. Pitts,



I am writing in response to two of the claims made by the CWB in the above article.



1) Regarding the $500 million benefit claim. Has the CWB provided any evidence to back this up? If there is a $500 million benefit, where does it go? It certainly doesn't go to farmers. Attached is a press release we issued three months ago that documents the average farm gate price the CWB returned to prairie farmers last year and compares it to the average price that U.S. farmers obtained under the open market, for both spring wheat and durum. Also attached are the spreadsheets showing our calculations. All of this data is publicly available, so I urge you not to take my word for it, but rather to verify the numbers yourself.



As we point out in our release, the per tonne loss to prairie farmers due to the single desk (not counting extra storage and interest costs) was $27.70 per tonne, or almost $500 million on spring wheat. On durum, the loss was $63.66 per tonne or about $190 million.



The poor marketing performance of the CWB continues. Yesterday the average price offered for hard red spring wheat at 354 elevators in the U.S. northern tier was US $8.84 per bushel [Source: http://www.mgex.com/history/historical_new.cfm ] or Cdn $9.00 per bushel. For the same quality wheat, the CWB was yesterday offering a fixed price of $6.58 per bushel, basis SK, which is $2.42 per bushel or $88.92 per tonne below the U.S. price. The CWB price is 27% below the average open market price. Bear in mind too that farmers seek out the best price (not the average). For example at the Berthold Farmers Elevator in Berthold, ND (south of Carnduff, SK) the price yesterday was U.S. $9.07 per bushel.



The price difference on durum is even worse. Yesterday the average price offered for milling durum at 38 elevators in the U.S. was US $11.65 per bushel or Cdn $11.86 per bushel. For the same quality durum, the CWB is offering a fixed price of $7.50 per bushel, basis SK, which is $4.36 per bushel or $160.20 per tonne below the U.S. price. The CWB price is 37% below the average open market price. Again, farmers seek out the best price. At Berthold yesterday, the price was US $12.00 per bushel.



Again, I urge you not to take my word for it but to verify the numbers yourself. Given the magnitude of these price differences, I find it incredible that anyone can rationally argue that the CWB monopoly provides value to farmers, let alone $500 million annually.



2) Your article also reports on the CWB plebiscite results as if the plebiscite had legitimacy. Are you aware that the CWB was in complete control of compiling the initial voters’ list? Are you aware that over 68,000 ballots were sent out even though Statistics Canada data suggests there are about 20,000 commercial grain farms in western Canada? Are you aware that about one-quarter of the ballots were sent to landlords or other non-farmers? Are you aware that Alberta farmers (and landlords) received about 25% of the ballots even though the province of Alberta accounts for 39% of the prairie wheat and barley production?



The CWB’s own producer survey released in July of this year ( http://www.cwb.ca/public/en/farmers/surveys/producer/ ) shows that Alberta farmers are far less likely to support the monopoly than farmers in SK or MB. For example, when given three choices on wheat, only 26% of Alberta farmers support the monopoly, compared to 56% support for a voluntary CWB and 16% who want no CWB at all. Support for the monopoly was much higher in SK (45%) and MB (55%). In my view, the CWB deliberately designed the plebiscite to under-represent AB farmers, so as to skew the results in support of the monopoly.



Note too that the CWB plebiscite did not even offer farmers (and landlords) the choice of a voluntary CWB. As the CWB survey shows, that option has a large measure of support among prairie farmers. For example, on wheat, 58% of farmers support either a voluntary CWB or no CWB at all, compared to 41% support for the monopoly. On barley, 62% of farmers support either a voluntary CWB or no CWB at all, compared to 29% support for the monopoly. Bear in mind too, that the CWB survey, like the plebiscite, is skewed against AB farmers.



Thus, rather than report that a majority of farmers support the CWB monopoly (as your article does), it is far more accurate to say that a significant majority of farmers no longer support the monopoly.



I even question why you chose to include the CWB plebiscite results in your article. Does it have relevance? To argue that it does, you must accept this notion that the disposition of one’s property in Canada should be subject to a vote of one’s peers.

In fairness, I recognize you are merely reporting on the CWB’s claims regarding its economic value and its plebiscite. Nevertheless, I consider it to be a great disservice to your readers for your paper to present these claims as if their legitimacy is not in dispute.



I’d be happy to discuss any of the above with you. Please feel free to call.



Sincerely,



Blair Rutter

Executive Director

Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association

(204) 256-2353

[Jfreedom]

Willie waiting for the proof still we know that IF
has the day off so it up to you! get out the charts
and the power point and show us the benefit or
will you and your chicken shit side kick move to a
new topic to snipe at

[wilagro]

Jfreedom: I thought that you Neanderthals had all died out but you are living proof that this is not so. If you want proof of any savings from the CWB selling our grain on our behalf then phone, write, email or Fax them. I don't run the CWB nor do I have a desire to do so. In the past they have pissed me off at times but over-all they have served me well in my estimation.

Bide your time, your little Ag minister with his little twitchy moustache will come through for you and your FREEDOM will arrive albeit at a cost in a loss of marketing strength that the CWB has provided.

[Jfreedom]

When I call them Willie what should I ask them
,Oh I know how come every time I check prices
you guys are over $2.00 less than posted open
market prices . Answer because we got you a
good premium then pissed it away on demurrage
, mismanagement ,and advertising , stress
bonuses and new hats for Pricks like Wilgro to
smile and wave in the back ground like trained
seals every time your illustrious leader Oberg
makes another of his attacks on how giving a
person his property rights taken away during
wartime is an attack on democracy . As for
Obergs moustach it covers up the stretch marks
from sucking off the NDP caucus to get support
after the Liberals were slaughtered. I hope to god
I never end up a has been old retired asshole
like you Wilgro your best days are behind you
you just don't realize it. Quess that is the beauty
of altzhiemers.

[FarmRanger]

Wilagro, you epitomize the kind of thinking that supports the continued expropriation of our property. You don’t know what the benefit is, nor how it is calculated, but you’re sure it has got to be there. Blind faith nonexistent premiums that everyone is supposed to accept because we are told they exist by those who stand to benefit by the continued fleecing of faithful believers in their existence and their fellow victims who know better, but don’t have a choice in the matter.

Well, no more buddy. We’ve had enough of the name calling, bull$#^? and property rights abuse, and now we've finally got a government with the decency to fix this nightmare of a forced tyrannical marketing system.

Get over it.

[Tom4Wildrose]

Wilagro,

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD OF AN AMERICAN GRAIN GROWER TRYING TO SMUGGLE WHEAT INTO CANADA TO DELIVER TO THE CWB?

iF THE CWB's PRICES ARE SO GOOD... THE US GROWERS SHOULD BE THE ONES GOING TO JAIL for TRYING TO DELIVER THEIR GRAIN TO THE CWB!!!