My Rant For Today

[AdamSmith]

How far will the forces of darkness go to prevent individual farmers from enjoying their complete and rightful benefits of their labours? Will this fanatical scorched earth society attempt to destroy the grain handling industry by keeping farmers, grain companies and buyers of our grain in permanent limbo? Will they try to stretch this out so traditional customers of our grain lose faith and patience and buy elsewhere and drive prices down here in western Canada? Will they try to keep a permanent haunting cloud over the industry where new and real investors to our prairie industry will pull back plans for new investments?

They know they can't stop a free market from occurring, but I'm not sure that is their main goal now. I think their ultimate goal is to do whatever they can possibly do to disrupt and hinder those who will try to make a success of it.

Their main goal now is to do everything possible to make the free market fail.

Once they've exhausted all legal avenues, I believe these sickos will adopt the Occupy movements tactics and literally stand in the way of progress.

Farming for profit is not something any of these friends aspire to, this is a social cause to them and I believe they will continue to engage in actions that have the explicit intent on disrupting our farms profitability our industries profitability and our industries reputation as a reliable supplier of quality food products.

I personally expect nothing less from these fanatics.

This in my opinion is the ugly side of what is coming.

[AdamSmith]

Analysis: Canada grain sector wary of Wheat Board battle

Tue Dec 13, 2011 2:17pm EST
Print This Article | Single Page[-] Text [ ] By Rod Nickel

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A wary Canadian grain industry will ease cautiously into signing forward price contracts for the prized 2012 wheat and barley crops, as legal entanglements over Ottawa's plan to end the Wheat Board's marketing monopoly hamper any swift moves into an open market.

A Conservative government bill is set to end the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on western wheat and barley sales next August. The change would shake up the industry, creating an open market and leaving the CWB a smaller, optional grain buyer.

As soon as the legislation becomes law - possibly within the next week - handlers and farmers will be able to immediately sign forward price contracts for the 2012 harvest and forge deals to supply Canadian and foreign buyers such as millers and maltsters.

But while that race to secure Canada's grain supplies was shaping up as a sprint, the latest court battle over the Wheat Board's fate now has all players weighing the risks.

"People are seeking to understand this better now, everywhere," said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevators Association .

He expects some grain handlers to sign forward contracts, despite the risks, but also said they well remember the pain in earlier years of acting too soon.

"People have learned they need to proceed with caution."

A Federal Court judge ruled last week that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz breached existing law by not consulting the Wheat Board or holding a farmer vote beforehand. But he did not order the new legislation to be killed and the government has appealed the ruling.

The latest bid to end the CWB's monopoly on sales or wheat and barley for milling or export is similar to two failed past moves by Conservative governments to open the market.

In 1993, a Federal Court judge ruled Ottawa overstepped its powers by removing part of the CWB's barley monopoly by regulation.

Fourteen years later, in March 2007, after most farmers voted against keeping the single-desk system for barley, then-Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl said he would end the CWB's barley monopoly by changing regulations.

But several months after that, a Federal Court again blocked such a move without a vote in Parliament. The vote never took place and the monopoly lived on.

In both cases, grain handlers were left to pay penalties to customers for contracts they could not fulfill, Sobkowich said.

In a "demand-pull" grain system, companies like Viterra, Cargill and Richardson International book sales to customers before agreeing to buy farmers' grain.

If they can't deliver on their commitments because the CWB's monopoly survives, they would pay penalties to exporters or domestic millers like Archer Daniels Midland and P&H Milling that need to assure supplies, Sobkowich said.

One Canadian milling executive said the domestic industry is likely to wait through January before buying much wheat.

"I'm not going to think about this for four to five weeks and, after that, maybe it's a thing where the industry moves on (and buys wheat). You can't just sit here."

It's hard to predict how eager Japan - the biggest buyer of top-quality Canadian wheat - will be to lock up supplies in the open market, said Jeffrey Smyth of Toronto-based Database Analysts, a consultant to Japanese food and milling companies.

A lack of communication between Canada and Japanese customers about how the changes to the Wheat Board will come about hasn't helped confidence, Smyth said.

"I think that customers are really in the dark about what's going to happen."

Farmers usually start sketching out seeding plans early in the new year, but with so much confusion about the Wheat Board, some might avoid planting wheat or barley this spring, said grower Norm Hall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan.

Farmers might also be hesitant to sign forward contracts with grain handlers or hedge their price risk on new grain futures contracts being launched January 23 by ICE Futures Canada, Hall said.

"It's all going to depend on the court case," he said from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. "If the (government) appeal is settled quickly, guys will be jumping on the bandwagon because guys need to cover risk on their farms."

Ritz said on Friday that farmers should continue to plan for next year on the assumption that the monopoly will end as planned.

To become law, the legislation needs final approval by the Conservative-controlled Senate on Thursday, followed by royal assent from the governor general.

The Wheat Board and its supporters may then ask for a court injunction to stop the government from implementing the bill, once it passes, allowing the court proceedings to run their course.

(Reporting By Rod Nickel; editing by Rob Wilson)

[Fransisco]

The crazy 8 would rather rule in Hell than let anyone go free.

[AdamSmith]

I guess the thing about the judges decision that has me so upset is not whether it was right or wrong but the fact that will be the ultra lefts rallying cry for years to come. It's one thing to use it to beat on the PM and the conservatives, politics is a blood sport and this is what happens in politics.

But what worries me is these occupy types will target us farmers and our industry. Heaven help the poor bastards who try to blockade an elevators driveway during harvest.

Also my cropping plans , my marketing plans, hell all farming plans are at risk because of frikin politics.

AHHHH!

[AdamSmith]

Fran, I'm not to worried about the crazy 8, their time is just about up.

It the friends of the cwb and all their loony left cohorts and their hatered of business occupy mentality.

These people are unhinged, and certainly don't mind showing the world just how unhinged they are.

[agstar77]

Judging from some of the rhetoric from the open market side, they are equally unhinged. This mess is all the responsibility of Gerry and his buddies, they are the real crazies.

[LWeber]

Agstar: You take Oberg, I'll take Adam Smith as a neighbour every single day I have left on this planet.

You really need to reflect as to why we are at this juncture.

[agstar77]

I will if you will.

[gustgd]

I agree adam smith. This is almost over. The
hard left is marginalized and losing friends
by the day. You don't see APAS, WRAP or
Keystone hanging around with them.

The producer car shippers group is small
representing less than 15% of volume of the
4%that is producer cars. They will fall off
next as the farmer owners and users of these
sites pull dollars. If anyone knows farmer
users of producer cars let them know what's
going on. We all know farm policy is not top
of mind for most.

All that leaves you is the NFU, FCWB, and
CWBA. Which to be honest are same 8 people
with rotating top 2.

Royal assent will end the crazy 8 and their
bankroll. You don't think these guys will
spend their own money.

The forensic audit begins in new year. Court
cases are ruled invalid.
Contracts will be signed hedged off of
Minnie. Why ICE waited until Jan 23 still
does not make sense and I've had answer
explained to me.
WG'ers get money returned to pool either
from directors insurance or their farms
(maybe the "friends" can pass around the
shoe.
The way I see it the more meetings and money
they spend outside their mandate as
directors, the more of their own money they
put at risk.

Time moves on. Farmers can start to work with
whom they want.