We Won!!!!!!

[parsley]

oneoff,

Decades long before organics was even
commonly recognized as a production method,
the CWB did indeed punish organics with
unreasonably priced buybacks. There was no
such thing as a 'sweet deal' in the good old days.
Initially, the CWB openly spurned organic sales
and there was zero support or sympathy for any
farmer opening up a new maket.

Once Manitoba producers began servicing the
lucrative Warburton contract, available to only the
insiders, (much like fancy Wheat Board signs
were available to encumbents but not available to
the Manitoba-kid Penner running in a Wheat
Board election) the CWB did indeed begin to,
shall we say, quietly negotiate the price of a
buyback, under the desk.

I filed away some daily CWB trucks issued to the
corporations, and avowed I would not expose
them, ....these trucks were aka buyback pricelists
that corps had to abide by....with comparative
buyback costs for the same grade on the same
day and one could see them varying wildly....a
proven way to silence any one-time brave-bastard
who asked the CWB any of the three forbidden
buyback questions---- "Why?" or "What?" or
"Who?"

Corps and organics and conventional farmers
were essentially on the CWB enemy list. Seed
growers were not.

1.Initially.....organics couldnt export. Period.
2. Then organics exported....but with ultra high
buybacks. Sometimes they were so high, the sale
stopped.
3. Then organics exported at reduced buyback
rate, as the CWB took over marketing organics.

At every opportunity. the organic industry fought
equally for organic farmers AND conventional
farmers to enjoy the same buybackrates that seed
growers have enjoyed since seed growers began.

You see, oneoff....the seed growers have never
had to do a buyback on exported seed. Period..

Learn your history, oneoff. I had to live it. And pay
for it. Pars

[oneoff]

Pars .... but you would have everyone overlook the fact that up until August of this year; even in the "good old days" it should have meant that organic farmers should not have ever had preferential treatment. I refer you to special rules for "seed growers"; "organics"; Warburton contracts; fusarium blending; high protein storage; Churchill benefits etc.
The point is that the CWB catered to some different circumstances and punished others to this day.
At least we agree to "Good riddance"; but I point out matters which historians should consider. All I know for sure is what I interpret as past personal injustices committed by the CWB that will continue to August of this year.

[bucket]

Well said oneoff!

[oneoff]

May I also reword my argument in a different way, even though this topic deserves its own thread.

Current and past CWB special treatment to the organic industry has contributed to the demise of the CWB monopoly. For that I thank the organic industry, that provides limited quantities of relatively high cost food to "fussy eaters" who have chosen to be organic food believers. If people also choose to isolate themselves in fully environmentally controlled environments (such as pig or poultry rearing facilities) there is still little probability of long term longevity or overall health benefits. It may all boil down to the analogy "that a child will never amount to much until they have ingested a teaspoonfull of dirt". And its matters little if it is organic dirt; or whatever is more convenient to obtain.
Get on with life. It only lasts so long; and those factors you have tried to control will be highly unlikely to be correlated with your cause of death.

[PrairieSodBuster]

and the annoying bullshit from both sides just keeps on flowing. Yep you won, great! Yep you lost, too bad so sad!

If I listened to both sides of the battle I'm sure I'd go broke. The outcome will be no different than when the Crow Rate went...some will do really well, most will not do much better than they are right now and there will be a few more farmers who leave the industry.

Maybe we should spend less time patting ourselves on the back or crying in our beer (or both) and get back to farming and surviving! If you can't make it in one market structure, you probably won't make it in this one either.

I guess we'll see in about 10 - 20 years how it all shakes out.

[oneoff]

Well I give credit to both sides who have engaged in any hard fought battle. And those who don't prticipate or who find it annoying; or would have one side shackled and rendered defenseless are the most self centered and dangerous to any democracy.

[parsley]

Curiosity question for you oneoff:

Then would the following analogous twin also
prompt your historical prod?

"Current and past CWB special treatment to the
seedgrower industry has contributed to the
demise of the CWB monopoly" Pars

[parsley]

Go wash your naughty-bits , PrairieSodBuster, so
you can stand yourself the rest fthe week. Pars

[Choice2U]

OK Sodbuster...I'll actually make some points for you. I hate losers that actually never say anything in a thread.

Pro- The CWB used the stick and carrot against grain companies to make it more money. Con - Nice concept if you trust bureaucrats and small g government to make your crop profitable even though they were only accountable to an ideological board that never truly asked for accountability.

Pro - The CWB cross subsidized between protein, grade, durum/wheat (a long time ago), feed barley/malt barley to make farmers all equal. Con - Nice concept but I am not a socialist.

Pro - The CWB supported Churchill to the benefit of Manitobans. Con - nice concept except that the extra costs came out of the returns to the rest of western Canada. PS. This is blatant catering to their support.

Pro - Years ago, the CWB never even had a freight adjustment which made all farmers returns even more equal. Con - they distorted the affects of location which is a strategic advantage that some never got to utilize. Fortunately, the CWB started to relinquish it's strong socialist doctrine and start charging freight based on the realities of location.

So, Sodbuster...here is a lesson on putting an argument together using actual points. All the Pro's are truly advantages to the CWB if one believes in a socialist type of system.

[parsley]

I know you've lived what you've learned when you
can whip it up and put it in a post just as you
have, Choice. And you can easily teach it to
others, because we can taste the experience.
10/10 Save what you know; tell your children.
Pars.

[oneoff]

Choice said it much better than I ever could; except that the pro arguments come at someone else's expenses; and so should never be considered a positive.
And pars... there's 150% agreement that there are special "seed grower" exemption benefits of the CWB system; and they could and were used to export wheat into the USA elevator system. There have been times when both the Canadian seed grower and the US farmer stood to benefit from sale of that Canadian "seed grower" wheat that ended up in the US elevator system.
Those were part of the arguments to get rid of the single desk; and give all farmers the same potential access that groups such as seed growers and organics have used and enjoyed.

[rockpile]

Whoo! I thought I'd stir a tempest and I was right.
John, comparing wheat and canola complexes never
did sit right with me, kind of like comparing iron
ore to gold. But, only in the future will we find out if
one option or the other best serves farmer's
interests. More than anything this has been a
political and ideological fight - individual rights vs
collective power and the abuses with it. The current
outcome is the only possible solution to keep
neighbours from shooting each other. Enough said.
Pars, if you can carve out a lucrative niche with your
Harrowsmith ways, all the more power to you. But
even you admitted that organic marketing may be
more placebo than set in science. Now my
confession. I buy a lot of food at farmer markets
and much of it is labelled 'organic'. It is fresh and
tastes better, no doubt about it. But is because it is
organic or because it was hand picked mature in a
field or greenhouse the same day as sold as
opposed to stuff picked half green, sprayed with
nitrates and then shipped two thousand miles?
Finally a request. I have a neighbour who is a celiac
victim. Organic wheat and barley flour did no
favours for him. Last week he asked me about pea
flour and if I knew of anywhere to find it. So Pars, is
there such a product and can it be found in the
west, particularly in Alberta?