$300,000.00 agri- instability welfare to the rich cheques.

[parsley]

Throwing out a suggestion: So...Cutback.
Advocate scrapping expensive environmental
plan and staff. Instead use a small % of funding
for rewarding excellence:

Replace expensive plan with local rural
municipal volunteers who yearly choose a
'environmental stewards' farm farm, judged par
excellence by peers.

Each year, a winning family would get free tickets
to one, say, Rider's game or Jet's game or
Winnipeg ballet, or musical tour. ;= )

Object:. Rewards excellence instead of
bureaucracy building.Elevates expectations of
management. Rewards initiative. Better use of
dollars. Pars

[farmaholic]

Agristability is not designed to make money but maybe keep you in business. As I said earlier, it is a flawed program because it doesn't protect you from declining margins by itself, crop insurance will supposedly help with that to some extent(what about declining personal yeild averages?). Secondly, if your in trouble, you will need to make an interim application because it is way too slow to react to the loss of margin in the year it happens. I am sure there are other problems as well.

First Tier:
There is no coverage for the first 15% margin decline. Tap into agri-invest if you have some.

Second Tier:
There is 70% coverage for the next 15%margin decline.

First and Second Tier combined:
In effect, for the first full 30% margin decline they are really only covering 35%, anything less(than 30%) of a margin decline, means less coverage(tier 1 & 2 combined). Hardly a windfall of protection in the first 30% decline.

Third Tier:
They will cover 80% of the margin decline from 70% of your margin down to 0%. This is the best coverage.

First, Second and Third Tier Combined:
If you had a complete wipe-out, with 0% of your reference margin, total coverage would be about 66.5%.

We are currently building our reference margin in these good years(yes, we have been "lucky"). 2004, the frost year, we qualified for a payment and nothing since.

It is that time of year the enrolment/fee notices came. So yes, it costs to participate in agri-stability, but they are matching agri-invest deposits 100%.

Does anyone hate this program so much that they refuse to participate? Or hate it so much that if they received a cheque they wouldn't accept it or refuse to participate in agri-invest?
What I don't like about it is having to disclose my inventory, receivables, etc., too much information.


There was another guy who seemed to know the program inside out, maybe they need to weigh in here!!

[parsley]

I personally know quite a few people who don't
"hate the program", in fact, they don't evaluate the
operability merits of the program at all, but they
refuse to participate because they feel the
principle of the program is not the direction
agriculture should be headed.

So they rejected signing up. Pars

[bgmb]

Parsley,

Good farmers and business prople don't put their livelihood on the line to prove a point! Thats what you would be doing if you don't participate in these farm welfare programs. lol

I wouldn't care if these programs were canceled as long as they were for everyone in all industries and other free trade nations.

As I stated above I have collected next to nothing from these programs over the years because I keep increasing my production over time and farm enough acres that things often even out.

But I still don't mind getting some of my taxes back once and awhile!

[parsley]

"but THEY are matching agri-invest deposits
100%. "

Compliments of an unwilling Joe the Plumber.
Pars

[farmaholic]

Parsley: When producers have the ability to price their products according to costs of production and built in profit margins then I will refuse to participate in the programs offered. I've said it before, governments must see value in primary agriculture in both economic contributions and food security if they are willing to provide support(when needed).
Who in their right mind would take this kind of risk, seems if one is'nt born into it one would never chance it.

[farmaholic]

"I" pay taxes too!!!

[parsley]

"Good farmers and business prople don't put their
livelihood on the line to prove a point! Thats what
you would be doing if you don't participate in
these farm welfare programs."

Ahhhhh, "good" farmers.

The farmers I spoke with have a contingency plan
in place to cover a bad year. It's because they are
'good' farmers that they don't expect Joe the
Plumber to buy 365 X 3 meals for every farmer's
bad year.

We have a different concept of what a "good"
farmer really is, yes we do; good to go vs good to
mooch. Pars

[bgmb]

Parsley

The measure of success in business is how much money you make.

If the gov is going to give it out I am not going to be the one left behind cause I'm too proud.

Do you get that? or no.

[farmaholic]

We have entered a time in history where the urban population has grown to a point that the dependence on people who grow food is scary. If they aren't willing to protect the producers of their food maybe they can change their lifestyle. Instead of spending weekends at the lake or two weeks somewhere hot in the winter they can grow a garden in the summer and preserve it. Milk a cow, butcher it's calf in fall, and raise afew chickens for meat and eggs.
Sometimes you don't miss something until its gone. I am always grateful for things people do for me that I either don't want to do myself or can't. If I can do it myself cheaper or it's something I want to do, I will, otherwise I am glad to pay to have it done.

[bgmb]

Parsley do you realize how silly your point of view is.

Do you build your own roads to drive on because you don't want to drive on a road that someone else paid for.

Do you not grow crops that have been bred by the gov.

How about National Parks, do you visit them or stay away? lol

As I stated in me first post I agree society would be far better off without these wealth redistribution schemes. But I have to live in the here and now.

[parsley]

"The measure of success in business is how
much money you make. "

Greece holds that view.

There is longer view.

1.Any industry that lobbies and begs for money is
beholden to the lender. That includes government
lenders. You will eventually do exactly as you are
ordered.

2. A culture of dependence dissolves innovation.

3. Any industry that cannot survive without
handouts will eventually die.

4. Whether it's his mother or the nation that has to
boroow money to keep a farmer's tractor gassed
up, inevitably it spells economic disaster for
either lender, and for the farmer. That is not
making money. That is the purest definition of
stupidy one could enter on wikipedia. Parsley