Pacific Trade Alliance

[BTO_farmall]

Excellent News. Theys have been Sticking it to Comedians fer far Too Long. Leave The Dairy Cow Guys out to Dry, NO BUYOUT. Bunch of Whiney Little ******* Anyway!!!!!!!!

[bduke]

Tubs... good point... problem is agriculture is marginally disciplined by the
WTO. Grandfathering prevails, shameful as it is.

Years ago I sat on a SAGIT.. Ag,Food, and Beverages.. and we were debating
the principles of supply management.

Stu Thiessen was the NFU rep and was extolling the virtues of SM.

I asked Stu how he could conscientiously defend a quota being of greater
value then the herd,flock, and production facilities combined.

He replied... and I quote.. "We haven't figured that out yet"!

Bill

[bduke]

Tubs... good point... problem is agriculture is marginally disciplined by the
WTO. Grandfathering prevails, shameful as it is.

Years ago I sat on a SAGIT.. Ag,Food, and Beverages.. and we were debating
the principles of supply management.

Stu Thiessen was the NFU rep and was extolling the virtues of SM.

I asked Stu how he could conscientiously defend a quota being of greater
value then the herd,flock, and production facilities combined.

He replied... and I quote.. "We haven't figured that out yet"!

Bill

[Hopperbin]

Good point Bduke, Never thought of it, the wealth gained by supply management may also be not earned wealth. So in a way could be taken away without a buy out.

[parsley]

Exactly. It is paper-only wealth, valued only by
it's "Approved " or "Denied" stamp.

Rather like a CWB licensing approval or denial.
You made the approved sale or ate the denied
sale.

Which many of us understand all too well. Pars

[ASRG]

Despite how we look at it the "quota" is real property, as defined by law.
You can't expropriate property without compensation(well... except in Alberta!).

Could the government do it through a "regulatory taking"? Yes they could....maybe? Probably would make one hell of a court case though?

When a government fails to respect property rights, we no longer live under "the rule of law"....we live under the whim of a man/oligarchy of men/women.

[parsley]

They can keep the quota paper for sure It
belongs to them Like real estate, it can be worth
a lot or worth nothing. When the border opens,
the worth is bound to change, tho.

[Hopperbin]

Did a farmer ever pay for the first quota that he recieved from the Gov't?

[bucket]

Its the same old theory as the NDP used in saskatchewan when others were allowed in the telephone business. Sasktel didn't dissappear and neither will the dairy guys. With the money they have made, I for one wouldn't risk entering that market with the efficiencies they have at their farms.

And to be honest I like certain brands of milk, won't change. Much like some people like certain brands of beer.

Do I agree with supply management, nope. But its an interesting pricing arrangement that the rest of us could only hope for in our wildest dreams.

Milk overpriced - yes absolutely.

Could the dairy producers reduce their prices and make this issue all go away - yes. Will they - nope.

So much like the fertilizer producers they will continue to milk it for all its worth. Pardon the pun.

[BFW]

Or they could just start issueing more quota kinda like printing more money.....

[grassfarmer]

I don't think there will be many of the original dairy
farmers who were given quota still in business. Most
are more recent immigrants who paid full dollar value
for their quota assets so to abolish them would be an
asset stripping move. I expect they'll do it though.
Wouldn't expect anything different from the people
that removed the CWB and its asset value from
farmers possession. The most successful, sustainable
dairy industry in the world will be swept away to be
replaced by 1000 cow dairies where the cows are
injected with BST in a desperate attempt for the
farmer to make money on them. The consumer will
be the loser, poorer quality product and probably no
cheaper once the processor has been given free reign
to buy low and sell high.

[wilagro]

My thoughts exactly grassfarmer...Harper could care less for the dairy farmer. He wants FREE TRADE with every nation that will sign with him no matter what the costs to Canada or Canadian producers.
The man has a one-track mind.