This post was in response to another who was
comparing the CWB to Supply Management.
Farmers want the best price for their product.
Agricultural policy should produce this.
Supply Management achieves this for farmers. The
main reason it does is that the product has a shelf
life that is minimal. We can't import milk from
anywhere other than the US. Meaning that to
implement SM policy, we only have to control the
milk imports from the US.
Also the physical aspects of milk has a lot to do
with this. We as Canadians can consume enough
milk to keep the market within Canada. Export is
not (necessarily) needed.
The production of milk is more controlled than the
production of wheat. This is why a quota system is
more appropriate than a monopoly system. Wheat
farmers don't know if they will produce 20 or 70
bushels of wheat per acre in a year. Whereas a cow
consistently produces around the same amount of
product.
All of these points are arguable. However they are
what our current SM system is built on.
What I don't understand is how people think they
can compare this system to the monopoly of a grain
with virtually unlimited shelf life, and is not able to
be consumed by our Canadian population alone.
Using SM to affirm an argument that we don't have
any "freedom" in this country is non-sensical. The
systems can simply not be compared. The products
are too different.
I'm not saying that SM is perfect. It does achieve
higher prices for farmers product. But at the price
of locking ourselves into the SM system without the
option to change. This is due to outrageous quota
prices that will need to be answered for. As well as
creating an enormous barrier to entry for new
operations.
So how does this relate to the CWB?
The control of the production of a product should
bring more money into the pocket of the producer.
If you look at the facts, the CWB has not directly
achieved this for farmers over it's duration as a
single desk. The thing that most anti-wheat
boarders won't admit to, is that this is not the
CWB's fault.
There is nothing wrong with the concept. Pooling
resources in many cases leads to better benefits for
all involved. Giving more power to your product and
more control over your price.
Unfortunately the nature of the wheat product is
that it can be stored for long periods of time, giving
it the flexibility to be shipped, exported, or
imported anywhere in the world. Therefore creating
a situation where wheat can be acquired from any
country at anytime, and most countries operate
under a free market where prices are spread over
many sellers.
It really comes down to margins. There is not
enough value added to our wheat, by pooling it, to
justify having to pay another organization (the CWB)
to market it for us. There is not enough of a
"premium" price out there for our wheat to justify
the cost of running a single desk organization.
If every country had a wheat board. If every country
sold all of their wheat through one medium and
there were only a handful of wheat sellers in the
world. A single desk marketing system would make
sense. The world would have less sellers of the
product. The price of that product would naturally
increase. Sellers all around the world would have
more control over the price of their product. We
would need to have a single desk to compete..
The problem is that other countries do not control
the sale of their wheat through a single desk market
organization. The rest of the world is in a free
market situation. Giving countries that need to
import wheat countless options for buying it.
Competition creates lower prices.
We are sending an organization (the CWB) into an
impossible task. Find a better price for wheat in a
free global market where there is countless
competition. I feel sorry for the CWB in a way!
This negates the need for a local policy to sell our
wheat in bulk, as a pool. Why does a country need
to buy wheat from Canada? They can get some from
millions of sellers in the US, Australia, Europe,
etc...For whatever price is the most economical.
It is because of this that it does not make
economical sense to employ hundreds of people in
an attempt to achieve a higher price for our product
that doesn't exist.
Politics aside this is the main issue and why the
CWB has never and never will have a "premium"
wheat price for farmers.
comparing the CWB to Supply Management.
Farmers want the best price for their product.
Agricultural policy should produce this.
Supply Management achieves this for farmers. The
main reason it does is that the product has a shelf
life that is minimal. We can't import milk from
anywhere other than the US. Meaning that to
implement SM policy, we only have to control the
milk imports from the US.
Also the physical aspects of milk has a lot to do
with this. We as Canadians can consume enough
milk to keep the market within Canada. Export is
not (necessarily) needed.
The production of milk is more controlled than the
production of wheat. This is why a quota system is
more appropriate than a monopoly system. Wheat
farmers don't know if they will produce 20 or 70
bushels of wheat per acre in a year. Whereas a cow
consistently produces around the same amount of
product.
All of these points are arguable. However they are
what our current SM system is built on.
What I don't understand is how people think they
can compare this system to the monopoly of a grain
with virtually unlimited shelf life, and is not able to
be consumed by our Canadian population alone.
Using SM to affirm an argument that we don't have
any "freedom" in this country is non-sensical. The
systems can simply not be compared. The products
are too different.
I'm not saying that SM is perfect. It does achieve
higher prices for farmers product. But at the price
of locking ourselves into the SM system without the
option to change. This is due to outrageous quota
prices that will need to be answered for. As well as
creating an enormous barrier to entry for new
operations.
So how does this relate to the CWB?
The control of the production of a product should
bring more money into the pocket of the producer.
If you look at the facts, the CWB has not directly
achieved this for farmers over it's duration as a
single desk. The thing that most anti-wheat
boarders won't admit to, is that this is not the
CWB's fault.
There is nothing wrong with the concept. Pooling
resources in many cases leads to better benefits for
all involved. Giving more power to your product and
more control over your price.
Unfortunately the nature of the wheat product is
that it can be stored for long periods of time, giving
it the flexibility to be shipped, exported, or
imported anywhere in the world. Therefore creating
a situation where wheat can be acquired from any
country at anytime, and most countries operate
under a free market where prices are spread over
many sellers.
It really comes down to margins. There is not
enough value added to our wheat, by pooling it, to
justify having to pay another organization (the CWB)
to market it for us. There is not enough of a
"premium" price out there for our wheat to justify
the cost of running a single desk organization.
If every country had a wheat board. If every country
sold all of their wheat through one medium and
there were only a handful of wheat sellers in the
world. A single desk marketing system would make
sense. The world would have less sellers of the
product. The price of that product would naturally
increase. Sellers all around the world would have
more control over the price of their product. We
would need to have a single desk to compete..
The problem is that other countries do not control
the sale of their wheat through a single desk market
organization. The rest of the world is in a free
market situation. Giving countries that need to
import wheat countless options for buying it.
Competition creates lower prices.
We are sending an organization (the CWB) into an
impossible task. Find a better price for wheat in a
free global market where there is countless
competition. I feel sorry for the CWB in a way!
This negates the need for a local policy to sell our
wheat in bulk, as a pool. Why does a country need
to buy wheat from Canada? They can get some from
millions of sellers in the US, Australia, Europe,
etc...For whatever price is the most economical.
It is because of this that it does not make
economical sense to employ hundreds of people in
an attempt to achieve a higher price for our product
that doesn't exist.
Politics aside this is the main issue and why the
CWB has never and never will have a "premium"
wheat price for farmers.
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