Freedom?

[ianben]

JD(or your favorite multi-national)has anounced a novel sales stratadgy.
It will give its production workers the freedom to sell what they produce.
In their own time each worker will be free to sell the tractors and combines they produce without interferance or guidance from the company.
At the same time JD will close all R&D and customer relations departments aftersales backup will ceace, and of course advertising budjets will be slashed.

Anybody think this will happen?

Would it be a good for anybody worker or customer?

I am a free wheat producer well I can sell to whom I please here in the UK.
However is does not help me solve todays problems clearly outlined by Charlie below competition from low cost producers, obtaining a premium or even knowing and providing what my customers what year after year.

As an individual I am but a drop, if that, in the wheat ocean.Unable to offer anything in the way of a service or quality all I can offer is what my microclimate has allowed me to produce this year.

Is this not the case in Canada espesially in your last horrific year!

Before you scrap your CWB in the name of freedom why not change it into a body which provides the same service JD provides for its production workers.

Three or four such organisations around the world and perhaps farmers would have a future if not total freedom.

Is this not what we all want a future?

[TOM4CWB]

Ianben;

It is obvious, that the CWB Could be a responsive, responsible, trusted, and a company leading efficiency and innovation, if they wish to become the farmers partner.

Hog marketing boards in western Canada have made this transition, with very good results... from a monopoly based single desk system to a co-operative farmer owned and backed buyer, without single desk powers.

The CWB has the power to do this today, with one vote in the CWB Board room.

We all would be just so blessed, if they would choose to become our partners, so that we could have the choice to create a new and innovative buyer of our grain products.

I really do hope this is the final result from all these discussions!!!

[ianben]

The debate on this medium at least seems to becoming more and more polarised and each side entrenched in their opinion.

If what you describe is the outcome you want
Would it not be better to find the common ground.I am sure there are changes that both the CWB and farmers would find beneficial.

How did the hog producers do it?

[TOM4CWB]

Ianben;

The governments in the three prairie provinces decided... without a producer vote, against the wishes of the Hog Marketing Boards, to allow marketing choice.

Simple, one day the Hog Marketing Boards had Monopolies, the next day they did not.

It was really amazing to see the producer Hog Board directors turn from anger, to acceptance of the fact it was to happen, till today most would admit it was a positive move for the whole industry!

Leadership is the key, and it is obvious most people will not change unless they are forced to change.

And when in CWB elections, we are voting on controling our neighbours grain and farm.

Controling our neighbour for our own benefit we are told by the CWB.

It is very difficult especially for older folks to respect their neighbours right to own their own property, when the Canadian and Sask. Governments have been encouraging this communist Comand and control attitude for almost a century.

Control is powerful...

It is addictive and people do what they would never consider reasonable or logical when they are drunk on its power!

[ianben]

Hi Tom
Interesting!
How come all three provinces sacked the hog board in this apparently dicatorial way?

I can see if one is looking for a new partner it is perhaps necessary to go through a messy divorce.
Sometimes though with good counsiling a marrage can be re-built. Especially if each side can be made to focus on achieveable goals and petty issues reconised.
Our futures I believe will depend on solving CharliePs problem list.
To do that farmers need outside help and to work together and gain some of that power for ourselves.
A free individual will always be a pawn.

[TOM4CWB]

Ianben;

If the CWB were to respect "designated area" grain producers property, then I would accept the counciling, and work hard to build trust between us...

To show how absurd the directors have become, the have outlawed the use of the Producer Pricing Options (PPO)for CWB farmer elected directors!

AS far as I am concerned, the CWB legislation specifically demanded the elected directors be "actual producers".

In my interpretation, the farmer directors should be required to use PPO marketing alternatives, to insure that they are aware first hand of the shortcommings of these programs the directors themselves have created!

I liken it to the president of GM telling all his board of directors not to drive GM autos, cause the autos they have made are so flawed and might endanger the directors lives!

How absurd, the CWB should be taken to court, because not only is this morally wrong, but it breaks their own code of conduct.

It is obvious that we have a very long way to reconcilition...

Freedom always comes with a cost, and seldom is easily, logically, or intelligently, arrived at!

Constitutionally, theoretically the CWB monopoly is in the same base powers as the hog boards were, so the provinces do have at least moral authority to force real change upon the CWB.

It will be certainly interesting to see how the next six months change the CWB!

[ianben]

Here in the UK boards for milk and potatoes have been removed in the recent past and free marketing by individuals and smaller groups established.
I dont think we have gained a lot.

Over production causes prices to crash at an alarming rate as each individual rushes to sell before prices fall even lower.

A good production year for potatoes here sees prices on the floor which will be used to drive contract prices lower next year too.
Supermarkets and buyers are acused of profiteering as prices have not fallen in the shops.
Who is to blame in this situation a supermarket who sells at a resonable price which his customer can afford.
Or a free farmer who refuses to cooperate with his fellow producers to sell in an orderly manner.

How its that winter wheat doing?

Did you look into applying MnSO4. Ours will go on in the next couple of weeks along with another dose of aphidcide.

[TOM4CWB]

Ianben;

It appears that we do not have many of the chemical tools you have, but then we have a very different climate!

We finally got six tenths of inch of rain, so the rest of the winter wheat has now germinated!

Most of it is in the three leaf stage.

On the marketing side, as we have said before, no one ever promised life would be fair!

I suppose our job can only be to try to do our little piece to expose problems, and work on solutions...

[ianben]

Manganese sulphate is not a fancy chemical just a powder which comes in 25kg bags over here.
Costs us about £8/bag. 1or2kgs/hectare applied at or after 3leaf do seem to help crop suvive winter.
It is because we are short of the trace element manganese that it works.
Long floppy leaves are the signs we look for, but seems to help wether symtoms present or not.
I know climate is very different but a bag might be worth a try if you could find it.
The aphicide is to kill virus carring aphids which transmit a stunting virus we call barley yellow dwarf virus. It is worse in barley but can be serious in wheat also.
I suppose your winter temps do a good job on the aphids

[StrawBoss]

Hi Ianben !

I enjoy your comments.

The CWB has to change to become an option for farmers and I think it can survive with minor changes. The biggest problem we have now is the board is too political and the big difference in population from east to west compounds the problem.

Exporting wheat to the USA is not the major problem with the CWB, but the board is limiting the marketing within Canada and dampens our opportunities for value added.

Also the younger farmers want more leisure time and to accomplish that they need better opportunities to market their products to make more money. This could bankrupt some, but you will never fail or improve if you don’t try. ( also it’s not the end of the world if your not a farmer )

This is not any different in the labour place where the more aggressive people become supervisors, and some are content just staying as labourers. I think farming is the same, do you just want to survive or prosper.

Shutting down the CWB may seem like closing down a factory with union people being laid off, we also know the unions are set up to protect some workers that are incompetent and lazy. To rectify that problem we need competition to force people to be productive and keep the factory profitable.

CWB employees have no real incentive to change and with no competition why should they. I know the CWB could survive in the open market system and to their employees I say start earning you wages or your gone and to the directors ( farmers) stay as farmers and not become politician over night and forget what you got elected to do.

If we like it or not farming is a worldwide business so today’s farmer has to be a good manager to produce the products the people want and market in the competitive world.

Lets start saying we can live and prosper with change.