Alberta Pulse Doing Strategic Session with CEO Gord Bacon

[bucket]

As an example in 2 words.

Triffid flax.



And it will happen again. Market acceptance comes with farmers testing.

[tstep]

And I think it is time to stay away from wheat with your round up herbicides for desication. I think this is doing more damage to our wheat markets than we think.

[TOM4CWB]

Bucket,

I agree the flax fiasco was costly to our farm... and poorly compensated for. Since there was NO pedigreed sales of this seed... it does show just how badly things can go... if improper quality control... and brown bag seed are allowed to provide our seed stocks.

Gord is giving our opening address this morning... will give report later in the day.

Thanks folks for your patience!

Cheers!

[bucket]

Tom

Just curious. If triffid was never commercially available - who do you think did the brown bagging of the triffid seed?

Now re-think your position about new seed law and comments about purity and quality.

Triffid all started at the breeder. And was exposed to farmers by them.

[TOM4CWB]

Bucket,

a little google research shows 200,000 bu of triffid flax was grown AFTER CDN registration between 1998 and 2001. Triffid was then deregistered for fear of EU backlash. Triffid was also registered and approved in the US in 1999.

"Why is Triffid in flax exports?

Triffid has probably contaminated most North American flax exports including 'organic' flax because the crop is significantly insect pollinated. Why has the GM contamination escaped careful scrutiny in Europe during those years of flax export? One explanation may be partly technical. The herbicides tolerated by Triffid flax are sulphonylurea derivatives and the genes transforming flax are not the usual genes used to produce herbicide tolerant crops. The promoter and terminator genes are native from the plant source of resistant genes Arabidopsis. What I am saying is that is that Triffid is a University of Saskatchewan product and does not employ the usual large company genes and that may be a reason they were not detected earlier."

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/theDayOfTheTriffids.php

[bucket]

Thanks Tom

Looking back I wish the flax council or government would have established benchmarks to show Europe the problem had actually been flushed out well prior to their determination of excuses to drop prices.

Most farmers had never heard of triffid flax but we're certainly on the hook for the consequences.

Something to keep in mind going forward.

[bucket]

And it didn't take long to figure out a test when farmers had to pay for it.

But the university didn't know how to test for their incompetence. ?

[TOM4CWB]

We had a very interesting Strategic Session with CEO Gord. Many interesting and revealing experiences relating to the 25 years with the CWB and primarily about the 18 years with Pulse Canada. Grain Logistics and value adding to pulses to benefit Canadian growers; failure to provide a reliable product to endusers, many of which are global manufacturers of food products; is a primary concern expressed.

Global end users... are very frustrated with western Canadian grains... as unreliable arrival of shipments from Canada costs these endusers major frustrations and supply nightmares.

Therefore as CDN providers are an unreliable supplier of grains to food manufacturers and end users... discounts are applied to purchases as distrust in capacity to provide reliable arrivals of grains discounts values. Billion $$$ Food Co's/Factories will not be shut down... because a grain shipment from Canada arrives a month or 2 late.

As Just in time'(JIT) delivery is a standard in the global grains market place....

It could well take years to gain their trust back... as other grain suppliers in the global community... have filled the gap when Canada fails to supply.

Will you pay a premium price for a Belarus Tractor?

Neither will end users buying unreliable CDN grain.

[TOM4CWB]

Bucket,

I don't think the UofS even tried to test... they assumed no damage done as it was registered and approved in Canada and the US. China also did not object.

No excuse... we all paid a big price for the lack of duty of care to grain growers in western Canada.

[bucket]

Tom

Any indication as to how much this has cost individual farmers due to logistics?


and more importantly who show pay.? Well other than farmers?

[TOM4CWB]

Bucket,

Not a number discussed... but I will submit this issue to the APG board in the morning. Very good question and would be good to know when working with MP's and MLA's.

Quantifiable damages I would expect... will change from the logistics that each end user/supplier relationship experiences... and I would suspect a certain mistrust/risk factor would chill the overall value of CDN grain further.