Different product, similar result

[grassfarmer]

No, no intention of ever taking a Government or any other kind of job. I'm a capitalist entrepreneur, a farmer, like generations before me.
I moved from Scotland in part to get away from the creeping socialism expansion associated with partial independence from the rest of the UK.

I find it hilarious to come here and see you folks in western Canada applying the labels communist and socialist in totally inappropriate places - you just have no idea.

[farmaholic]

Who is next in the crosshairs, in the name of.....?

[stonepicker]

Speaking for myself, maybe i am a little touchy when it comes to socialism etc.( but if you talk the talk, don't you walk the walk? ) And that's my perception of you grassfarmer. If you liked the cwb, in my books you have to be leaning far left. Both sets of my grandparents fled russia after the russian revolution, so ya i prefer freedom. Two years of open market in wheat after 70 some years of iron-fisted tyranny and mismanagement and guys like you are whining like a vineyard!!! Get your head out of the sand and learn about marketing your wheat!!

[TOM4CWB]

Forage,

"Tom, what does religion have to do with marketing wheat?"

It is exactly the same in this: If you do not like my faith.... fine... ignore my standards and values... you are totally free to believe as you choose!

Forage, if your ideas of grain marketing do not agree with my values and standards... fine. You are totally free to believe as you choose.

If four of my friends are together... you being one of them... and three of these folks I know vote with me... against your will and better judgement... to force you to charter a plane and pay for that vacation... and charter flight... to make our lives simple... how would that be freedom and common law property rights?

This would be pure and simple coveting your bank account... to make our lives SIMPLE.

Exactly what happened with the CWB. Some Commercial grain growers... were forced to send money to other folks... who only wanted to cash the cheque... and did not care who they hurt to get that Cash. The CWB buy back... pure and simple. And Durum marketing today proves this... the CWB did a perfectly horrible job of marketing durum! And the CWB had the most market power in the durum markets of the world... to cap it all off!

Have a great Easter Monday evening Forage? How much commercial grain do you grow forage?

We CAN make our system work better... that is not admitting defeat! This is a simple fact of life that should be no surprise to anyone!!!

[tweety]

grassfarmer, how do you determine whether or not the CWB would have done better of worse this year then open market? How do you determine it was better or worse then open market when it was legislated to take farmers grain in previous years?

A hunch perhaps?

I'm very interested to know how.

[foragefarmer]

Tom4cwb

The CWB's monopoly has been gone for since Aug 1/2012 and here you are still yapping against it.

Still playing the blame game as you so often do. Tom you never did answer the question as to why "your" vision of a open market (arbitrage) here in Western Canada is not working like the USA or Au.

You were the loudest of any here on Agriville how great the open market would be for wheat growers once CWB monopoly is gone, but even in your own words

"Are allowed to participate in a more rational market system like the US or AU grain grower utilize now"

Tom explain why you feel the open market isn't working like the US or AU. Stop your soap box preaching and answer some questions.

[grassfarmer]

Quite simple tweety, look at the price the farmer is getting for his wheat now as a percentage of the price it is worth on the west coast. Considerably lower than it was in the latter CWB years. Most of the other commentators on here identify that fact but blame it on the RR or "basis". I would argue that it is a reflection of their loss of marketing power without the CWB.

[BreadWinner]

It's really amazing how many of you are stupid enough to thing that all the CWB issues would be gone overnight. Take a breather because it takes time to build markets. A couple of really good crops have set us back a bit. Living under this communist regime will take years to correct but it will get better. If you don't want to wait it out, don't let the door hit you on the way out. For those that like to whine and complain you probably won't ever be able to be happy in life because that is just the way you live your lives.

[TOM4CWB]

Grassy and Forage,

Working on providing Canola, Peas, Flax, Fabas, products that have long term established networks... and hope the future is increasing arbitrage for transportation and growing options for cereal grains as we work through the quality and lack of proper infrastructure to create value for end users of those cereals. Sadly the folks at the CWB before major changes Dec 2011... placed every grain growers cereal options on the Single Desk... spun the roulette wheel... and lost.
Now we are paying for that lack of vision... the natural force of the CWB single desk monopoly... drove others to bulk up to compensate...
US and AU... have a more balanced marketing infrastructure in cereals... like we have in pulses and Canola already. I don't know if saying this 10 times... 100 times... or what more you actually need.

Does it matter? Do you truly even care?
ThxTom

[tweety]

So what would the CWB be getting in todays seriously overproduced under deliverable market condition?

How do you determine that?

Why does the price of canola vary from year to year? Shouldn't you be still getting 15$ a bushel like a couple years ago? Is it the demise of the board that caused canola price to change the last couple years?

You say simple, but have shown absolutely nothing.

Please, using actual math, why the CWB would be getting a higher price today.

[farmaholic]

Rhetorical question that can't be answered....only assumed.

[tweety]

So in other words, your post is meaningless.

[grassfarmer]

Tweety, of course it's not easy to give a $ and cent value on what current prices would have been with the CWB single desk still selling. Didn't stop you and your buddies chirping how much better prices were immediately post CWB and of course you attributed that all to the ending of the single desk. Cuts both ways - be honest.

Breadwinner the hypocrite bemoaning those who whine and complain yet he did and does plenty of that against the CWB, I guess you can't see the irony. Still all their fault - taking time to "build markets" after their demise. Truth is Canada is losing its quality markets for wheat because it is no longer being supplied and delivered to the quality and specs it once was.

That's the sad part, that the delusional crew don't see what they have given away. Once you lose marketing power the game is out of your control - you don't get to "build markets" you get to surrender your product to the small handful of corporations that have controlled the global grain trade for over 100 years at whatever price they feel like paying you. Their purpose is simple - buy as cheap as possible and sell as dear as possible with the proceeds going to the shareholders. To think that individual farmers will work alongside or partner with these corporations to built a product image, gain top dollar AND SHARE THE PROCEEDS OF THIS WEALTH CREATION EQUITABLY is sheer fantasy.

A parallel exists in the beef sector in Canada - all kinds of big talk from beef commodity organisations about the "best beef in the world" and Ritz parading around proclaiming "market access" breakthroughs to Timbuktu is all meaningless twaddle when the decisions on market destination, product image and price are all decided in corporate boardrooms in America and Brazil. Farmers don't sell beef, they sell live cattle.

Wheat will be the same, you threw away the farmer controlled entity that promoted and cultivated the image and demand for high quality Canadian wheat around the world, now you can look forward to selling generic wheat to the multi-national Grain Co.s who are also buying it in Australia, the US and eastern Europe. Good luck with it but I don't expect your future is going to be rosy.

[BreadWinner]

Grassfarmer, as far as I'm concerned the wheat farmer is going to have to reinvent himself to provide more what the consumer wants. The days of growing huge amounts of a bulk commodity to give it away at wholesale price "definition Of the CWB" is not going to be feasible to continue. The only reason we have lost market share is because the CWB stopped giving it away. Those customers we don't need or want. These new markets will develop and grow. Some will fail just like all other businesses. Try to have an open mind, the CWB is gone, I for one won't miss the $1/bushel initial payments and grocery checks for the rest of the winter to come up short on the PRO.

[Hopalong]

With our dependence on export markets, prairie grain growers come up short in support of policy to defend and promote them.
Who can forget wheat board campaign against a WTO agreement?
Too few speak out against Canada policy on supply management that threatens other new trade agreements.
If wheat board and supply management work against us in limiting access to export markets, we should not have to think twice about change or elimination of them.