Westlock AB CWB Forum

[ianben]

Charlie
Why do you think canola is a better market?
It seems that way over here too without the CWB.
Somehow cdanola seems more of a partnership a better understanding of each others problems.
Canola does seem to marketed better always seem to be searching for new uses both industrial and food.

Grain on the other hand seems more us and them. Disputes over grade and moisture and no-one looking at inovational uses for this basic raw material.

Is it similar in Canada?

Are there reasons why this should be so?

[TOM4CWB]

Chaffmeister;

I think a really good example of directors and responsible balance between perception and needed experience is WCE directors.

Can you imagine if the WCE Directors could not trade (the companies the represent would be excluded because of "inside info"), if market makers (locals) could not be involved in the markets at the WCE!!!

A system at the CWB must be set up that fire walls conflicts of interest... so real commecial farmers can be on the CWB Board.

We must be realistic... not be off on some theoretical wonderland... soon CWB Director farmers will have to put their farms in blind trusts...

In essence this is what you folks are suggesting now... which goes against the whole reason to have actual producers be CWB Directors to begin with.

I sure hope you folks really think through what kind of a CWB you create by restricting farmer Directors marketing options... obviously the management at the CWB that has happened in the past four years does not bode well for the long term existance of the CWB. itself...

But I guess if you guys really want the CWB to be destroyed... the present path the CWB Directors are going leads straight to this destination!

[charliep]

Ianben

Lots of questions I don't have answers for today. The issue I identify is freedom of choice - no one in the canola industry is forced to work with someone else. Everyone has to work hard everyday to justify the working relationship or one doesn't exist. The other issue is that everyone comes to the room as equals and works to improve the industry. Markets are addressed in terms of customer needs and potential - price (except for my part) is rarely mentioned. Agromonic issues and ways to improve profitability for farmers are also a priority. There is an acceptance that farmers have to make money or they won't grow the crop.

[Braveheart]

Tom4CWB, the difference I see between the CWB and the WCE is that while the WCE is the place where market participants meet to conduct their business, the CWB is actually a market participant (well, maybe not this year). I would suppose the directors of WCE Holdings Inc meet to discuss how to make WCE Holdings Inc more profitable for its' shareholders. No inside info here. I'm just guessing, but I would think CWB directors are exposed to reports on CWB hedge positions etc. This would be information which an unprincipled individual could profit from.

I think the destruction of the CWB won't come from lack of firewalls of integrity, or directors/pool accounts funding the Liberal party, etc, but will come when farmers grow tired of being made fools of by Ralph Goodale's little pass the buck to farmers trick called the farmer controlled CWB.

Hasta La Vista, Baby!

Braveheart

[Braveheart]

I wish I had more time to spend on here with you guys. Here is an email I sent to Goodale on the weekend. I've not yet seen a reply.

Hon. R.E.G.:

I've been staying out of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) debate over the last five years for a few reasons: 1) I've grown tired of trying to change an industry that doesn't want to change; 2) there is better use of everyone's time than to debate empirical data, coffee shop rhetoric and the same innuendo that even Jean Luc Pepin had tired of and 3) I've learned it is more beneficial for farmers (and me) that I spend my time trading their grain than trading western Canadian issues.

One of the key issues that no one has debated is the industry's ability or inability to finance the 3 to 6 billion dollars of export sales should the Canadian government discontinue their guarantees and I expect in time, that this issue will be a major hurdle in World Trade Organization negotiations.

However, this column below posted on the CWB website, absolutely pisses me off and there is no way you can tell me that this is not election interfering beyond a reasonable doubt. If you, the spin doctors in your office or the CWB can justify this, I await your usual lengthy reply. Mr. Martin will be in Saskatoon on November 15th, and I will ask his views on the CWB election interference and expect his answer to be much more pointed than the one I will receive from you. The last time I emailed you was two years ago, Ralph, warning of impending financial insolvency in the grain industry and that farmers were at risk. As expected, I did not receive a reply from your office and the consequence is that farmers are out over 3 million dollars in the Naber Seeds and Agritrans debacle. Inaction, it appears, has a price.

Yours truly,

Larry Weber
Weber Commodities Ltd.
#9-2155 Airport Drive
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7L 6M5
Phone:1-306-657-3456
Fax:1-306-657-3450
Cell:1-306-241-8844
Email:gograin@sk.sympatico.ca
Email:larry@webercommodities.com
Website: http://www.webercommodities.com
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CWB Now
2002 CWB Now
Comparing apples to apples
There are many differences between producing and marketing wheat in Eastern and Western Canada that make drawing a parallel difficult. What is good for Ontario farmers is not necessarily good for farmers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Ontario farmers typically grow only about one million tonnes of wheat each year compared to approximately 11.5 million tonnes grown by western Canadian farmers. The annual wheat production in Quebec is even lower than in Ontario, so a comparison of quantity of grain production shows a vast difference.

While the flagship wheat of Western Canada is Canada Western Red Spring wheat (CWRS) - a hard red spring wheat variety, soft red and white winter wheat varieties dominate production in Eastern Canada. While flour milled from CWRS is mainly used for bread and buns, the soft varieties grown in Ontario are milled into flour used primarily to make cookies, cakes and biscuits.

Between 40 and 50 per cent of the Ontario wheat is sold to domestic millers and bakers located in Eastern Canada, compared to just 15 per cent of western Canadian wheat that is sold for domestic consumption. Most of the remainder of Ontario wheat is purchased by customers in the northeastern U.S., with a small amount purchased by the federal government for overseas food aid programs. Over 75 per cent of wheat grown in Western Canada is sold to customers located outside North America, so international market conditions govern returns to western Canadian farmers unlike eastern Canadian farmers.

In 1999, the Ontario Wheat Producers Marketing Board (OWPMB) members voted to implement a direct marketing program. This program originally gave farmers the option of marketing up to 150 000 tonnes of wheat outside the OWPMB, and this amount was increased to 200 000 tonnes in 2002. This direct marketing program created a dual market in Ontario, with farmers able to sell up to the maximum limit of wheat themselves and the OWPMB also selling to customers. The Canadian National Millers Association is opposed to the dual market, as they believe it impairs their ability to secure consistent supplies of wheat. Compare that with the CWB's ability to provide domestic mills with a reliable supply of high quality wheat.

At their annual meeting earlier this year, the OWPMB directors announced their intention to issue direct marketing licenses with no limit on tonnage for sales beginning in 2004. This will create an open wheat market in Ontario. At this time, the majority of the 10 farmer-elected directors sitting on the CWB's Board do not favour the open marketing system. They believe that the CWB is able to obtain the best returns for Prairie farmers using the power of the single desk system in North American and international markets.

Farmers should be aware of the differences that exist in wheat production across Canada. It is not as easy as comparing apples to apples.

To reach the CWB, please call our toll-free phone line at 1-800-275-4292. This column is written on a regular basis by CWB communications consultant Andrea Geary.

[TOM4CWB]

Braveheart;

I see no reason for the CWB sales dept to ever reveal market positions or hedges to directors... These are simply functions of pricing by farmers when these farmers deliver to the CWB... or CWB flatening positions if customer consumers want to pre-price future purchases.

THe CWB has no right in law to pre-price grain it has not contracted... therefore no decisions ever should involve CWB directors!

If the PPO contracts are simply a function that reflects market conditions... as the market changes so will the contracts... there is no place for Directors to skim using PPO contracts...

Unless the CWB is distorting the market through PPO contracts... then this is fraud... so legally it cannot happen anyway!

The CWB creating PPO contracts by fraud... is not a good excuse to implement a conflict of interest clause to stop CWB Directors from using the PPO contracts.

In fact the opposite is the case!

Integrety proven by a CWB marketing system that provides insurance of fair trading between PPO and Pools is a very good reason the CWB directors should be involved in PPO Contracts... to insure fraud does not happen!

I agree this is a tough subject... it requires real intense "thinking outside the box" brain twisting... simply because we have a monopoly marketing system trying to imitate the normal market signals of a supply demand driven commpetitive system!

Braveheart, Charlie, Chaffmeister and LarryWeber... I would appreciate if you folks would think through what I am saying here... how exactly does the CWB monopoly create a cash market that expropriates my grain at Fair Market Value... unless it has proven integrety that the trade is at FMV?

If in fact PPO contracts are trades at FMV... how could a CWB director benefit or skim using them?

[charliep]

Quick question. Can a director for Agricore United contract with that company (basis, ddc contracts, etc.)? Are there rules on futures and options trading?

Some of you may want to read the conflict of interest guidelines (http://www.cwbelection.com/printerfriendly/CandidateInfo5.htm). Interesting as to the standards directors are held to.

[TOM4CWB]

Charlie;

I know a few years ago... AWP Directors were ONLY to do business with AWP... and not anyone else!

My understanding is that all contracting options open to any other farmer... are open to farmer directors.

This I believe is proof that the Auditor Generals critisism that the CWB Directors are involved in day to day CWB business is obviously still not being taken seriously!

AS I have said many times in the past... the CWB's #1 job is to facilitate sales for "designated area" grain producers... not make these sales themselves without our permission!

Until the CWB understands that this is what the CWB Act requires... and legally requires of the CWB... the errosion of trust in the CWB... and frustration with CWB sales activities (timeing of sales in particular) the CWB will continue in the self destruction mode...