06-07 CWB Prices

[AdamSmith]

ado089,

I too am frustrated with the grain co's and the rr's but I consider it more like occasional annoyances than the deep resentment I have for the continued existence of the CWB ACT 53 years after VE Day.

Been trying to haul contracted Canola for weeks now, and have been put off at least five times so far, but it's always because the train didn't show or their loading something else.

I know the grain co's are frustrated as well, at least any terminal manager I've spoke to is. Their operations too are being held hostage to the rr's, but getting into fights with CPRail really isn't going to solve anything because only they can get the grain to port.

I think the approach the CWB has taken with the rr's has probably hurt more than helped, I know if I was CPRail or CN, I say to the CWB clowns, "Ship your own damned grain if you don't like how we do it"

and don't think for a moment that the slow service this year isn't mostly about contract negotiations with their unions.

Just remember, The Grain Co's add value, the RR's add value, the seed companies, chemical companies, even the dirty rotten fert companies add value,

Just imagine the value of a grain farm on the prairies if any one of them didn't exist.

But also imagine if the cwb didn't exist, what would possibly be different?

Grain would still be grown and sold.

It would be used domestically and sold for export.

It would be fed to livestock, made into ethenol, everything would still function,

and in my opinion much more effeciently and profitably for all involved.

To Charlie, you said; ...makes me ask the question about what the difference is between canola and wheat. Both crops have similar problems but the industry organizations and farmers have different approaches.

With Canola, if a farmer puts an honest effort forward, be it individually on his own farm or volunteers his time to an organization to help address whatever problem occurs, there is a very high rate od solving the problem or developing workable solutions.

With Wheat,

Go bang your head against the nearest brick wall and keep doing it until you discover your not really accomplishing anything.

Then come back and consider whether you want to ask that question again!

[ado089]

I find that the attitude that canadian farmers have that their neighbor is their competitor in the market place and that by somehow outdoing them they are doing a service to themselves. This attitude resonates throughout our system and is what allows evryone else in the system to make money except the farmer themselves. As a farmer, a retail manager and a small buisness owner it's become overwhelmingly clear to me that the only enemy of small buiness is big buisness. That being said there are always niche markets to take adavantage of but even those niche markets require a certain volume to function. No matter how big of a farmer you are you will always be a small buisness in the grand scheme of things and even realisticly speaking Canada as a whole is small buisness when it comes to cereal production. Though our production is low our exports are high in comparison. If the board functioned at it's pottential that power should be able to be leveraged into consistantly higher prices for everyone. Having control of all of that grain should make prairie farmers big buisness as a whole and as a result of that a price demanding capability should come with it. After all it works for oil organization such as OPEC and and fertilizer mobs like agrium. Unfortunatly the current agricultural system is desinged to keep us poor, as poor buisnesses we are forced to continue producing to make ends meet. Imagine if the farming comunity had enough money to not produce for a season because the prices were not high enough, the threat of that alone would be enough for people to realize the value of food. I know that last statement was a little off topic but in a way something to think about.

[ado089]

Just for the record eventhough I support a single desk buyer if my only choice was the current system or no system at all, I would choose no system.

[TOM4CWB]

ado089,

Well said!

The present CWB theory of the "single desk"... does not stand the test and provide the premium.

How would a "single desk" discipline those in charge (of it) with enough wisdom and knowledge to provide the premium?

Can personal responsibility ever be trumped by collective wisdom?

How about personal responsibility disciplined by a separate export license body... that shared the collective wisdom... yet respected the individual's responsibility and ownership?

The Aussies have come as close to this standard as anyone ever has.

The CWB Act and bylaws as written today could achieve this standard.

It is a crime those in charge (at the CWB) don't have the foresight, self discipline, or wisdom to achieve our goal!

INTEGRETY... That is what is missing.

[AdamSmith]

Tom,

How about personal responsibility disciplined by a separate export license body... that shared the collective wisdom... yet respected the individual's responsibility and ownership?

... that shared the collective wisdom... ????????????

INTEGRETY... That is what is missing.?????


Please Explain.

Collective Wisdom ie. public opinion has nothing to do with integrity.

Integrity is an individual characteristic not a collective one.

Integrity is something that requires perseverence, requires exceptional judgement, requires an unbending understanding of the difference between right and wrong. Integrity doesn't include shades of grey.

Collective wisdom is an oxymoron.

Putting a preacher in charge of the *****house doesn't make the *****house any more righteous, it just makes the preacher a hypocrite and a fool.

[ado089]

As a retail manager I have targets for both volume and more importantly profits. These targets are based on my knowledge of the market place and the companies overall financial goals. It is made quite clear to me that if I don't consistantly meet or surpass those targets I will be looking for a new job. This matter is also a question of leadership and leadership starts from the top, the same place accoutability does. If you ask me that is the ag minister, down to the board of directors and so on. So that leaves the question not being do we get rid of the CWB? but instead, who in the CWB do we need to get rid of? We all know that if the CWB came out and had a wheat price $5/t over N. American averages everyone would shut up and take it.

[silverback]

Yes we probably would, but they never have, aren't showing that right now, and in my opinion, never will.

So why do we have it?? So some people can feel better that their neighbor isn't making more on their wheat than they are? So that some govt workers get to keep their jobs even if they aren't providing any benefit to farmers above an open market system. So that the directors and bureaucrats can maintain their sense of power and entitlement?

Take your pick.

[Burbert]

Let's get Walmart/Costco on side, with us Comedian Framers. They know how to market/make money. Chiny is where it is at, boys/girls. Framer machinery, painted with lead paint, now that would be a good ting! Bye, Bye, CWB, the open market, is gonnoa gettya, cause the Angriville guys/gals want it. Too bad, sooo sad. Framer against Framer, the way it should be, let the market sort itself out.....

[FarmRanger]

Speaking of dark comedy Burbert, please explain the CWB performance in the table and graph at:

http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/007658.html

Marketing choice isn’t just good for house builders.

[AdamSmith]

Puppies????

Do you like cute little puppies Burbert?

Ya gotta like puppies!

Or are they just mangy mutts with bad breath?

What about, ice cream on a hot summer day?

Or does that just give you a brain freeze and leave your hands sticky?

Hot Chocolate by a warm fire on a frosty winter night?

Or is that just warm brown water, too much effort chopping wood and sinnged arm hair lighting the fire?

Ya gotta like something? Anything?

Or are you just a real life Scrooge,

maybe even a guy who makes Scrooge look like Richard Simmons?