last Sunday the Winnipeg Free Press ran two op-eds. Below you will find both. First by Allan Dawson, who besides been a long time writer for the Manitoba Cooperator now because of the ownership of the MC is writing in many farm papers across the west.
What I find interesting, is his views on the CWB. And how that might influence his credibility in writing articles that relate to the grain trade. Take a read and see if you feel the same.
The second editorial comes from Paul Orsak, farmer and Chair of GrainVision. Point there is with out change we are risking a heck of a lot.
Erik
Ham-fisted barley policy backfires
Sun Jan 27 2008
Allan Dawson
THE Conservative minority government was elected two years ago and seems no
closer to implementing an open market for barley than the day it came to
power.
It's not that it hasn't really, really tried. It rigged the plebiscite on
the barley marketing by giving farmers three choices instead of two and then
combining results.
It fired the Canadian Wheat Board's chief executive officer, fired a CWB
director, enticed another to leave and then appointed replacements to do the
government's bidding. Still, the government's directors lacked the votes to
overturn the will of the farmer-elected directors, of which eight out of 10
oppose an open market.
The government even went so far as to contravene the Canadian Wheat Board
Act by attempting to impose an open market through cabinet order, which was
overturned in court. (An appeal of that decision will be heard Feb. 26.)
So it's not like the Conservatives haven't been dogged. The government's
latest attempt to end the CWB's single desk marketing authority for western
barley, excluding domestic feed, is the meeting Agriculture Minister Gerry
Ritz has called for Tuesday in Ottawa. The minister, CWB, malting industry
grain companies and farmers (no doubt just those in support of an open
market) will sit in the same room together for the first time since the
government began the process to change the CWB's mandate. That speaks
volumes and lies at the heart of the impasse. Instead of consulting the CWB
and a wide cross-section of farmers, the government decreed the CWB's
mandate will change, instead of asking should it change? Quite simply, the
government refused to follow due process and that has been its undoing, not
unlike others laid low by hubris and arrogance since time immemorial. Had it
played by the rules, an open market might have been in place by now, or it
would've been clear that's not the policy the majority of farmers support.
The government can change the CWB's mandate by amending the CWB Act. At
present, however, the act stipulates the change must be first endorsed by a
majority of farmers through a plebiscite. Had a majority of farmers voted
for an open market based on a fair question, it's quite likely opposition
parties would have endorsed amendments to the act. That's unlikely now given
all the government's Machiavellian moves.
The latest in this saga shows the deep disconnect between practicality and
posturing, business and rhetoric. Even before all the details were worked
out, the Malting Industry of Canada and Western Grain Elevator Association
tried to cut the CWB's new CashPlus program for malting barley off at the
knees.
According to the CWB, it would give farmers pricing flexibility, but perhaps
more importantly, allow maltsters to contract for malting barley, assuring
supplies at known prices. CashPlus is intended to avoid the problems
maltsters had last fall getting barley when farmers were delivering to the
open domestic feed market where prices were rising. The CWB also says
CashPlus would work during a transition to an open market.
The maltsters, grain companies and anti-CWB farm groups say nothing short of
an open market will suffice. Ritz agrees. The problem is the CWB can no more
implement an open market than the government. The CWB has a lot of
administrative flexibility, but a unilateral move to an open market would
see it taken to court just as the government was.
So why are these people asking for something they can't get, at least not
right now, instead of focusing on what will work in the interim?
Open market advocates are playing a game of chicken they can't win, because
the CWB doesn't have the authority to veer off its single-desk path.
Maltsters appear prepared to suffer market uncertainty and even economic
loss, at least temporarily, to keep the pressure on for an open market that
they contend will provide long-term benefits.
If farmers like the CashPlus program, it could weaken momentum towards an
open market. But it won't deter the government or its core farm supporters.
Meantime, all concerned should get on with the business of selling and
buying malting barley until the CWB Act is amended and an open market is
implemented.
From the start, Ritz and his government have blamed the wheat board. He and
his supporters need to look in the mirror. The government's ham-fisted,
bully-boy tactics have backfired.
Allan Dawson is a reporter
with the Manitoba Co-operator.
allan@fbcpublishing.com
CWB falsely claims moral high ground
Sun Jan 27 2008
Paul Orsak
THE barley industry in this country is at a crossroad. Demand for malted
barley and malt products is growing around the world. Increased disposable
income in emerging economies around the world has more people drinking more
beer.
Canada is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this expanding marketplace.
New investments will soon be made in malting plants, but if Canada does not
soon solve its internal squabbling over the Canadian Wheat Board, we won't
get those plants. Barley production in Canada will shrink. That would be a
shame since we are now one of the three largest exporters of malting barley
in the world.
On Tuesday when the CWB, the industry, and farmers sit down in Ottawa with
Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz, we have a collective choice. We can
continue to argue about the CWB, or we can lay a new foundation for an
industry and capitalize on the many opportunities that economic growth and
more and more consumers around the world are laying at our doorstep
The most zealous supporters of the CWB monopoly falsely lay claim to being
custodians of the moral high ground by claiming the only group whose needs
are important are farmers. But their unremitting opposition to change is
costing us time and opportunity.
It is important the interests of farmers be looked after, but if the rest of
the industry is handcuffed and has none of its interests addressed, what
good is that for farmers? What if maltsters decide they can't do business in
Canada? What if Canadian seed and technology developers, grain handlers and
exporters decide that the barley business isn't worth another dollar of
investment? What if elevator companies refuse to handle the CWB's barley
because it insists on complete control of every stage in the marketing
chain? None of these possibilities would be good for farmers.
The CWB is proving itself unable to add value to our barley production. Its
board of directors has a blinkered and patronizing approach to the industry,
and by refusing to acknowledge the needs of the whole industry, has now
succeeded in completely isolating itself.
Its steadfast desire to maintain a marketing system from another era has
rendered it nothing more than a costly and oppressive intruder into a very
promising industry which has enormous growth potential.
The industry has recognized the benefits of a value chain approach to the
business. Farmers, handlers, processors and merchants all need and depend on
one another. And they need direct commercial contract and business-like
relationships with one another.
Except for the CWB, everyone in the barley industry is working together to
move forward. Most people realize that if even one market segment is
seriously impaired in its ability to provide product or service, or it is
lost, everything will come crashing down.
The roll out of the CWB's newest plan, its so-called "CashPlus" program, has
met with universal disapproval from commercial processors, handlers and
merchandisers. And as farmers become familiar with the details of this
latest scheme, they are realizing it doesn't even begin to meet their needs.
It's time for the CWB and its board of directors to realize this isn't about
them. It isn't about keeping the single desk. It isn't about their personal
desires and authority. It isn't about their political and ideological views.
Nor is it about another CWB scheme that is neither "cash" nor "plus."
What it is about is the barley industry and whether we will have that
industry in Western Canada in the future. It's about economic growth. It's
about creating something larger and more significant than the CWB.
Never before has there been so much promise in the barley business,
especially for farmers. However, to capitalize on this promise and to build
for future years means forging an environment where industry not only finds
opportunity to stay involved, but finds opportunity to invest new capital in
innovative technology, infrastructure and processing. That would be
enormously good for farmers.
It looks to me like the government understands this. Its efforts seem aimed
at trying to do the right thing despite the political controversy some are
trying hard to make of it. It has chosen not to ignore the reality that
without each link in the chain there is no barley industry.
It's time for those who are choosing to ignore this reality to put their
partisan politics and ideology aside, and help create an environment that
will allow the opportunity that lies ahead for all of us to be fully
realized.
The CWB can choose to do what is right. It can choose to be part of a
vibrant and growth-oriented barley industry if it wants to. Or it can choose
to scorch the field. The rest of us are ready to face a brighter future, one
we've waited for long enough.
Paul Orsak is a farmer and the chair of GrainVision, a coalition that
includes farmers and farm organizations, grain handling companies,
processors, end-users and business organizations, all committed to the
principle that agricultural policy must foster growth, innovation, and
competitiveness in the Canadian grain industry
What I find interesting, is his views on the CWB. And how that might influence his credibility in writing articles that relate to the grain trade. Take a read and see if you feel the same.
The second editorial comes from Paul Orsak, farmer and Chair of GrainVision. Point there is with out change we are risking a heck of a lot.
Erik
Ham-fisted barley policy backfires
Sun Jan 27 2008
Allan Dawson
THE Conservative minority government was elected two years ago and seems no
closer to implementing an open market for barley than the day it came to
power.
It's not that it hasn't really, really tried. It rigged the plebiscite on
the barley marketing by giving farmers three choices instead of two and then
combining results.
It fired the Canadian Wheat Board's chief executive officer, fired a CWB
director, enticed another to leave and then appointed replacements to do the
government's bidding. Still, the government's directors lacked the votes to
overturn the will of the farmer-elected directors, of which eight out of 10
oppose an open market.
The government even went so far as to contravene the Canadian Wheat Board
Act by attempting to impose an open market through cabinet order, which was
overturned in court. (An appeal of that decision will be heard Feb. 26.)
So it's not like the Conservatives haven't been dogged. The government's
latest attempt to end the CWB's single desk marketing authority for western
barley, excluding domestic feed, is the meeting Agriculture Minister Gerry
Ritz has called for Tuesday in Ottawa. The minister, CWB, malting industry
grain companies and farmers (no doubt just those in support of an open
market) will sit in the same room together for the first time since the
government began the process to change the CWB's mandate. That speaks
volumes and lies at the heart of the impasse. Instead of consulting the CWB
and a wide cross-section of farmers, the government decreed the CWB's
mandate will change, instead of asking should it change? Quite simply, the
government refused to follow due process and that has been its undoing, not
unlike others laid low by hubris and arrogance since time immemorial. Had it
played by the rules, an open market might have been in place by now, or it
would've been clear that's not the policy the majority of farmers support.
The government can change the CWB's mandate by amending the CWB Act. At
present, however, the act stipulates the change must be first endorsed by a
majority of farmers through a plebiscite. Had a majority of farmers voted
for an open market based on a fair question, it's quite likely opposition
parties would have endorsed amendments to the act. That's unlikely now given
all the government's Machiavellian moves.
The latest in this saga shows the deep disconnect between practicality and
posturing, business and rhetoric. Even before all the details were worked
out, the Malting Industry of Canada and Western Grain Elevator Association
tried to cut the CWB's new CashPlus program for malting barley off at the
knees.
According to the CWB, it would give farmers pricing flexibility, but perhaps
more importantly, allow maltsters to contract for malting barley, assuring
supplies at known prices. CashPlus is intended to avoid the problems
maltsters had last fall getting barley when farmers were delivering to the
open domestic feed market where prices were rising. The CWB also says
CashPlus would work during a transition to an open market.
The maltsters, grain companies and anti-CWB farm groups say nothing short of
an open market will suffice. Ritz agrees. The problem is the CWB can no more
implement an open market than the government. The CWB has a lot of
administrative flexibility, but a unilateral move to an open market would
see it taken to court just as the government was.
So why are these people asking for something they can't get, at least not
right now, instead of focusing on what will work in the interim?
Open market advocates are playing a game of chicken they can't win, because
the CWB doesn't have the authority to veer off its single-desk path.
Maltsters appear prepared to suffer market uncertainty and even economic
loss, at least temporarily, to keep the pressure on for an open market that
they contend will provide long-term benefits.
If farmers like the CashPlus program, it could weaken momentum towards an
open market. But it won't deter the government or its core farm supporters.
Meantime, all concerned should get on with the business of selling and
buying malting barley until the CWB Act is amended and an open market is
implemented.
From the start, Ritz and his government have blamed the wheat board. He and
his supporters need to look in the mirror. The government's ham-fisted,
bully-boy tactics have backfired.
Allan Dawson is a reporter
with the Manitoba Co-operator.
allan@fbcpublishing.com
CWB falsely claims moral high ground
Sun Jan 27 2008
Paul Orsak
THE barley industry in this country is at a crossroad. Demand for malted
barley and malt products is growing around the world. Increased disposable
income in emerging economies around the world has more people drinking more
beer.
Canada is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this expanding marketplace.
New investments will soon be made in malting plants, but if Canada does not
soon solve its internal squabbling over the Canadian Wheat Board, we won't
get those plants. Barley production in Canada will shrink. That would be a
shame since we are now one of the three largest exporters of malting barley
in the world.
On Tuesday when the CWB, the industry, and farmers sit down in Ottawa with
Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz, we have a collective choice. We can
continue to argue about the CWB, or we can lay a new foundation for an
industry and capitalize on the many opportunities that economic growth and
more and more consumers around the world are laying at our doorstep
The most zealous supporters of the CWB monopoly falsely lay claim to being
custodians of the moral high ground by claiming the only group whose needs
are important are farmers. But their unremitting opposition to change is
costing us time and opportunity.
It is important the interests of farmers be looked after, but if the rest of
the industry is handcuffed and has none of its interests addressed, what
good is that for farmers? What if maltsters decide they can't do business in
Canada? What if Canadian seed and technology developers, grain handlers and
exporters decide that the barley business isn't worth another dollar of
investment? What if elevator companies refuse to handle the CWB's barley
because it insists on complete control of every stage in the marketing
chain? None of these possibilities would be good for farmers.
The CWB is proving itself unable to add value to our barley production. Its
board of directors has a blinkered and patronizing approach to the industry,
and by refusing to acknowledge the needs of the whole industry, has now
succeeded in completely isolating itself.
Its steadfast desire to maintain a marketing system from another era has
rendered it nothing more than a costly and oppressive intruder into a very
promising industry which has enormous growth potential.
The industry has recognized the benefits of a value chain approach to the
business. Farmers, handlers, processors and merchants all need and depend on
one another. And they need direct commercial contract and business-like
relationships with one another.
Except for the CWB, everyone in the barley industry is working together to
move forward. Most people realize that if even one market segment is
seriously impaired in its ability to provide product or service, or it is
lost, everything will come crashing down.
The roll out of the CWB's newest plan, its so-called "CashPlus" program, has
met with universal disapproval from commercial processors, handlers and
merchandisers. And as farmers become familiar with the details of this
latest scheme, they are realizing it doesn't even begin to meet their needs.
It's time for the CWB and its board of directors to realize this isn't about
them. It isn't about keeping the single desk. It isn't about their personal
desires and authority. It isn't about their political and ideological views.
Nor is it about another CWB scheme that is neither "cash" nor "plus."
What it is about is the barley industry and whether we will have that
industry in Western Canada in the future. It's about economic growth. It's
about creating something larger and more significant than the CWB.
Never before has there been so much promise in the barley business,
especially for farmers. However, to capitalize on this promise and to build
for future years means forging an environment where industry not only finds
opportunity to stay involved, but finds opportunity to invest new capital in
innovative technology, infrastructure and processing. That would be
enormously good for farmers.
It looks to me like the government understands this. Its efforts seem aimed
at trying to do the right thing despite the political controversy some are
trying hard to make of it. It has chosen not to ignore the reality that
without each link in the chain there is no barley industry.
It's time for those who are choosing to ignore this reality to put their
partisan politics and ideology aside, and help create an environment that
will allow the opportunity that lies ahead for all of us to be fully
realized.
The CWB can choose to do what is right. It can choose to be part of a
vibrant and growth-oriented barley industry if it wants to. Or it can choose
to scorch the field. The rest of us are ready to face a brighter future, one
we've waited for long enough.
Paul Orsak is a farmer and the chair of GrainVision, a coalition that
includes farmers and farm organizations, grain handling companies,
processors, end-users and business organizations, all committed to the
principle that agricultural policy must foster growth, innovation, and
competitiveness in the Canadian grain industry
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