Things to follow this week

[charliep]

The dates by the way are below. See the CWB website for more details.

CWB directors engage farmers in shaping CWB’s future

March 3, 2008

Winnipeg – Prairie farmers have the opportunity to get directly involved in shaping the CWB's future by participating in the annual Farmer Forums elected directors are kicking off today.

These meetings, which are part of the board of directors' commitment to engage all farmers in their business, are taking place in 30 communities across Western Canada from March 3 to 13.

“Farmer Forums provide a venue for two-way communication between producers and the elected directors who represent them at the board table,” said Ken Ritter, chair of the board of directors. “We are all directly accountable to farmers. These meetings provide an opportunity to hear from producers in our districts, get feedback and engage them in talking about where we need to go in the future.”

Information presented at the meetings will include an overview of CWB performance and financial results for 2006-07, new pricing and delivery proposals, as well as market and price outlooks. Farmers can pre-register by phoning 1-800-275-4292, or e-mailing questions@cwb.ca.

Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. One of Canada's biggest exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells grain to over 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less marketing costs, to farmers.

Locations and dates of CWB Farmer Forums

For a complete list including times, venues and directors, visit www.cwb.ca.

Alberta:
March 3 Bashaw
March 4 Three Hills, Legal
March 5 Nampa, Taber, Mundare
March 6 Fairview
March 7 Arrowwood
March 11 Provost, Vermillion

Saskatchewan:
March 3 Humboldt
March 4 Prince Albert, Swift Current, Landis, Maple Creek
March 5 Foam Lake, Nipawin
March 6 Kenaston, Luseland, Duval, Redvers
March 7 Churchbridge, Fort Qu’Appelle
March 11 Weyburn
March 12 Turtleford
March 13 Moose Jaw

Manitoba:
March 3 Notre Dame de Lourdes
March 4 Killarney
March 5 Selkirk
March 6 Deloraine

[Hopperbin]

Agstar I hear the Chinese are also crying for malt barley. Too bad the board won't sell to them. There is as much middle class in China now than the whole USA population.

[kryger]

Agstar, you don't have to be glued to the screen. I check in the morning and in the afternoon. If I could get wheat prices like they do in the states, I think it would be worth while to be glued to the screen. $6.00 to $7.00 difference between open market and the Board price. You bet I would be glued to the screen.

$3.00 difference on Malt barley, I could spend time on the computer, actually, I could not afford not to.

You get out of it what you put into it, Agstar. Quit riding the CWB shirt tails, and start putting out.

[agstar77]

And if the Pro was greater than the open market price?

[AdamSmith]

Is it, Agstar?

[kryger]

What is the PRO. It's a price projection, that moves up or down, mostly down. You try and take the CWB PRO to the bank, and they will laugh you out of the office.

I have been using the BPC's since they came out, I have always beat the PRO, and that is playing by the CWB's rules on basis and adjustment factors.

You are dreaming in technicolor if you think the PRO will be higher than the open markets at the end of the crop year.

[lesm]

Agstar, I start reading all available reports in early morning and watch the markets intermittently till 1:30P.M. The rewards are phenominal. The best and easiest money you can make is by marketing your own grains. The biggest decision is when to pull the pin. Most of our open market crops are sold between Feb. and May.

[tower]

lesm, sounds a little to like the hype that was probably going around in the spring of '29. Any dam fool can make big bucks on the exchange. We can all hit the high all the time. the majority of the time, once in a while. or anyway I did once or a friend of mine said he heard of a guy that did.

Food prices are going to be a consistently reasonable percentage of the gdp for a while. Production, quality, and resources to go into our crops are not going to be consistently in our favour. I say take a good average when times are good and you'll be happier taking a good average when times aren't so good.

[Fransisco]

A true Canadian, medium is the message.

[Hopperbin]

Was at the Humboldt meeting today and the board actually thinks the barley acreage will be up this year. Not sure why because at the moment there is no clear pricing on cash plus yet. They have no answers to as how much of risk the farmer is responsible for, then all other malt sales will go into a pool account. Think about it at most in our area we can get 80% acceptance on our barley which is about as good as it gets. So that means 20 percent of the time the farmer is going to be on the hook for making up the price difference later. Who in their right mind would make a deal like that? This year that price difference could be 3 or 4 dollars per bushel, costly. Of course the CWB could control the price and keep it down like they usually do just to avoid this train wreck about to happen.