Who's lying, Harper or Ritter?

[wd9]

One interesting thing is the perception of the corporation in Canada - second only that a strong dollar is a good thing as people who collect a wage cheer every time the dollar goes up.

That there is a benefit to Canadians by lowering corporate tax. There isn't, in fact the opposite is true.

Corporations were designed to eliminate personal responsibility and to simply make money. All actions are to benefit the shareholder, and only the shareholder, not the environment, not the general public, etc.

The CWB shareholder is the government, not farmers. Technically Harper is the shareholder of the CWB. This is why there is the Act for the CWB. Wal_Mart or Shell do not have their own Act. The less the CWB needs or drains from the government the better the corporation is doing.

Is Ritter lying to the farmers? Doesn't matter, he is not corporately accountable to the farmers, only the Act and the government! You can't compare the CWB with a normal company, because it isn't.

[chaffmeister]

Agstar: If you think my logic can be used to blame the court decision for lower corn prices, either you (1) don't understand what I wrote, (2) don't understand how grain markets work, or, like Ritter, are simply blind to anything that makes the Royal Canadian Wheat Board look bad and will do whatever it takes to discredit the source.

Or maybe this explains why you support the CWB so much. You can't make sense out of some very simple and obvious market influences so there's no wonder you want someone else to do your marketing for you.

Ask any barley merchant or trader in Western Canada - "Why did you drop your cash price for domestic feed barley on Aug 1 of this year?" And then ask "Why was it such a large drop in price"? I'll bet a whole case of Johnny Walker Green Label that they won't say, "Because the corn price dropped".


What is so bloody sacred about the CWB that you can't even consider its shortcomings?

[charliep]

agstar77

I found your comment on corn interesting. Corn prices are actually up since July 31. Dec. corn on July 31 - $3.36. Close Friday - $3.70. A 10 % rise. To be fair, this is the top and bottom of the trading range over the past month.

Western barley over the same period has shifted from $176/tonne to Friday's close of $189. Will note the run at $220/tonne in the middle of the time period grain companies were out aggressively sourcing export feed barley. Western barley futures is pretty much trading landed US corn price versus international feed barley prices. You can evaluate this by looking at international feed barley prices as reflected by Montana versus local prices.

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/BA/C7

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/CN/C7

http://www.wheatgrowers.ca/pdf/media_releases/2007/Oct-19-07_CWBContinuestoSpreadFalseInformationBarley.pdf See graphs page 2.

An interesting comment with nothing to do with the original topic of the thread but selling feed barley will be like ice fishing this winter. Periods of boredom/lower prices as local feed barley prices sink to corn floor price followed by excitement as the grain companies/the CWB package a 75,000 tonne or so panamax sale to Saudi Arabia etal for camel feed.

[mb_rancher]

The way the CWB operates it is much like if you were being controlled by communist country? Having to sell grain that you own thru a marketing board who is lining their pockets off of the grain we grow. Its not right. Does anybody think it was the big money Ritter is getting now that changed his mid about dual marketing?

[cropduster]

Money is one thing for Ritter but ultimately he just follows the `little` head wherever it points!!!!!Started way back in Marengo school!!

[agstar77]

Did you account for currency change?

[charliep]

Agstar

You are right. Currency has taken some of the sting out of higher corn futures. Assuming 80 over, August 1 US corn price would have been about $180 track Lethbridge (loonie - 94 cents). Track southern Alberta price today (assuming same basis and a loonie of 1.04) - $175. I should note the quoted basis may be lower than the current market.

If you check page 8 this week Western Producer, current quoted PNW barley prices are USD $348 to $352/tonne.

[TOM4CWB]

Agstar77,

I find it VERY interesting that when the CWB stopped buying cash barley from "designated area" barley growers... and instead buy it from the trade... that withholding Export Licenses trapped large amounts of barley inside western Canada... and the CWB is pulling off large margins to pad the contingency fund...

On top how the CWB confiscated my barley space off the combine... made me store it.... at my expense

How all this "Maximises" a barley growers returns...

When we see the US at almost 3x the shipments of past years barley exports... When the Aussies recently (a few weeks ago) closed the voluntary feed barley pool at well over $400/t...

THe Aussie dollar is going through the roof... just like the loonie!

How you can claim the CWB has done a good job on feed barley defies all economic logic!

I see US barley coming into western Canada... does this mean the CWB is doing a good job of marketing barley?....

Or just that during the premium market period from May to July/07... that CDN livestock feeders bought US supplies...

Because the CDN trade was offering a premium to "designated area" barley growers by arbitraging the international market!

Chaffmeister is right... the CWB directors "Single Minded" view of the world... speaks volumes for a group of unaccountable eccentric communists... who can hold the whole world at ransom... both its growers and export customers at the same time!

So... is this a lie... or a bunch of off track farmers that don't have a clue? Chaff/WD9 are right. The CWB managers can get away with anything... because the only shareholder of the CWB has no ability to call them to account for what they do.

The Right Honourable PM Harper was not fibbing... and certainly has a huge problem!

Is Ward going to be the new CEO Agstar77... what will he bring as CEO/President to fix this mess?

[Fransisco]

Why all the talk about futures prices and comparing barley futures to corn futures when the perfect apples to apples comparison is <b>cash barley prices</b> on both sides of the border?

The charts on the link below clearly shows what happened and when it happened. And it looks to me like it was adjusted for currency.

http://www.siemenssays.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/barley-comparisons.pdf
IP

Our cash prices went from being $20 per tonne under the US at the beginning of the year to close to $40 per tonne over when the market thought we would be getting marketing choice. The cash price dropped like a dead duck August 1st and now we're like $70 per tonne under the American price.

The price spread inverted twice. First when marketing choice was announced the second time was when the court ruled against marketing choice.

This is more than just some kind of random "coincidence".

Anyone who ignores what happened in the actual cash market is denying reality.

[TOM4CWB]

Fransisco,

Watch it...

The CWB mind benders will tell you US Barley prices rose because the CWB got their monopoly back!

These people can justify anything... because they have the "single desk" ... except that they maximise "designated Area" barley growers incomes!

Sadly... the CWB has no legal obligation to get us fairmarket value... for our wheat and barley!

We are so stupid!

[wd9]

Because the farmer is not the shareholder. Simple.

[Fransisco]

Oh yeah prices went up. Its just that they went up way more outside of the designated area than in it.