Farmer Owned and Controlled

[TOM4CWB]

Agstar77 & Vader;

I find it unacceptable that I am supposed to pay $500/t to share with with the pool... on the income side... yet when it comes to pay the bills to grow that same grain... where are am I given the right to share my expenses with you folks?

Especially now that Rod Flaman and Steward Wells don't even have to have their wheat be part of the pool at all... if that is what they choose!

Any 'reasonable' small business owner in the western world... would say I was a total fool... NOT to notice this rip off... and fight it!

[checking]

How many strong CWB supporters actually market their grain production through the single desk they seemingly so strongly support? I don't mean seling screenings or using the board as a last resort; or using the common grain farmer when it looks obvious that it is the best alternative in a depressed situation.
How many of these same supporting individuals have the personal confidence of officials and directors in the CWB? Remember almost everyone has their price. Some can be bought off with a cup of coffee or a compliment. Others may require more, and a few are really hard to please.....

[checking]

I should have added that previous post was just food for thought. No one seems to be getting anywhere with the traditional arguments.

[Burbert]

I support the CWB, although I don't sell all our grain through the board. Only when the money is right. I DO NOT BELIEVE that turning marketeering over to brokers, grain companies or railroads will help farmers in the least. These groups will take advantage of farmers, drive prices down and deal only with their buddies, who buy them bottles of booze and suck up in other ways

[chaffmeister]

"...deal only with their buddies, who buy them bottles of booze and suck up in other ways..."

Hey, Weber! Sounds like the car allocation system when the CWB was in charge of it, don't it?!

[LWeber]

lock Stock n Barrel.

[rockhound]

I rest my case. No one has named a business that has survived a farmer elected directorship. They pack to much personal baggage of a mindset that they think will help their farm, for example they will break the code of conduct for that business on any occasion that suits their mindset (the cwb directors). Business suffers greatly with a single desk mindset.

[agstar77]

I had initially disagreed, about farmers doing a poor job as directors. However, when I look at the mess in the Federal Ag department , under the lack of thinking by a farmer, of sorts, I might rethink my position. What this means is that you cannot generalize. No matter how good intentions are, if the advice they are given is bad, bad things happen. You might look at the old SWP, that was almost run into the ground by appointed directors . MPE was broken by advice from high paid help.

[chaffmeister]

Agstar – I agree; you can’t generalize.

I believe people generally have good intentions, regardless of which side of the debate they are on. Where the wheels fall off is, as you say, they get bad advice, or I suggest they are stuck in their ways and won’t look at the big picture.

I think the CWB board is mired in a one-way mindset (at least 8 out of the 15). I’m going to guess you don’t agree. If so, what bad advice are they getting?

[agstar77]

You are presuming they are doing a bad job. I could say the same about a number of organizations. It really depends on ones personal philosophy, in my opinion we would not be better off in an open market regime. If we all had the same view it would be a very dull and boring world.