Director's Pledge

[AdamSmith]

I understand there are a number of good "choice" candidates running for cwb director this year.

Without coming across as too skeptical, history has shown that elected "choice" directors have become some of the staunchest defenders of the single desk.

I suppose I could believe that once "inside" they we're provided with privileged information that causes a deep and profound change of heart and beliefs,

but since I matured beyond believing in fairy tales at around eight years old, I believe the reasons for switching sided lies elsewhere, by the way, that elsewhere rests in a very shady place.

So with farmers being burned in the past, I think each "choice" candidate running for director must;

#1; pledge to remain true to his stated beliefs in the free market for wheat and barley,

#2;he or she must pledge to support only those initiatives that prepare or position the cwb to function within an open market,

#3; they pledge to resist any changes that are designed to strengthen the single desk,

#4; they pledge to adopt a policy of immediately granting zero buyback export licenses to any farmer that requests one (should the open market supporters form a majority)

#5; they pledge to resign should the break any of the above four pledges.


This would go a long way to giving farmers like myself confidence that cwb director election are something I should give a damn about and that my vote does matter.

Agree or Diagree?

AdamSmith

[parsley]

Well, adamsmith, I'd prefer zero-COST no buyback licenses as opposed to zero licenses.

I would also prefer... switching sides, ...either side... results in automatic resignation and a byelection called. An alternate suggestion I heard is public whipping, but for the odd few, it perhaps would not be punishment.

Parsley

[AdamSmith]

Well pars, I actually did mean zero cost, zero buy back, zero cwb, zero anything to do with this gawd awful archaic system licences.

I want just what Ontario farmers have,

capish.

sorry for the confusion,

Actually I think locking the offending director in a room for twelve hours with twenty die hard open market farmers,

make that twenty DRUNKEN die hard open market farmers,

no no, make that twenty drunken die hard open market farmers the day after they pay their seed and fertilzer bills,

ooh ooh, no, make that twenty drunken die hard open market farmers the day after they pay their seed and fertilizer bills, and right after they've been forced to watch ten hours of a LoveBoat marathon on TV.

I suspect one might welcome death by firing sqaud over being put into that situation.

[bucket]

You guys are just teasing Vader aren't you?

Where is that fellow named Vader?

Must be with stewie thinking up another organic buyback scheme, heh!

[AdamSmith]

Well, Ritter did the swicho changeo but he just kinda came out of the woodwork and said "Yup, I support choice" and we were suckers and believed him.

Vader's actions on the other hand were, IMO, far worse than Ritter.

Watched one of my favorite movies "Scent of a Woman" last night. And the best scene ever in a movie is the following

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH4p9BQ3V9o

or for you avid reading type click here

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/specialengagements/moviespeechscentofawoman.html

Vader's actions were the exact opposite of what Lt. Col. Frank Slades speech was about.

We need to know once elected a director would rather commit hari kari than sell out.

[Kodiak]

I keep looking for good discussions about marketing on this thread, but politics keeps getting most of the ‘electronic ink’. Oh well, I guess that’s what we get when the Government is involved by supporting one of the biggest buyers in the industry by giving them legislated monopolistic control and by backing their banking arrangements.

So here’s a conundrum for someone to think about. Which campaign will Rod Flaman be running in assuming a federal election is called in the next few days? The CWB elections start today. (www.cwbelection.com)

As I see it, Mr. Flaman has a choice to make. He can run as a Liberal candidate in his federal riding, or he can run as a CWB director candidate in his CWB district. But not both.

But it’s possible that he might try. If he does, when he’s out on the election trail which election is he campaigning in? Are the Liberals putting the gas in his tank….is he claiming expenses on his CWB campaign when he is promoting the Liberal Green Shift tax scheme….is he promoting a Liberal policy that has been created strictly for partisan reasons, or a CWB policy that is good for grain farmers in his district…..is he promoting policy to win Liberal seats in Toronto, or to get us farmers from Saskatchewan the best value for our durum?

Or, if as I think a lot of people suspect, are the CWB and the Liberal Party so much the same animal that it’s all the same campaign anyway?

[AdamSmith]

Kodiak, you want to talk marketing?

I see KC wheat is down today pretty hard. I've been calling around the local grain co's and have been trying to get a decent cash bid on my winter wheat into the milling market, the px is good and the bushel weight is good, but I think the market might rally after the harvest crunch.

What's you thoughts on an appropriate strategy for marketing my good quality milling winter wheat?

I like to spread out my sales to alleviate some of the risk while also hope to take advantage of decent rallies in the market.

I suppose I should have contracted some winter wheat off the KC sept or dec back in Feb. or March but again none of the local grain co's would give me decent basis off KC. Well come to think of it I couldn't get any basis or for that matter even a decent bid that reflected anything close to the KC market price. In fact they all had the audacity to tell me they can't even buy winter wheat for milling from a farmer for cash.

So please, WITHOUT GETTING INTO BORING POLITICS, share with me an appropriate strategy for selling my winter wheat into the premium milling market for the best possible price available?

What cash bids are you getting on MILLING QUALITY WINTER WHEAT?

[parsley]

Spot on, Adam Smith.

It was futile for Indians to speak of marketing salt from the ocean until they got rid of the British tariff that prevented them from getting the salt in the first place.

How soon we forget.


Parsley

[parsley]

CWB Director Rod Flaman was just politicing on TV, with a Liberal entourage, including Goodale.

The present Choice directors must make a resolution to have Flaman either resign or RECUSE himself from the Board table. Have they?

Have the present CWB directors even sent out a press release addressing the fact that farmers could view Flaman's candidacy as being a conflict of interest?

There is a FINANCIAL GAIN for Flaman via an MP's salary if he wins the Liberal seat.

If he promotes a Liberal agenda at the CWB Board table, will it help him win votes in his constituency?

There should be a resignation on the table.


Parsley

[melvill]

A.S., one or two of your comments would lead me to wonder if you're a U.S. farmer but I assume you're not and I'll assume you're not asking your winter wheat strategy as a rhetorical question. Note: only economist types can make two assumptions in one sentence - everyone else gets fired and/or divorced for that.

Here's a possible strategy suggestion for Canuck growers of decent quality winter wheat and who expect wheat to rally over the winter:
1. Buy KC Mar 8.60 or 8.70 call option

2. Sell KC Mar 9.30 or 9.50 call option

Note: you could get margin calls on the Mar 9.30 or 9.50 call

Still have to deal with cash wheat. If you're a Canuck, hope that PROs and final payments move upward to help you realize the stronger basis. Of course, this means not using the buy-back.

Now to sell into the milling market with the best possible price available, take representative samples to every miller that you can. I know one miller that is buying directly from producers.

If you want to use the buy-back to ship stateside, take your significant other on a romatic getaway which includes a stop at every U.S. elevator or miller that's within hauling distance of your farm. Maybe you can save trucking money by backhauling fertilizer.

[bucket]

And unfortunately the appointed directors for whatever reasons don't have the balls to make an issue out of this conflict either.

Its times like these that I lose faith I will ever see a free western canada. Honestly I phoned mnp the other day and asked if they would not allow flaman to run because of the conflict and they didn't know how to respond. This is the accounting firm in charge of qualifying candidates for the cwb elections. They are waiting for their payoff as well if they haven't set the rules at this point in time.

Flaman won't resign one or the other because he is so arrogant, which is obviously a prerequisite for becoming a liberal in the first place.

[Kodiak]

It’s not so much a matter that Mr. Flaman should resign his position on the CWB Board of Directors. That's a GIVEN, and if he doesn't he'll have to account for his actions in one election or both. Maybe even a court case? Could be fun to observe!

But which election is he running in? The real and perceived improprieties are enormous. Untangling the tricky web of statements, positions, financing, responsibilities, reporting, conflicts of interest, and who knows what else, would be a joy to watch!

Hhmmmm.....did I just admit to a little bit of schadenfreude? Shame on me!

[parsley]

I agree with you bucket. Where are the choice directors? Sitting in plump chairs silenced by words constupid with per diems?

Can you imagine if Jim Chatenay ran as a Conservative in the last election, lost, and remaining ALL while, acting as a CWB director? Do you suppose CWB Director Bill Nicholson would have noticed? Or Bill Toewes? or Korneychuk? Would they have commented, do you suppose?

Would the choice directors on the Board have noticed? Would any one of them have issued a mere press release, let alone further choice?


Wanted: 10 acres to put grazing fattened geldings out to pasture. No water necessary.

Parsley

[parsley]

Kodiak,

I had to look up the word schadenfreude, as it's one I was unfamiliar with and it's delightful! I am actually learning a few German words these days.

A bunch of farmers COULD put together a petition, all signed... to unappoint appointed CWB directors who spend all their time grazing.....


hmmm.

Is that typical schadenfreude?

Parsley

[AdamSmith]

melvill,

#1 the cwb is not an option I will consider because the cwb discounts winter wheat to near feed values and the delivery opportunities are pathtic.

#2 the domestic feed market has been my market of choice since I began growing winter wheat back in Y2K.

#3 The domestic feed market continually out performs the cwb.

#4 with that said we are still under paid anywhere from 2 to 3 dollars per bushel for good milling wheat.

#5 You mention the buyback, well now you've stepped into the political arena, because the buyback is designed to be a prohibitive tarrif on direct producer sales into the export and milling market.

#6 The only way to profitably market via the buyback is to catch the cwb napping whilest the market is rallying.

#7 having to buyback something that I never sold or surrendered ownership of in the firstplace is redundent and absurd.

#8 but if I have to do that, I have to ask when did I lose ownership of my wheat and did I ever have ownership in the first place?

#9 I'm right back to talking about, and pressing for political solutions.

#10 hense the pledge to grant no cost no buyback licences in order to profitably execute a well thought out marketing strategy.

#11 without the ability to confidently sell into the cash market using puts call or futures is pure speculation, not marketing