Candidate in District 6

[silverback]

Agstar has no point and hasn't made a good one in favor of the cwb - ever!

What part of the cwb coming out billions of dollars lower over just 3 years are you guys not understanding? How much money is it ok to lose out on for us western farmers? If they cannot even get close to the average world price then please explain the benefit to my community? ( I won't hold my breath waiting for a reasoned reply)

Quit with the lieberal & ndp talking points of the big bad corporation garbage and grow up. Do you not understand that the problems we are experiencing now from the US banking sector were caused by politicians and their regulations started decades ago and ramped up over the years?

It isn't runaway corporate greed, it is gov't controlled organizations.

Corporations and business owners actually hire real people who pay real taxes and buy real goods and services.

Good luck Gerrid. Go forth and conquer.

[cottonpicken]

Wonder what your old name on this site was.Care to share.

How much can you know about yourself if youve never been in a fight?

[bucket]

Any comments about the dismal returns on durum for the last 2 years?

Americans are getting 12 bucks for their durum and we won't get 9 waiting a year.

Free export licences?

Better delivery options?

Better pricing?

Lower Staff numbers?

Discontinuing Robin Hood programs like paying for their packaging and the moronic fusarium program that steals from farmers with good grain and gives it to the ones with poor grain?

I vote in your distrct so answers would be appreciated.

[bucket]

Maybe you could comment on the extortion fees for the epo's as well. Why are they so high?

The basis on fpc's can not have a fixed formula because the way grain prices have moved farmers should have seen a positive basis by now.Any comment on so called open market pricing programs that turn out with pooled returns anyway?

And why does the cwb discontinue DPC's when they actually made farmers money?

[cottonpicken]

I have to say it always made me worry that other people marketing my grain really dont know anything about the market.

And i sit here on this rainy sunday morning frantically reading and digesting the massive market moves that have taken place while i have been stuck on a combine,i think to myself just ask Gust.

A clean,sober,community orientaded, diploma grad who wants to help farmers market their grain.

Who should be well up to speed,seeing as how he wants to be a director and such.

At what point did you see the fannie and freddie debockle?

At what point did you see the pardigm price shift in the commodity markets?

Do you you follow current m3 numbers of the top 5 economies of the world.

Do you understand the function of the bond market?

Do you know what gold is and why its price is continually quoted?

Do you believe in peak oil theory?

Do you think the usdx will go down or up?

Do you think the us relestate market has the capacity to bring down the otc derivatives market?


I'm starting you off easy,i understand the answers to these,i'm pondering far broader ones at the moment.

I hope the people that think they can market my grain can at least attempt an answer at these questions.

And i think its close enough to noon to have a beer.

[bucket]

Cotton

You always confuse me but all your questions in some form affect the price of grain and the way I market my off board crops. Sometimes I call it right sometimes I don't BUT I always know who to blame if I make a mistake - I go grab a mirror. With the cwb in place even if I could call the market on wheat and durum I can't extract the premium for my farm without having a account set up at brokerage firm that will often give the wrong advice to suit their needs. That may explain why there is a problem in the states - people who are supposed to be watching peoples money squandered it somewhere they shouldn't have been in the first place which made the futures market as weber describes it disfunctional.

I also think the markets have bottomed and wheat is going to start/fire up pretty soon.

[bucket]

But whether Gust understands any of it is hard to say or if he even cares. He represents the wheat growers and his releases will be written by that group. He is essentially a puppet and he may be smart enough to market his family farms grain - he will always have the blanket security of mom and dad. I don't think he has had to wrestle with the consequences of mistakes he has made. That makes me nervous to put the likes of that in a billion dollar business. It doesn't matter that I agree with what he says - its the character of a person. I think he lacks experience as he reminds me of Linus from peanuts cartoons. And so everyone understands - his security blanket is the mom and dads farm. I am not sure its big enough to support us all if he makes a mistake. He has no life experience.

[agstar77]

If the CWB became a broker, without power, it would be like the various brokerages in the U.S. without capital and being at the mercy of the vultures. Is that a good enough point?

[gustgd]

bucket you are right in that I lack experience.
Also In that the wheatgrowers helped me write my press release. But I am no ones puppet.
Where you are wrong is. security of the family farm in no way isolates me from the decisions I will make around the board table it is to make the farm more money not less is why I put my name forward.
As far as farming with the family I will speculate that 99% of farms in Canada started out as son or daughter farming with parents/grandparents or in laws. The rules as Goodale wrote them state that 10 of the 15 positions should be farmers. I don't think that's necessary most farmers could not answer Cottons questions.
But this is the process that we must go through to end the monopoly, or how would you do it?

[charliep]

Agstar77

Perhaps your last comments should be the focal
point of the CWB election. What are candidates
vision of the CWB in a changing world? Do the
current suite of products and services meet
farmers business needs? If not, what needs to be
changed? When the CWB is running things like the
producer pricing options, what is the balance
between protecting pooling accounts and looking
after interests/minimizing risk management costs
of the producers payment options for farmers who
choose to use them?

Perhaps what will be more important is who is best
able to handle the transition of the CWB to a open
market (or perhaps a more market orient CWB)?
Perhaps we both can agree that the strategic
thinking/vision of the candidates will be critical in
the CWB survival - whatever form it takes.