Triffid crisis over, world didn't come to an end

[Fransisco]

Tom, I never said nobody lost any money. I'm just passing on what I'm seeing in the news. The movement of flax around the world has realigned, it is no longer stopped at the EU border. That's a good thing.

[TOM4CWB]

Fran,

I don't know what Morris is trying to acheive with his article. If we give something away at a 30% or more discount... yes normally someone will buy it and find new uses. The CWB markets this way all the time. In the end... it shure doesn't help our farms to be in the bust boom cycle... magnified by this kind of problem. I wouldn't wish this gm event issue on anyone... and I know flax traders and exporters have been hurt as well.

[Fransisco]

So in other words you see china taking all of the flaxseed that used to go to the EU, crushing it, and selling the oil as just making everything worse?

[TOM4CWB]

Fransisco;

" I wouldn't wish this gm event issue on anyone." I wouldn't want to see it happen again. NEVER EVER.

Our food is too important to risk to those who think it is cute to pad their pockets.

[Fransisco]

You're avoiding the question.

[TOM4CWB]

Fransisco,

Worse... what do you mean?

CWB Winter Wheat Worse?

If this had not happened... which it is hard to fathom how 1 seed in 1 million got into new varieties not even released... how on earth could anyone be proud of our Canadian seed system that totally failed in keeping this gm event out of breeder seed... 12 years after the gm event was last grown in CDC Saskatoon?

THis is an unbelievable breach of seed growers strive to acheive. NO way could I conceive of this lunacy as being positive in any way. WE are the LAUGHING stocks and fools of the world.

What will they find next in our grain... that they have not been testing for... GM _ _ _ _ _?

[charliep]

Can't argue in any way about the hurt to the seed system reputation. This has to be put into the context of a world that can test for 1 in 10,000 or even more tighter specifications.

Perhaps the point of the article is the demand pull side on linseed oil for industrial uses has kept flaxseed moving in western Canada. Flaxseed exports are 10 % ahead of the previous year. Different export markets for unprocessed seed but the industrial demand for linseed oil trumped the regulatory barrier Europe erected.

Perhaps flaxseed will be an interesting case from both Canada's (growers and exporters) and Europe's (crushers who relied on flaxseed to meal industrial linoil demand) perspective.

The numbers.

<a href="http://www.grainscanada.gc.ca/statistics-statistiques/gsw-shg/2009-10/week-semaine-43/gsw-shg-1-eng.htm>grain stats weekly</a>

[charliep]

Try again to remind myself how to do linked sites.

[URL="http://www.grainscanada.gc.ca/statistics-statistiques/gsw-shg/2009-10/week-semaine-43/gsw-shg-1-eng.htm"]grain stats weekly[/URL]

[Fransisco]

Tom, you don't see this as a positive development. If that is the case then do you think China buying up all of the product that Europe no longer does is a bad thing? Would you rather go back to nobody buying anything?

[checking]

Still have my 2500 mt of contaminate. So the answer is, "no, not yet a positive development, but I'm hoping that you and all those that believe this China sale price is okay will soon empty out their bins."

[Fransisco]

There are far worse things than keeping flax in the bin in hopes of a better price, or than taking the roughly $8 a bushel being offered now.

[TOM4CWB]

Fran,

No one is offering me $8.

$7.40 was last I heard... but can't nail down shipping. If going to China... I should be getting more not less!