Ok Stephen Replace Ritz he's a Idiot!!

[sawfly]

if ritz , said that, he is even dumber than i thought.
all those years with 1/3 the support of US farmers. mail box farmers right!
and he had anything to do with commodity prices, priceless

and to top that. US has the brains to have the Mississippi as a public utility.

not here , harper and crew ,
can not even manage to keep an eye
on such a crucial sector. a monopoly
how is that possible?

they can not have 1 expert , to advise
the PM, the transport and ag ministers.
that this mess is unfolding.

we know ritz couldn't figure it out.

but surely someone in this govt.
should care enough about the western economy to do something.

i guess in a top down dictatorship like this one,
even if a civil servant had told them , they would ignore it.

most of you guys elected them,
so pick up the phone and ream their asses out .
find locomotives, grain
cars , crews. and put the screws to the railways. it should never have gotten this bad .
and short of a drought it is not going away.

losing 4 bucks a bushel on canola is no small matter.

and to get an ignorant DUH !!!
response from Ritz is reason enough for dismissal .

nationalize the rail bed ,build it to
handle everything , western Canada has to ship. and then some .
and open running rights to who ever.

[mcfarms]

If your selling at these basis levels
youre paying the demurrage

[alwayshasbeen]

This is what we wanted. Unadulterated free market
production and transportation, the Canadian Dream.
Now as we look back we have a Grainco system that is
giggling to themselves that it actually finally
happened and a railroad system benefiting by
inactivity. Our Ag Minister postures as it all plays out
but deep down does he really care as he couldn't
make a viable farm out of some of the most
productive land in the province. If he couldn't hatch
out a profit with the then current system then surely
it can't work for anyone. When political
blindsightedness (surely not a word) and a zombie
like following supersedes common sense this is the
result. We are reaping what we sow. Hold on,
nothing is going to change anytime soon. Too much
money is being made by the people that have
convinced us this is what we needed.

[farmaholic]

I am on the record as saying the Old CWB likely
couldn't have moved it all either or kept the prices
from slipping some. But no, the initial payment
wouldn't have been $1.50 with a 25% contract call
either. And I do agree with the above post. And I
did say the baby was thrown out with the
bathwater. Was it a percect system? No. Would it
be as bad as it is today under the old system?
What we have today in my mind is poorly
organized chaos. God, I feel sorry for the guys who
need cash flow, now. Either because their old
contracts aren't being executed or need to sell
some now and the prices are in the toilet. There is
going to be a hangover of low prices for a while til
"WE PRODUCERS" have the demmurage bill paid
for. This period will go down in history as being
the largest transfer of wealth from the Farm to
Grain Companies in history. RRs are capped per
tonne but they're inflicting their own punishment
on us and making us vulnerable to the Grain Cos.
If you acted early and kind of beat it, I am happy
for you, but as SF3 says what about next year?
Anyone feeling the sense of urgency the Grain Cos
are applying by telling you to price 2014 production
to ensure delivery? That's right accept today's
price in "HOPES" of being able to deliver next fall--
nice. Seems they lift their foot off your throat long
enough for you to catch your breath before they re-
apply pressure. What we are living through right
now should be burned into our memories for life
and should be taught to our children, no one
should ever be allowed to forget. Too bad we
thought we could individually stand toe to toe and
eye to eye with giant bullies.

[farmaholic]

Forgot to mention . What about all those
"relationships" we are supposed to "nurture" with
our business associates? If any other segment of
a chain in an industry got kicked in the nuts as
hard as we did, do you think they would be looking
for new alliances? What are our options, LOL!!!

[fjlip]

Well stated farmaholic, I agree 100%, that is the way it stands today. I said it hurts how little farmers are valued in the whole chain.

[alwayshasbeen]

Cry me a river fjlip. Im 33 and I am over crying about
how the public views ag. We have created this
environment. We chose to create this mandate that
would go head to head with a highly subsidized
american system expecting to out market and out
ship them. All the while telling the government to
stay out but allow foreign investors, whether
Graincos, rail, or land investors to run the Canadian
ag market. Who cares what the public thinks of us?
This is our baby and we will defend it tooth and nail.
The government knows this and thats why they are
trying to focus on energy which needs all the
lobbying they can get. The problem is that their plan
to build on a historically stable Ag industry is amiss
because of their shortsightedness. Energy is a roller
coaster and the gains we are getting from energy we
will surely lose from loss of ag revenue. We are
already cooking the books in sask to misrepresent
this. I like Brad, a fiscal liberal politician, but even he
didn't plan for this mess.

[parsley]

There are short term fixes to get grain moving
that can be implemented to help with cash flow.

Railroads are the problem. They act like a
restaurant who won't serve farmers.

Which will change, one way or the other.

But I have't lost my faith in the long term benefits
of an open market, either. Pars

[alwayshasbeen]

No disrespect Pars, but could you name a country for
me where this utopia of free market Ag production
benefits farmers without the need for heavy
government subsidies.

[bucket]

That is a very good question.

The american are heavily subsidized to ensure farmers are growing grain. Good thing to otherwise the world would be short regularly.

Also their main transportation system, the Mississippi river is handled as a government entity for trade and commerce.

We have none of that in Canada, so the wealth of western canadian farms gets put in the hands of 5 families. Paterson, Richardson, Parrish, Heimbecker, and Cargill.

[sawfly]

yes parsley . but where is the open market?
railroads 2 that act like a single
unit.

4-5 grain co.s in charge movement.
could compete ,
but make lots more when they don't.

a chem and seed lobby that virtually writes, their own patent and registration rules
.
which successive
Conservative govt.s turn into law.

and even in this mess there doing it again. UPOV what ever it is.

we have paid as much as triple for off patent chems. than the Americans
does not sound open to me.

fert. produced here and shipped 1000s
of miles and sold for less.

what open market?

just billions in wealth transferred
with Conservative blessing .

to corporate AG from farmers pockets.

and when the farmers pockets are empty
they get the taxpayers ,
to cough up

enuf to keep some in business.
the farmers friend that they are .

if conservatives think these corporations need welfare. then do it directly.

but i guess you don't get on the board of ADM .(Mulroney) if you do not tow the line in power .

[Braveheart]

Way off topic, but re American ag subsidies:
Washington may call it a Farm Bill but US
lawmakers view ag subsidies as a subsidy for
rural America. A US politician explained to me
once that it was the best way outside of Indian
Rez casinos to help keep rural USA from
disappearing.