Cheap feed grain?

[parsley]

Cowman;
The federal government doesn't finance any of my foreign or domestic grain sales and I consider myself a free marketer.

Parsley

[cowman]

Parsley: Well I guess none of your grain went to Iraq then because the Canadian government definitely did finance that sale...and wrote it off?
I'm not here trying to tell you we have a great system. I do believe our grain farmers have got ripped off on feed grains...not disputing that! Maybe if the system was fairer I'd still be growing grain!
The ABP does not speak for me, just like I assume the CWB does not speak for you? The ABP represents the large feedlots and Packers, NOT the cow/calf guy.
In 2002 the drought was ugly in my area. Barley was almost non-existant due to poor yields and the fact so much of it went into silage/greenfeed. My cousin, who farms my grain land, got the crop planted early and actually got a fairly decent crop off. Yields were about 75% of normal but with the shortage the price looked promising.
Then in came the subsidized corn and down went the price. I sold my calves that year to the US as a whole lot of others did...close to 500,000 calves heading south...while the barley sat in the bin.
Now where was the government protecting my barley prices by keeping out subsidized corn? I assume the CWB kept prices right up there?
Never forget, you the grain farmer, do get to elect your delegates to the CWB! You continue to vote in single market reps, so the only conclusion anyone can come to is the majority of you want this organization to market your grain! If this is not true then throw the rascals out! I will further note that my CWB riding has consistently voted in a dual market candidate(Chatenay) and we are basically a cow/calf area! And I will further note, when I vote for my CWB candidate(although why I get a vote I'll never know) I vote for Chatenay! So I'm doing my small part to get rid of the CWB...how about you?

[poorboy]

Cowman,

Perhaps the fact that you get to vote on CWB elections is part of the problem. Each producer gets one vote, it has no correlation to how much CWB grain that you grow. Why should producers who hold permit books and grow only non-board crops get an equal vote? Your vote should somehow be tracked corresponding to your tonnes of CWB deliveries on the next election and see if there is any difference.
With the age of computers it would be very easy to compare the outcome of one vote per permit book to a vote of so many tonnes delivered last year.

It is also not right that in the cattle industry that there are so many organizations. The cow-calf producers do not fairly represent the Canadian cattle industry no more than the feedlot and packers represent the cattle industry. In most cases the cow-calf producers are poor businessmen and have no idea of bigger picture in global beef trade. And yes, I am a cow-calf producer. It is about time that a united front was found for the cattle industry.

[cropduster]

Thanks for clearing the air about ABP Cowman !!And thanks for voting in the elections.I would like to see more of your type vote! It just seemed to me they felt the CWB didn`t negatively affect them,therefore no votes.Maybe I will go to Red Deer after all !! By the way, I went to jail with the two Jims also........

[parsley]

You bet, Cowman, I try to do what I can to see the best man get elected, even though it's probably pretty insignificant. I don't get a chance to vote for Chatenay or I sure would.

Not one bushel of our grain was sold TO the Board last year, but we did export to the USA. We circumvented all Board pooling when we exported for private sale. Got a Board license, skipped pooling. Got paid directly from our buyer and he paid for the freight. (None to Iraq.)

But I still want a vote because the Board affects transportation for us...containers for example. The Board affects licensing for every farmer, moving grain interprovincially or export. The Board impacts upon the elevators and all the grain companies. It is insidious.

Living with cows too many years, I find that too many cattlemen are too comfortably silent and support the grain farmer with a bit of reticence


Poorboy, many more than I, would grow cereals if we didn't have to haggle with the likes at the Board, so how about votes according to acres so I don't get shut out?
Parsley

[cowman]

Poorboy: Read my lips! I have no desire to vote in the CWB elections! I want nothing to do with the CWB! The only reason I bothered is I know Jim Chatenay personally and I believe the Canadian Wheat Board should be abolished! The same as all the bloody cattle associations! I don't need anybody to tell me what I need to do! I have awful deep pockets and I could probably outlast just about anybody on these boards if I chose to!
Cropduster: If suspect you and me are birds of a feather! I admire people who stand up for what they believe in. I don't know if I would have the guts to do the time for my convictions. You are a hero!

[cowman]

Parsley: It is with a lot of disgust that I agree with you about some cattlemen. I was talking to a straight cow-calf guy last spring telling him how ugly the fusarium problem could be for the grain farmer. His comment" Good! more silage for us. If they get fusarium they can't be exporting it for malt!"
I was frankly flabbergasted and I guess I pretty well gave him a piece of my mind! That kind of thinking just galls me no end! I just thought you ignorant old son of a ....!

[cropduster]

No,Not heros just trying to make a positive change in this country.I`ve heard those silage comments too and couldn`t believe the small horizon thinking

[TOM4CWB]

Cropduster;

I sure hope that the jail time you folks did will fruit some Alberta Government action.

As a person (among many) who heard Canada Customs tell people to remove vehicles... the fact they were willing to put you guys in jail ... simply shows contempt for justice... a sad fact the Courts in Canada are short on truthful reflection... and long on political interference to protect the elete in this Country, wheather they be civil servants or multi-national owner who own/owned freight lines/railroads.

About time we put our money where our mouth is, and offset the CWB buybacks... wouldn't you say Cropduster?

[cropduster]

I agree Tom,much as I would hate to use Albertan`s and Cowman`s tax money to offset a federal mistake.Do you think Mr.Ritter is more nervous with the federal political scene(Different appointed board members by Conservative gov`t)or what he heard in his private meeting with Shirley M last week??Let my answer my own question ......I guess a turncoat really doesn`t care!!

[poorboy]

Cowman,

From your original post I gathered that you could vote in the CWB elections, but you didn't think that you really should be eligible. I was just wondering out loud if possibly the voting on CWB issues would have different outcomes if it was based on seeded acres of eligible CWB crops instead of one vote per permit book. It is great to see people stand up and support or not support these different organizations that are supposed to represent us. Of the people at the top represeting us are so far removed from reality that they are often only looking out for themselves.

Cowman, it was certainly not a personal insult on the CWB voting.

[cowman]

Sorry Poorboy: I'm a little pyscho lately...too many darned calves coming, too little sleep and money!
For the life of me I have no idea why they sent me a ballot. I think the last time anything was sold off this farm to the CWB was in 1964! And you are right I probably shouldn't have voted but who knows what the future holds...maybe I'll have to go back into growing grain?
The problem I see with the acreage/vote is that a few large producers might control the industry. Now that might be a good thing but I doubt it would ever fly in our democracy? Why the largest producers might end up being Cargill or ADM?
Perhaps I get disgusted that in the cattle business we now have a very few large feeders/packers in control of our industry through the ABP/CCA. They tend to support the feedlot/packer interests rather than the primary producer...and further more they make us pay for the whole thing through the checkoff.
At least you grain farmers have a vote on how you want to go. And consistently the farmers on the prairies have voted to continue with the single desk! That tells me the majority want the single desk? Now maybe that isn't right but you do have the ability to convince others to change their minds?
The sad thing is I do believe the CWB could have been a positive thing for grainfarmers. It could have been used as a check on the wolves in the grain business instead of another screwed up beuracracy. If they had just done some movement on the single desk thing they could of had close to universal support?