Beef Price Concerns

[boone]

Parsley: I don't know where you get the idea about Force being my m/o here. I am really interested in full naked disclosure, with what ever that involves, no more no less. And as me not being easy with my position, I'm quite sure if you read back you will see that I want a direct pricing relationship with MGE on a daily basis. I'm just saying for the time being it should be able to work through the board at a minimum cost. Tom I disagree, somewhat with growers readiness to collaborate, lately I've been impressed with some of the working together for common goals, Not only the lowest common denominator. Can't elaborate without sharing too much info.

[cowman]

Well parsley, you have got it! That is a very good philosophy for how to live your life!
All I am saying is you do have this organization that COULD be very effective at marketing grain? I mean they have the money, the contacts, supposedly some expertise? Now why couldn't this be a very effective marketer IF it wasn't compulsory?
And here is the problem. If the Canadian government finally decides"who needs this grief" and scraps the CWB you lose what could be a very heavy hitter in the grain business? That is why I wondered if it would be possible for the CWB to survive and prosper without a single desk? I know the "gospel" of the CWB says no, but why not?
Consider that the CWB would still have some definite advantages when it came to overseas markets(including the government loans)? But don't penalize the guy who found a market on his own.
Recently I heard that a major US brewer had looked seriously at setting up shop near Camrose. The deciding factor in not going ahead was the CWB single desk for malt! Now really we can't afford to lose opportunities like that over ideologies? If the CWB had been even able to make an exemption that would have been helpful? This country(and the local farmers) lost how much money and jobs because of that rigid attitude to the single desk?

[boone]

cowman: I believe Dominion Malts reasons were many and varied. The final nail seemed to be, they tied themselves to an area that has strong supply guarantee, Idaho(Irrig), and after 9-11 all bets were off. They in my estimation made a smart decision for themselves. They are on the inside of the 'Circled Wagons Syndrome' (border and food safety risks) Your labor pool is just to expensive, your population is driving land prices, your cattle were eating every stick of barley at the time. And fusarium was moving west with the feed grain. They will get your natural gas at less than cost. Pick a problem, Remember ADM owns decision making portion of that malt house. Unfurl a flag! Maybe open up a feedlot beside it?

[parsley]

My Coffee Break Rant

Cowman, only because the CWB is established and has staff with working knowledge of grain, does it hold some promise for what it can be. Not what it is.

Presently, the CWB works for Government, is a vehicle of Government. If it became a marketing tool for farmers,it could attain some success, relative to the participants who use it, but only if it makes bold and comprehensive changes.

The CWB can be so much more if they have willing participants. At present, who are their real supporters? Most wanting to make sound decisions, or who want to take responsibility for his planning don't want the CWB. Anyone can see that earnings from pooling returns is comical. Farmers make decisions based upon financial returns, and Cropduster shouldn't apologize for it if , as you question,cowman "I wonder why you decided to sell your calves last fall and therefore take part in the largesse of our provincial government?"his reason was cash. Cash is what we all want, and most folks think if they declare so, they appear greedy.

Our free enterprise system earns us on average of $21,000,/year. For the rest of the world, they earn $1,000.per year. I do not want to be in the latter.

boone talks like a victim, "Till you feel that helplessness of being infinitesimal on the scale of consideration, you do not have the tools to decide.", and he walks like a victim. His message is hang on to what we've got, put up with what we've got because I'm terrified of the alternative.

Like East Berliners, many still cling to the good old days of guaranteed bread and water sustinance. They never imagined there was gourmet food, they didn't work towards growing, marketing, distributing, cooking and eating gourmet food, They too had Boone's notion that they lived "In a country that has championed for the general good", unrealizing that common good doesn't include farmers anymore: that "common good" has been revised to include only the elite:for shippers, and governments and bureaucrats,etc.

The proof is in the cheque we receive, and that's why well paid researchers like Richard Gray never do an analysis on the bottom line of the farmer. boone still wants to cling to the Board,, "I'm just saying for the time being it should be able to work through the board at a minimum cost", without acknowledging it has sucked the money-blood out of every bloody forced participant in the West. That kind of "influence" is very real

Read your bottom line, Boone. You're $35 Million in the hole this year. And you want more of the same?

boone, You have all the skills and knowledge to create weath. Don't be afraid to plan how to give yourself some of those dividends. You deserve it boone. You've worked hard. Pay yourself. The Board won't.

Parsley

[boone]

Parsley: Geez, your tough, I felt so vile I went and washed up again. Then while I was there instead of a shave I just kept slapping myself. East Germany is being entrepeneured to death right now. It will go to the quick and the bent, history lesson review. Manage the pendulum, the higher it swings the further it will displace and dishearten.

[parsley]

The East Germans are sitting waiting for their share of the pie. None of them know how to bake a pie. Takes a bit of oomph to actually bake the old pie. It starts with beleiving you can actually do it. And then practice.

Parsley