Who else is having trouble with Cargill getting Paid?

[sumdumguy]

If this was a little company, the auditors would have been at the door two weeks ago making sure the bond is still covering at these high grain prices.

[makar]

I got this from the WCWG today:

Dear Wheat Growers Member,

We have heard from many members regarding late payments from Cargill Inc. for grain deliveries.

We have written to the Canadian Grain Commission and cc’d the prairie Agriculture Ministers in an effort to find a permanent solution.

We have also received a response from the CGC, which is below.

We will continue to keep you up-to-date with any developments on this important issue.

Yours truly,

Gunter Jochum
President
Dear Mr. Jochum,

Thank you for your message regarding slow payment concerns at Cargill.

The CGC shares your concerns and it is a top priority for us. We have received a number of slow payment complaints from producers and we have successfully worked with them to secure payment in relatively short order. Based on our discussions with executives at Cargill, it appears that the issue has been caused by the implementation new payment software. We received assurances this week from Cargill that the problem has been resolved and that no new slow payment complaints should emerge going forward.

That said, some producers may still have outstanding slow payment complaints to resolve. We encourage them to contact us so that we can bring their concerns forward and help them secure payment. Please note as well that we are seeking more information from Cargill on how many producers have been affected and their timeline to deal with any remaining outstanding payments.

We encourage you to share this message with your members.

Sincerely,

Doug Chorney

Chief Commissioner
Canadian Grain Commission / Government of Canada
doug.chorney@grainscanada.gc.ca/ Tel: 204-983-2730 / TTY: 1-866-317-4289

Now that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

[Oliver88]

If this was a little company, the auditors would have been at the door two weeks ago making sure the bond is still covering at these high grain prices.

Is Cargill too big to fail?

[saskcanfarmer]

Is Cargill too big to fail?

Probably but Lehman Bros were too big to fail too. There’s absolutely no reason they should be treated any differently then any small or big grain company. This is a massive failure on the part of CGC and just another reason more groups and more farmers should fight back for equitable penalties that work BOTH ways!

[Sodbuster]

Made a few calls to Cargill today, no one was answering the phone today. Received this email later today.

Dear Valued Customer,

We shared that Cargill had completed a system upgrade a few weeks ago. As we said then, most of our operations are running smoothly in the new system, but we are still working through a number of payment delays for some customers. We apologize for that and recognize that this can be a challenge for you and your family.

We continue to make progress in correcting the system issues, and our payment processing rate continues to improve week over week. Here are few of the steps we are taking:

We are working with our technology provider to fix the final defects in the system.
We have added a large group of system experts to support our team.
We are actively partnering with the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) as we work through this transition.

We ask for your continued patience with our local teams as they navigate through issues that are outside of their control. Your local team has been working extremely hard throughout this difficult situation and is dedicated to delivering excellent customer support. They continue to actively communicate the customer impact of these issues to Cargill leadership. Please know we continue to work hard to return to the level of service you deserve.

If you require an immediate payment, please reach out to your Cargill representative or your Cargill location. We will ensure your payment is addressed as quickly as possible. We will continue to post updates on CargillAg.ca as we continue to work through these issues.

Thank you for your business and willingness to work with us as we resolve these issues.

Jeff Vassart
President, Cargill Limited

[wmoebis]

I wonder what exactly partnering with CGC looks like? The CGC's mandate reads In the Interest of Producers and they in charge of administering and enforcing the Grain Act. I think more than one Sections has been broken and it is their job to enforce not partner with the grain company that is breaking the rules.

[TOM4CWB]

I wonder what exactly partnering with CGC looks like? The CGC's mandate reads In the Interest of Producers and they in charge of administering and enforcing the Grain Act. I think more than one Sections has been broken and it is their job to enforce not partner with the grain company that is breaking the rules.

In the interests of farmers being paid, and since there is not a economic failure that has caused these glitches, the CGC is being prudent in the handling of the Cargill accounting systems glitches.

I for one have had many computer and software glitches that have caused our family untold grief and delay in accounting system records.

As has Revenue Canada, which has caused us grief and untold hours of administrative nightmares.

Good that Cargill has paid us, even with all the glitches and two computer systems not properly syncing... a few kind words [with a little patience] gets much more action on grain pymts than swearing and ranting at the office staff at Cargill that can't do anything about the glitches and communication breakdowns, Covid-19 has certainly magnified the problems, both at Revenue Canada and Cargill.

Cheers! Your Cargill check could be direct deposited if a little time and effort allowed for it!

[wmoebis]

In the interests of farmers being paid, and since there is not a economic failure that has caused these glitches, the CGC is being prudent in the handling of the Cargill accounting systems glitches.

I for one have had many computer and software glitches that have caused our family untold grief and delay in accounting system records.

As has Revenue Canada, which has caused us grief and untold hours of administrative nightmares.

Good that Cargill has paid us, even with all the glitches and two computer systems not properly syncing... a few kind words [with a little patience] gets much more action on grain pymts than swearing and ranting at the office staff at Cargill that can't do anything about the glitches and communication breakdowns, Covid-19 has certainly magnified the problems, both at Revenue Canada and Cargill.

Cheers! Your Cargill check could be direct deposited if a little time and effort allowed for it!

Does (a few kind words) (with a little patience) only work with grain companies or would that be the same when dealing with RR or Minister of AG and even our PM. Or does belittling and flying obscene flags work better then? Just wondering where to draw the line on the swearing and ranting?

[TOM4CWB]

When you have to butter people up just to get what’s already yours there is something wrong with that situation. They should be bending over backwards to make things right for those involved.

JWAB;

Easy to have a 'them vs us' view of the world... especially with COvid and pandemic supply chain disruptions... the anti-social hunker down and survival mentality is easily fed with all this volatility and insecurity; rampant.

Many of the 'drones' that do administrative work... feel overwhelmed when the 'new' software screws up and lost grain, besides backlogging payments to farmers.

Grummpy old farmers can eassily cause tears and fears for young secretaries... very easily... many of which were not brought up in communities where a good dressing down was expected for poor results on a farming project. The Woke standards are seldom in our mentality when we have bills to pay and expect to be paid pronto... which is what I try to do if I owe anything to anyone.

Cheers! Life is fun... if we choose to make it fun!!!

P.S. Now how do you really want to be remembered like... a grumpy mean nasty 'grower' or a Farmer who is the most respected well adjusted and trusted member of civilization!!!

It is our choice.

[TOM4CWB]

Thanks JWAB;

"Furthermore, a well run business would be doing the right thing to start with, if no one ever complained things would never get better.
...There’s nothing wrong with standing up for yourself !!
...PS I will be remembered as the latter in that part of your statement. One of almost none who started a successful farm from scratch with hard work, honesty and of course a little luck".

Amazing how the timing of decisions we make is responsible for so very many of the so called 'lucky' decisions make in the course of our: farming, family, and future opportunities.

Every farm generation has their difficult times and better times as the ages roll along! We [our family] started in 1881 in the Edmonton area...our forefathers owned over 30 real estate parcels and houses along Jasper Avenue in Edmonton... going into the 1930's... they lost all of them by the end of the 30's...because they could not pay the property taxes.

How we approach and the decisions we make; working through this market and social volatility... is key to 'timing' which can in turn be the blessing or curse for our business! The collective wisdom of working in co-operation is often as much responsible for the good timing and 'luck' as any other factor.

A Long term family 'vision' usually helps smooth out the humps and hollows of our timing/decisions...

Building from scratch is a very interesting inter generational view of history... many times in history our family had the vision to continue our farm... had we wimped out and lost our inter-generational long term farming vision... the end of our inter-generational family farm would have been swift and complete.

History does repeat itself... over and over... [His-story being the great story of our King Jesus, the engineer/creator of our conscious human lives] Forgiveness, charity, and honest integrity... the guideposts.

Build a better tomorrow... sucking it up and enduring the pain and tough times... is a big key to wisdom leading to a positive family farm vision... and getting to the best time and place to build that better tomorrow!!!

Cheers