Ethanol

[Vader]

You have struck the nail on the head. You don't have to pool your grain with mine.

Especially if your grain is crap.

We should be contracting for the best grain and not pooling. We need a better system to reliably provide our top quality grain to our top paying customers rather than letting the elevator companies blend it away for their own profit.

Then you can take your crap/crop to a feed lot where it belongs. Dual marketing the way it should be.

[Incognito]

Vader: You choose to selectively answer questions.

You chose to not answer this one.

AWB’s commodity and currency risk management has also generated good results for Pool participants.“ Growers would be well aware of the large swings in the Australian dollar exchange rate over the life of this Pool, and AWB’s currency hedging program has done a good job in managing that risk and generating significant out-performance for participants,” Ms Scales said.

Comments, Vader?

Choose to answer this one.

What percentage of export wheat sales is sold by CWB/CWB employees and what % is sold by the acredited exporters?

[parsley]

Good Morning,

Sawfly, A lot of folks resented the big grain companies that once head-officed and prospered in Winnipeg. They hated their wealth, too. When that wealth picked up and moved right out of Winnipeg, many Jeaulous Eyes were content once again, even though Winnipeg and the West suffered immensely. That money moved East, out of our servicing-communities. Out of the West. Flour Mills moved East. Jobs moved. Rich families moved. Are you pleased with the result?

Now, jealousy focuses on the Multinationals. Sawfly, while you resent wealth in your midst, I welcome it.

I wish we had every multinational headquartered in North America. In Winnipeg, Canada. The CWB pretends to be headquartered in Winnipeg, but Ottawa is where all CWB decisions are 'sent forth from'.

The CWB sources all the grain for the Multinationals and provides a great service for them. The cost of sourcing grain is downloaded on the farmer. In other countries, where the wheat trade is not state run, the Multi's actually have to pay for sourcing grain.

I cannot imagine why you are so pleased that the CWB is a mouthpiece for Federal Government intentions. Mind you, the St. Lawrence Seaway has made billions on Western grain. CSL ships have made Billions on Western grain. And Eastern millers don't even have to compete for buying Western grain. All of them make millions whilst WESTERN farmers remain hand-to-mouth. And Western farmers like you and Vader beg for more of the same.

Naturally, sawfly, the hacks who ek out their income from a benevolent Minister, (especially the kind who promise to deliver pooled money into Liberal fundraisers), will fight tooth and nail to kee the status quo. Their yearly income is at stake.

Only WESTERN FARMERS stand to benefit from marketing his grain into a market where he can "sell" or "pass" in order to realize good profits. The CWB now robs the profit.

Watch these same hacks spouting off about running an ethanol business the same way they tried to run the potato business in Saskatchewan, (or the gun registry in Ottawa). Hoping Ministerial dinners, trips, and cash will rub off on them.

Those who have proven they can't make a living themselves often become political Pickpockets,launched by a Bay Street public-relations department in Gucci suits, and paid for by the taxpayer.

sawfly, stand up and protect what you grow, or someone else will be sure to enjoy the profits. Harsh words from an old codger, but well-meant.

Parsley

[charliep]

Vader

Just picking up on your point on top quality wheat. Could this include the hard red/white spring varieties/durum only? This would allow the mid quality classes and feed wheat to float on their own with a daily cash price.

Also looking for your thoughts on the daily pricing contract.

The more I look at the program, the more nervous I get about the difference in timing between sign up and actual pricing. When you start comparing posted CWRS protein premiums/discounts to PRO spreads (old and new crop), there is significant risk to the farmer who signs. Likewise on the alternative wheats (PRO based on international/assigned spreads during the year in the pooling process, a daily pricing contract tied to Kansas City Board of Trade/a basis and finally a daily price based off an average of US elevators). Things are getting pretty complicated.

[Vader]

Incognito,

I expected to see you post here much earlier and then when you do you are not defending ADM. Are you not feeling well?

If I don't have anything good to say then I don't say anything.

Ms Scales sounds like a very good media relations person. She says good stuff. SHOW ME THE MONEY


Many have asked this question. It is like when sharks smell blood in the water.
"What percentage of export wheat sales is sold by CWB/CWB employees and what % is sold by the acredited exporters? "

The percentage of grain sold by accredited exporters is very small. It only happens on those rare occasions when a customer is considered a bad credit risk and an accredited exporter wants to do the business. One major domestic grain company made a sale a couple of years back and the fincancing went bad and they lost a lot of money. The CWB markets directly to all of our customers. The CWB does market development and has intimate knowledge of its customers. They have been doing this for a LONG LONG time. This is what one would expect of a marketing organization like the CWB.

[Vader]

Charlie, I think that in the absence of a driveway test for DNA we will be forced to move to a declaration/contract system for milling wheat and abandon the KVD system. Potentially all milling wheats going to IP systems such as the warburton contract or navigator durum.

On the DPC, I am nervous about the same issues you raise. If I were to enter into a DPC it would be a small lot, say 20 tonnes. Only time will tell whether this system will fly or not. Transparency is a problem. Can the CWB announce exactly which elevators are being canvassed for the average pricing and maintain the integrity of the program?

[Incognito]

no need to defend ADM.

you showed your ignorance long before i entered this thread...and you have again by your posts above this one.

[silverback]

Those are my choices hey?

Either the mother company takes my good grain for the good of the collective, or I take it to a feedlot.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are too kind. I love this country.

[Incognito]

While the majority of sales are direct, where the CWB negotiates directly with the buyer, there are also sales that are made using a CWB Accredited Exporter. Accredited Exporters (AE's) are national and multinational companies authorized to purchase grain from the CWB for resale to customers and other exporters. Many AE's are tied into extensive sales networks and markets that compliment the CWB's sales efforts. With branch offices scattered around the globe, these companies can make direct contact with customers in markets the CWB staff would have to travel to, thereby helping to reduce unnecessary expense. AE's also facilitate sales through freight sharing and acceptance of financial risk. In some cases, holds on ship can be shared between Board and non-Board commodities. In addition, some buyers may present financial risks not acceptable to the CWB. AE's provide a valuable service by assuming this financial risk.
http://www.cwb.ca/db/buying/sales_process/accredit.nsf/accexppage?OpenForm

According to CWB officials, accredited exporters handle 20 to 25 percent of export sales. In addition, accredited exporters are used on 100 percent of the sales to the United States.

http://www.gao.gov/archive/1996/ns96094.pdf

Direct comparisons of export prices were limited due non-responsiveness and due to the unavailability of prices. Some countries only bought from either Canada or the U.S. so prices were available from only one of the exporters. Others received exports directly through the CWB where no price data was supplied. Direct comparisons were made for the Venezuelan market (a market served by accredited exporters).
(Section 301 Analysis of Effects of CWB on U.S. HRS/HAD)
http://www.farmfoundation.org/flags/wilson.pdf

Auditor General's report:
"...[We have noted] significant deficiencies in governance, strategic planning, performance measurement and reporting, and the management of information technology..." "...deficiencies in performance measurement were identified in the marketing areas of sales plans, sales negotiations, performance of Accredited Exporters, and market development..."

Currently, CWB-accredited exporters have a significant role in marketing CWB grains. These exporters would probably take up market development activities for open market wheat and barley.
http://www.choicematters.gov.ab.ca/files/pdf/Test_open_proposal.pdf

Customs staff at the ports of Pembina, North Dakota, and Duluth, Minnesota, reviewed recent entries of wheat made under several large contracts between the CWB-accredited exporters and buyers in the United States. By comparing the entered values to information contained on invoices and contracts, the staff determined that for all the entries they reviewed, the entered value was based on the prices used in the transaction between the CWB's accredited exporter and the purchaser in the United States.

http://www.usembassycanada.gov/content/textonly.asp?section=can_usa&document=nafta_wheat_ appendix&subsection1=trade&subsection2=nafta

The CWB does not deal directly with many buyers of barley. Instead, it appoints members of the private trade as accredited exporters to negotiate sales. For example, sales of malting barley to the U.S. and feed barley sales to Saudi Arabia are handled this way. In fact, most of the world barley trade is conducted by private grain companies.

http://aic.ucdavis.edu/oa/stecwb.pdf

"At the current time, we are not in any discussion with Iraq," CWB spokeswoman Louise Waldman said. "We are in a severe drought situation. Our projections for our crop are that it will be decreased by one-third, which will make just meeting our existing (export) sales difficult." She added, "There are licensed wheat exporters in Canada accredited by the CWB, and I have no way of knowing if any of them are in talks with Iraq." http://wardsauto.com/ar/agriculture_canada_wheat_board/

"We have checked with our accredited exporters to see if the shipload of Canadian milling wheat had been sourced in Western Canada....it was not," Rheal Cenerini, media relations officer with the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) said. "All the wheat that has originated in Western Canada has so far been well received by our Ukrainian customers." http://www.hpj.com/dtnnewstable.cfm?type=story&sid=10334

[parsley]

Vader,

You state:

We should be contracting for the best grain.."

How do you define "best grain"?
Is it the CWB's place to set the bar for 'best', or should the buyer determine what is of most value to him?

Inportant basics, Vader.

My experience has been is that my highest priced grain would probably be classed as feed by the CWB. But buyers are willing to pay. And pay well for grain the CWB doen't even know they want.

You state:

"We need a better system to reliably provide our top quality grain to our top paying customers "

The CWB's so-called TOP paying customers aren't even on the radar screen for some of the top-priced wheat and barley actually being marketed.

How can the CWB pay top prices when they don't even know what the market really pays premiums for, Vader?

Parsley