9550 canola

[cowman]

Purecountry: I do operate exactly within the environment you note and yep it has its disadvantages without a doubt...also some big advantages?
Now if you wanted to expand or build a hog barn or feedlot...nope it isn't going to happen! But cow/calf seems okay...at least for now. However land prices are totally restrictive and we are seeing a major loss of cow/calf operations in this area.
Believe me you have to operate differently here. If you spread raw manure...you're going to get a phone call from the local fieldman. If you leave a dead cow by the road...a visit from the SPCA...also when you wean calves! Want to shoot up the gophers? Expect a call from the cops!
The suburbanite expects to ride his horse, quad, dirt bike,snowmobile on your land and watch birds, hike, and picnic where ever they please. Which is okay as generally they are fairly good at closing the gates and picking up their garbage.
The advantages of living here are you are just a few miles from all the amenities that make life enjoyable.
I truly believe that the days of livestock production are coming to an end in my part of the country. It just does not make sense to run cows on land that is worth $3,000/acre. It is exceptional agricultural land(perhaps the best in the province) but it is also where people want to be! When I see Red Deer expanding eastwards into land that has two feet of black top soil I often wonder if we haven't got it all wrong? It would be better if the people built there cities out on the poor land and left the good land to produce food. However that isn't going to happen.
I guess you should enjoy living in a remote area where you can operate how ever you see fit, if that is your desire? Years ago I considered selling out and moving but thankfully I didn't. For all the problems of operating here, I still find it about the best place to possibly live.

[charliep]

My brother commented how seeding date sensitive a lot of the crops were in his area (Calgary). Canola that went in early (early May) is getting good grades. Later stuff (mid May) is struggling with poorer grade (high green count). What is odd is the is almost like a light switch - seeded before almost an exact date equals good and seeded after equals poorer grade.

[PureCountry]

I agree with you on alot of that cowman - for a change. It's a shame that the best land isn't set aside for ag. production, as it should be. I am glad we can still do alot of the things others cannot because of our location; our "remoteness". I couldn't imagine this part of Alberta dotted with acreages. It's ugly enough being dotted with leases and tanks across the river valley.

I know what you mean about moving. We still think about it from time to time b/c land prices are going up here, too. But when you work out the pros and cons of it all, anywhere you go has it's up and downs, like you said.

You can be miserable anywhere, or you can be happy anywhere. Home is where you hang your hat, I guess.

[Ajax]

If one farm unit = one vote that wouldn't be so bad. Often one farm unit may have several permit books, or suffixes, by several farming members, some of which haven't set foot on a farm for a long time (ie sons or daughters that have ties to the farm and want to have the tax and other benifits that a permit book or suffix, may bring).

[poorboy]

I think that most of the big cities are on the best land because years ago when the province was mostly ag oriented that is where the most people lived and they probably had more disposable income than farmers/ranchers from less productive land.

[GrainVac]

Gee, the last time I looked at how the "vision and future" of well-run company was determined, it listened to what "thousands" of stakeholders had to say. We all got to vote basis our interest level. IE one share one vote. The elections should be weighted to represent the actual acres of CWB grains in each book, just like public company ownership. One person one vote only applies to politics and that's the biggest problem in agriculture. Why do you guys want to keep going that route? Because there's been so much good come from it already?
Why should a permit book have any impact on GOV programs? The CWB spends lots of money doing pointless paperwork and accounting for "non-CWB grain" producers

[PureCountry]

Very true, but it's a shame that none of our gov't reps seem to pay attention to the rate of encroachment.

[parsley]

GrainVac

I agree with the general idea of "how many shares you own is how many votes you hold".

Unfortunately, the CWB holds more power than a corporation because it is not only a player/marketer, but it is also a regulator via the CWB Act.

An example would be if Prairie Elected Directors voted to deny the ONtario Wheat Marketing Board export permits. (A not so-dandy way to stop competition from Ontario farmers!)

(They actually did this once but the Feds stepped in and made them hand over the export licenses)

The main function, nationally, of the CWB, is as a license issuer, but if the Feds take this duty away from them, I would be more inclined to support the value of user-votes.

Parsley

[GrainVac]

I wasn't trying to make this an EAST/WEST debate or one about liscensing, by "pointless accounting" I was refering to the huge number of permit book holders that do not market any CWB grains and only do the application "in case" there is a per acre government program using seeded acres from the permit book. Everyone in this industry has been slashing costs, where does empty permit books fit in on top of getting a vote for something that is of no concern to them?

[charliep]

Just to clarify, the suggestion is being made that only people who deliver grain to the CWB should be allowed to vote in elections? Given the impact of CWB regulation/influence on logistics for all export grains and oilseeds, aren't all crop farmers stakeholders in the CWB organization? If the CWB moves to a self financed pooling system (no government guarantees) and participation/delivery may mean some type of farmer equity position in a contingency fund, how will this impact farmers ideas about governace? What would the impact of a situation of a market where the CWB is not compulsory but lives along side an open market - farmers have some form of choice in how they market their export/domestic human food wheat and barley?