American Pulse Crops Entering Canada

[bobn]

American Pulse Crops are being processed in Saskatchewan,/Alberta/Manitoba and then shipped to Vancouver creating lower prices for Canadian farmers and
less delivery opportunities. The US loan payment program is covering any losses for their farmers making the dumping an incentive. Also there are no US pulse processors they can haul to.

The existing regulations are not being enforced as they should be, as this would be all that would be needed to keep this flow to a minimum.
You must act to get Ag Canada and other Government Departments doing their job! A thriving industry could be wiped out very soon.

For detailed information on this issue listen to today's PMG conference call on the following website:

http://www.agcoach.ca/Password%20Files/login.asp

User Name: rose
Password: thorn

Click on Pulse Crops to listen to conference

[grainboy]

Is this a joke? I have said it before, the amount of pulse growing acres in US is minimal to compared Canada. Ask youself this ... Do I want to be the one who opens this can of worms & makes it difficult in future to ship product into the US?

I know many a producer in the southern part of Sask/AB/Man whose has been paid a premium in past years for lentils shipped down to the US.

[jensend]

I have said it before, the amount of pulse growing acres in US is minimal to compared Canada

for the time being but since pulses made it into the last farm bill the acres will increase and their floor price becomes our ceiling price. if the americans don't get challenged on their ever expanding subsidies they'll bury you in lentils and peas.

[grainboy]

One questions... is it mostly peas going into elavator system we are supposed to be worried about or is there lots of lentils being brought up?

[JD_GREEN]

Grainboy please just take a look across the border field upon field of lentils and peas now being grown. A US friend of mine declares there will be many more acres of these two crops grown in the upcoming years. WHY?? High nitrogen costs, higher returns as compared to their traditional crops, AND GUARANTEED FLOOR PRICE... I spoke with a group of producers about this scenario and when it would happen, most laughed said it wouldn't. THEY WERE WRONG AND SO ARE YOU THE CAN OF WORMS IS NOT ONLY OPEN, THEY ARE CRAWLING ALL OVER US!!!!!!!!!!!!

[grainboy]

I don't claim to know everything but do we not mostly see lentils in N Montana & NW North Dakota? The last trip I took down to the Dakota's there was beans everywhere I looked. Every buyer I talked to in the US was more worried about beans taking every acre they could.

Why don't we just let the market take care of itself?

Just think back a couple years the dollar was a US dollar was a lot higher and it was very nice selling into the US.

[JD4ME]

Grain boy
Asking for the market to take care of itself? When other sellers in that same marketplace have a fixed floor price and in a year of high production when the floor price is above what can be expected? What would you do? You'd just move the product at whatever price for cash flow take your LDP and walk away thats what will happen this year. This isn't a market based scenario. It's a subsidy driven reality.

[grainboy]

I hate to say the words but YOUR RIGHT on subsidy driven market

but

my main point is in an average year with an average dollar we are shipping a lot more down than is coming up, do we want mess that up after just one year more comeing up?

[charliep]

I will leave discussion on countervail to others. Perhaps this discussion does highlight the need to grow markets - in particular feed peas.

From the US, current Canadian edible prices minus transportation would be pretty cheap at the farm gate (realizing the loan deficiency payments top this up). I find it curious why more peas wouldn't flow into US feed markets (read hogs).

Could be wrong but I suspect Canada will have trouble over time developing human food markets for a 3 mln tonne crop. Where there are opportunities is in the feed markets (domestic, export and perhaps over time, the US). That brings up more market development, leveling the trade field with other protein/energy feed crops and more effective contracting/pricing tools.

Not likely anyone on the hog nutrition/feed mill side reading this but does anyone have any feedback on how well feed peas are fitting in low cost hog rations.

[TOM4CWB]

Charlie;

Right now there are threats to take out feed peas at $3.10/bu and put back soymeal... the real reason we do not have the US market developed for soymeal.


When we take the transport cost of soymeal and back it off to US locations... it is near impossible to make feed peas competitive any where near a soy crushing plant.

THe PNW of the US Could be an option but for the exact same feelings by US industry; especially the ASA and also the Dry Pea and Lentil Associations in the PNW.

We are really going to screw everything up good if we keep this up!

US growers could be justified in making exactly the same complaints about western CDN CAIS, the AFSC price endorsment in PI etc.

What goes around comes around... but that doesn't mean it is right.

DO UNTO OTHERS as you would have DONE UNTO YOURSELF... in this application on trade:

DOn't countervail someone elses products unless you would like you own exports stopped!

I know, THe US started this.... but they didn't!

The CWB is undercutting HRS milling wheat into US northern tier US states...

Knocking out US local growers, backed by:

bullet proof legislation (the CWB Act) that sucks money out of grain farmers pockets on both sides of the 49th!

THis is so stupid!

We are now looking to destroy the best trading relationship on the planet... because of

PRIDE.

No wonder agriculture/forestry is in trouble.

[JD4ME]

Congrats Tom you've now managed to link the CWB to Pulse dumping by the US, I hear the board was behind the 911 attacks and they know where Hoffa's body is buried too. Sheesh........

[TOM4CWB]

JD4ME;

As a US grain farmer if there is a linkage between the CWB and this issue... I bet 80% or more would agree there is; in the Northern US grain belt.

So what?

Our best neighbour and we kick them in the teeth whenever we can?

How smart is this?

Western Canada exports how much; 80% of what we grow?

How will we survive without goodwill?

[TOM4CWB]

Should be "ASK" not As

[JD4ME]

Tom
How will we survive? Consider the thought that the Canadian dollar is likely not done moving upwards over .90 is a possibility and some have even said par is not out of the question. When that happens Pulses will be just the leading edge, other commodities are set to follow.
I don't disagree about reasoned action but we have trade agreements and I believe in fair and even trade I would expect the US to react instantly if the subsidy was on the other foot and the flow was southwards look what they constantly try with wheat. The US doesn't have "nice" in their trade vocabulary and I'm surprised such an avowed "free trader" such as yourself would.
Hope the sun comes out and stays out down there and as well as here and we can all get back to this dang harvest so we can go back to solving all these problems where we do it best . On the seat of the combine.
Have a good remainder of harvest.

[TOM4CWB]

JD4ME;

All the best with harvest; and happy thanksgiving!

We have so much more than a farmer in Africa, South America, Mexico, China, FSU, India, even the Ausie farmer is envious of our Safety Net programs here in Canada!


How will we survive?

We will find a way, with the help of God; and faith that a future depends upon loving our neighbour as ourselves: It doesn't matter where; If our neighbour is north or south of the 49th or which side of our oceans!

We in western Canada live in the richest, most prosperous land on the face of this planet. We have been blessed by God for so long... I am not surprised that we have taken these blessings for granted!

1. Take a donation down to the local food bank next week. See the faces of those who need food and are humble enough to ask.

2. Phone a US farmer and see what they think about all of what has happened... the USITC CWB ruling and our CDN pulse growers fuming over a few US pulses comming into our value added plants... that by the way we have overcapacity in because of... you guessed it...

3. Send a letter by the end of October thanking our Ag ministers provincial and federal for trying to make our Ag industry better... along with 3 HELPFULL hints on how!

Happy Thanksgiving!