dual system debate 101

[agstar77]

There is no need to decide, with so many farmers near retirement, a buyout package for those who wish to quit should do quite nicely. The land could be taken out of production and put in a CRP like reserve. Government should be given the choice : Do you want to support a subsidized agriculture or not?

[Vader]

CRP the way it is designed in Montana is not working. I spoke to a farmer whose neighbor put his entire farm into CRP. The neighbor moved to Texas and bout a bowling alley. Now the money flows to Texas and not to Montana. The CRP land itself has zero economic activity associated with it. This is devastating rural Montana.

Rather than taking land out of production arbirtrarily we need to have new uses for the land that provide revenues for the owner without contributing to the oversupply of grain for the export market. Growing your own fertilizer and fuel fits that bill.

Historically when farmers leave the business somebody else takes over. The new operator usually increses production through the use of higher inputs. That is not helping. Let's figure out how to make farming pay. Let's not only keep the existing operators on the land but entice the sons and daughters of those operators to come back to the farm.

[TOM4CWB]

Vader;

Went through the dinner line with LEN.

SOmething like 70% of Cargills sales are made in the top 70% of the market.

If Cargill managers don't perform... they are G O N E.

I have seen data on financials from banks that in currency hedges... are in the 90% 90% area.

Ag sales in general are 2/3rds of sales made in the bottom 1/3rd of the market.

Now when the CWB does even worse... like in 2002-03... they use every excuse in the book to blame everyone else... and everything else... for the obvious failure of planning and the following negative results.

How do I fire these bad CWB managers... when we have a "single desk" monopoly...

And the CWB directors don't have a clue what a reasonable outcome should have been in the first place?

[Vader]

Tom, are you saying that 30% of Cargill's sales are in the bottom 30% of the market? Or are you saying that 100% of cargills sales are in 100% of the market? Sounds very logical to me. Doesn't prove much, but is very logical.

[agstar77]

Cargill is probably not very interested in whether they make money on sales as long as they do not lose money. In a number of cases they are selling to subsidiaries and anyway they make on their handling costs. And if they do make money it won't be passed along to growers.

[TOM4CWB]

Agstar;

Visit a Cargill elevator, ask about the their program to help make sales at profitable levels... and listen to what they have to say.

However we are about 6 months too late on market timing... for profitable grain sales at this point!

Check it out for next year... and see what they have to say!