cwb extravagance

[wedino]

From

[silverback]

Would I support the CWB if I got to fly first class around the world?? Maybe, I can be bought pretty cheap these days (My FIP cheque will not let me retire)

[wd9]

wedino, how does the strategy differ between the WCWGA and the CWB for the trade talks in Hong Kong?

[silverback]

What happened to the original post? Too much info?

[wd9]

Apparently the CWB guys were in first class going to Hong Kong, the Wheat Growers were in the back of the plane. First time I've seen Agriville censored post-posting.

[silverback]

Maybe it's the election gag law kicking in automatically on sensitive subjects.

[wedino]

I wonder why my post was censored? It was a copy of an email I got from WCWGA just stating that cwb directors Ken Ritter & Larry Hill along with 2 CWB staffers flew over to Hong Kong on the same flight as WCWGA members, Randy Hoback & Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel. The 4 cwb people rode in the 1st class section on the airplane. Wheat Growers were in the back. IMHO this is another example of blatant misappropriation of final payment funds.

I'm not sure what they do when they get there other than observe the proceedings. Perhaps they get a chance to lobby the Canadian negotiators. The WCWGA in support of the grain industry want to ensure that subsidies of EU & US are ended along with trade distorting tariffs. They don't want to give up the grain industry to support the supply managed sectors of Canadian ag. The cwb wants the same outcome (subsidies ended), but want to keep Canada's supply managed sectors in place including the cwb. A tough sell IMHO.

[Vader]

The chance of a WTO deal that will deliver meaningful cuts in US subsidies has not the chance of a snowball in hell. The entire US Ag industry counts on the cash flow from subsidies. The beneificiaries are not farmers but the people who supply crop inputs like Monsanto and Bayer, and those who purchase the grain like Cargill and ADM.

Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota tells North Dakota farmers that the EU spends five times the amount per acre as the US in ag subsidies. He also says that Ag spending contributes only 1% to the annual budget deficit but is being asked to trim 4% from spending. There would be very strong criticism of any WTO deal that would cut into actual US Ag expenditures.

What is Canada willing to give up in return for getting nothing at the WTO?????

There are those who would like you to believe that there is a deal on the table, but that just isn't so. Not only are the Americans not going to give up their subsidies but the Europeans are not going to grant market access. They would also like you to believe that a bad deal is better than no deal at all. Of course their definition of a bad deal is one where the CWB would lose its single desk powers.

I say that no deal is definitely better than a bad deal and that the CWB single desk should not be on the table in the first place as it has been proven by the WTO courts themselves to be commercial and non trade distorting. Only those policies that are trade distorting should be part of the negotiation, such as food aid, credit packages, subsidies and tariffs.

Farmers banding together to sell their grain is simply not a trade distorting issue.

[wmoebis]

So, CWB or no CWB why isn't the Gov't of Canada willing to give subsidies to assist the primary producer in Canada the same as other countries?
We can afford it, if the gov't miss spending and out right corruption was stopped. We can bail out railroads and bombardier when they get in trouble. We give court protection to companies so that producers can't get paid for our products but the banks and lending institutes get their money.
How long before the USA send in their army to save this country from government corruption?

[TOM4CWB]

Vader;

"Farmers banding together to sell their grain is simply not a trade distorting issue."

I could not agree more!

PLEASE allow us to "band together" of our own free will... on our own terms... and then our trade will truly not be "trade distorting" as it will be based upon the ethical principals the CWB itself claims as the minimum moral standard... common law principals.

[Vader]

Tom, those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.

Farmers could not successfully "band together" back in the 1920's on a voluntary basis. They kept getting screwed over by the grain companies. That was the whole reason for the formation of the prairie pools in the first place.

Not a whole lot different today.

Did you ask Len Penner if he could see in his crystal ball a substantial increase in grain prices in the future? I did. His answer was "No". He said that we farmers should get better at niche marketing and value adding and farming more economically. Sounds a lot like keep doing what you are doing (and you will get where you are going).

Perhaps a better plan would be to get together with all the other farmers and work out a way to manage the supply of grain on a global basis. I know that sounds impossible. I think that high energy prices will help us get there. In fact I think that seeded acres and fertilizer use are going to go way down this coming year and that will reduce the grain supply already. Too bad it is going to happen by accident.

[Vader]

I heard someone say that all the generals in the United States believed in supply management. General Motors, General Electric and General Mills.

[TOM4CWB]

Vader;

Thanks for proving my point...

VADER... perhaps the difference should be paid out of Chairman Ritter's and Secretary Hill's Retainer?

IMHO this would be fair if you ask me!

Strange how the HISTORY books have all been rewritten in your library...

Amazing what POWER, WEALTH, and Arrogance does.

Perfect example?

The POOLS in 1930!

Knew better than everyone else!

CWB is following the same foot steps.

SICK!

GUESS why we got the CWB in 1935 Vader.

UGG used Risk Management... the pools did not.

What is different today? Talk about history repeating itself!

[silverback]

Vader,

No comments about your directors?
Funny. Oh well, back to the same old thing.

[Vader]

Why we got the CWB in 1935 was because farmers figured out that they needed it and had been lobbying long and hard.