Business Structure for the CWB

[TOM4CWB]

Vader;

Exactly how much did those AWB assets cost farmers over how many years, 40?

Inflation,

Facilities built by whom?

Gov. funding;

I understand that more than grain growers alone have invested in the AWB; what would your plan be from this prospective?

Yet the AWB allows containers and limited exports bulk grain sales outside the "single desk" already.

Domestically the AWB does not have a "single desk".

I would gladly have gone the AWB route in 1998... and was pushing full force... as you well know.

2006, so much time and good will has been lost in the past 8 years...

[Vader]

The AWB had a check-off that raised 800 million from farmers over about ten years. When they privatised they did allow non-farm investment and I heard recently from an Australian farmer that their share value increased substantially when AWB went private.

Since then through sound business investments the AWB has increased its asset value to over two billion dollars.

[onearm]

I didn't say the CWB taxed farmers. Your vision of the future, where the farmers support everything and take all the profits is not tenable and would need societal support. This is done through some sort of wealth distribution method commonly known as a tax.

[Vader]

The current CWB model is one where all of the profits are returned to the farmers. The CWB has no retained earnings and no assets other than its office in Winnipeg and some hopper cars.

My suggestion for the future simply expands on this model to include subsidiary companies with farmer equity where the profits would go as dividends to the farmer shareholders.

[TOM4CWB]

Vader;

As long as these shares and investments are voluntary great.

If the CWB maintains a "single desk" while reinvesting "profits"... it would be taxes for some: many would submit; simply confiscation of our grain.

Farmers voting to steal property from other farmers.

I sure hope this is not where you were headed!

[TOM4CWB]

Vader;

Here is but a small part of a DTN report on the AWB:

"CANBERRA (Dow Jones) -- AWB Ltd. is set to lose its exclusive control of Australian wheat exports following bribery allegations raised at a government inquiry into Iraqi sales.

Australian ministers are now debating how best to dismantle the export powers held by the AWB, a listed company that was for many years known as the Australian Wheat Board and has been on the radar of U.S. trade negotiators for some time.


..."Cole is due to hand down his report at the end of March, with the inquiry providing regular front page news and daily admissions from AWB executives wiping A$600 million off the company's market value.

AWB shares ended Wednesday at A$4.89, off 3.2% and well below the A$6.26 opening price when the inquiry began.

-Pressure Applied In Washington

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer Wednesday confirmed Washington lawmakers were pressured to drop a proposed U.S. Senate inquiry into bribery allegations against AWB.

"The United States is our principal competitor in the international wheat trade, so we were deeply concerned that the Wheat Board would be very unfairly treated by what is in effect a commercial competitor," Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

According to the ABC website, U.S. Republican Senator Norm Coleman said he is now deeply troubled by the Australian government's representations to him two years ago in the wake of the revelations from the Cole inquiry. Coleman said he is concerned that Australian government officials appeared to know about the payments and is seeking a meeting with the new Australian Ambassador, Dennis Richardson."

Vader... this is not funny.

$600 million lost... at a time farmers can not afford to lose.

Do you think we trust the CWB any more than the AWB?

[Vader]

Investments would be completely voluntary.

The situation in Australia is very bad and some will associate the CWB with the AWB albeit for no good reason. The CWB is working hard to establish and maintain trust with its stakeholders.

[rbrunel]

Well in some cases multi nationals do in some ways own you.... lets see...u grow there see...sign a tua...use there product for that seed...oh yeah...now u are selling below the cost of production because u have crop inputs to pay at these multinationals...An article I read the other day said Cargill will top off your health insurance if u agree to sell them a certain amount of wht, corn or soy...hmmmmmmmmmm who owns who now??

[TOM4CWB]

rbrunel;

I am a little confused;

If I work with Cargill, Bunge, or Monsanto in a production chain: I did not agree to sell my soul to them as well.

Some how I get the impression that you think that I did sell my soul;

Why?

The CWB most times ends up sending our grain through one of these folks at some point; so what in fact is the real difference?

[AdamSmith]

rbrunel

Ok, you do believe the multinationals own you. If that's what you want to believe, who am I to tell you what to believe?

What I can do it tell you what I believe and why.

Now I don’t know if you feel the same way about all large multinational corporations or just those in the agriculture business. But my guess is that you probably hate Ford and GM and Shell and Coca-Cola and Microsoft as well. But I will address your belief that you are owned by Monsanto (your example).

Question #1 Do you currently grow only RR Canola? If the answer is No, well I guess you proved my point already. If Yes then ask yourself why.

I do grow RR Canola. Not because I was directed to by Monsanto but because over the course of the last 7 years my own growing experience is that it is the type of Canola that performs best on my farm. It almost always out-yields anything else and my land is cleaner for the next years crop. Koshia is a major problem on my farm and the gyfosphate products are the absolute best at controlling this weed.

Now what is so wrong with a company big or small developing a product or a service and offering it for sale to the public.

The way I see it, it is a business transaction only. I don’t consider it a sell out. They get what they want and I get what I want. There is no legislation saying I have no choice, because I have plenty of choices.

Do you consider it a sell-out to Ford when you choose to buy an F-150? Or a sell out to Goodyear when you buy their tires?

I’m sorry that I don’t feel as threatened by a big multinational company as some of you out there do. I don’t think I’m naïve either. I consider myself pragmatic and a realist and quite frankly this conspiratorial obsession with the “Multinationals” by the CWB and it’s supporters scare me much more than anything any multinational has ever done to me or can do to me in the future.