CWB

[sawfly]

chaffmiester
relying on monsanto press realeases for histroy is to say the least gulable.
if you remember , Focus on inputs was the time cdn. patents for glyphosate expired. a whole different version of history exists. you just have to look past the propaganda.

[chaffmeister]

Sawfly (for what it’s worth, this is fun)

I really think we’re saying the same thing.

Let’s see.....you said:
“just ask monsanto what happens when a seller joins your market, that isn’t under your control. Going to 2 sellers cut the price of glyphosate in half. “

And I said:
“Monsanto had a patent on glyphosate. It ran its course. Monsanto could not stop others from producing and selling it or similar products. The only reason that Monsanto could charge as much as it did was because IT HAD A PATENT.”

Monsanto was able to charge pretty much whatever the market could bear when it held the patent (as I have said) because it had control (your word). Sometime after the patent expired others joined in (as you said). Monsanto could no longer control the price and the price dropped (as you said).

The Monsanto Annual Report for 2000 (NOT a press release) confirmed the price impact on losing the patent. However, whatever Monsanto did to bolster the price or position Roundup through this process is meaningless to our discussion. There are only two important points here – and you and I both made them: (1) Monsanto extracted high prices for glyphosate while it could (because of patent protection) and (2) when others joined in (because they could) the price dropped.

The point you seem to miss is that the only way Monsanto could extract the premium in the first place is the patent. And, to get back to our discussion - the CWB doesn’t have one.

Now let’s see --- you believe the CWB propaganda and you call me gullible. Hmmmm…..As First Officer Spock would say, “Fascinating.”

[Vader]

A patent is a sustainable competitive advantage, while you have it.

Does the CWB have a sustainable competitive advantage?

[Incognito]

Glad to see you are alive, Vader and your boys are okay, too.

Being a steer does not come with many rewards...as I remember the ad campaign
suggesting.

I'm still in the show me camp..a là Jerry Maguire ...show me the money.

It is a critical juncture for the CWB and farmers...How bout playing the bull for awhile and use some of that market power on the farm income crisis...

[sawfly]

vader glad your back, you can hold down the fort for a while.

[nejar]

I don't grow grain just cattle, but the gereral feeling is that we like the CWB because the grain is always cheap, we think.

That aside, I think that there is a lot energy wasted on trying to split hairs on how to market a commodity(HRS Wheat) that we grow, that most of the world doesn't really need. There is simply an over supply of wheat.

The other thing I don't understand is that our distance to port is probably farther than any other country in the world and yet we continue to try and freight raw materials 1000mi and remain competative. Along the way the farmer has to pay for every service that is supplied by the multinational companies from seed to selling and handling and in my mind is totally under the control of corporate America who usually shows a 10% ROI.

The beef industry is a glaring example of what happens when 1 of 2 multinationals become your only marketing options. All through the BSE issues they continued to profit on the backs of the producers.

I think that the biggest problem today is the huge disconnect between the producer and consumer.

I'm not going to waste my time arguing CWB politics and details. All I know is that the rest of my ag career will be dedicated to marketing what I grow for a premium to people with money who are willing to pay.


By doing this I know that I will create some jobs and some optimism in the local communities where I live.

To all of you who are arguing the pros an cons of the CWB, just remember the big picture. Your farms are bigger, you grow more, but your communities are smaller and dying. As you export raw products you also export your community. As business people it is in your best interest to invest locally and some how market finished product. Only small enteprenuers are capable of dong this.

Please put some of this energy into changing the way you do business not arguing over how something doesn't work.