New forum

[Zaphod]

Maybe the powers that be could provide a CWB related forum on this web site so that the political/philosophical/human rights arguments can take place there. Then the "commodity marketing" forum could actually be used to discuss prices and marketing strategies.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind the CWB discussion and occasionally there are some marketing implications. I might even join in on slamming the CWB's practices. The problem is that 90% of the discussion doesn't relate to actual marketing and it just discourages people from participating.

My two cents anyway.

[stubblejumper]

Tom could sell his computer

[TOM4CWB]

Zaphod and Stubblejumper;

Being that wheat is about 13.5% protein, and 86.5% politics... not just in Canada... the political side of wheat marketing many times has more to do with where prices go... than the actual quality of the wheat.

CWB PRO's are political, they directly affect the Fixed Price Contract and Daily pricing.

Open market and choice marketing pricing will directly affect CWB pools and pricing; my best guess is.

How do we prepare for this?

Can or will the CWB change rules of marketing in the middle of the crop year?

It appears they are.

FOr instance:

A farmer has two FPC contracts with the CWB: the first is $10/t below the present market price; the second $10/t above. THe big white combine comes and takes out the production so no one gets the grain.

CWB rules say the CWB keeps the positive $10/t and charges $10/t on the negative portion.

Is this fair?

But with influence from someone... can the rules be bent... so it washes out even?

What is fair?

THis is 100% political... yet 100% relevant to wheather or not it is reasonable to sign a CWB contract... especially with grading so political... and this factor alone can reck a marketing plan.

It can easily go from a $.20/bu premium to a $20/t discount with grading changes that come Nov. 1/06 when the new 2006 CGC grading standards are decided... or even the reverse could happen!

I hope it is reasonable to expose these issues... and allow people to think about them.

It can mean the difference between farming... or loosing the farm... because of a bad decision.

[Zaphod]

No argument that the CWB practices are political. Their basis calculations drive me nuts. I'm just trying to separate marketing and pricing ideas from the dual market debate. A farmer's contracting decisions have to be made based on the current framework (however flawed it is). I can't decide on locking in an FPC or whatever based on how I think the market should be set up. I've got to use their setup (as bad as it is) to make some decisions. Complaining about what I'd rather have for a marketing system doesn't tell me whether I should sign a contract or not.

That said, the discussion about how to fix the system is necessary. But it's separate. Too often, I find someone who posts a legitimate marketing question gets it turned into a CWB discussion.

[wd9]

If it was moved, probably all the commodity posts would end up there anyways because most people wouldn't want to go to 2 different ones.

It is all quite educational, thought provoking, and entertaining. Where else can you get all that in one quick link.

Even starting to miss Vaders' posts.