CWB Gagged

[silverback]

It's about time someone told them to grow up.

[AdamSmith]

The more I see Minister Strahl in action, the more I like him. You know if I didn't know any better I would say I'm seeing a strategy of death (to the cwb) by a thousnd cuts unfold here.

Cruel yes, but oh so deserving.

And by the way the cwb and the leftie farm groups have no one else to blame but themselves. They chose the policy of "my way or the highway", so they can learn to lump it now just like open market supporters did for 12 years.

Since 1993 the Liberal CWB did nothing but trash the likes of Steven Harper, the Conservatives, the WCWGA, the WBGA, the Grain Growers of Canada, CFIB, NCC, Farmers for Justice anyone and everyone who held another view other than that of the radical left cwb.

Oh don't you all just love the taste of JUST DESSERTS.

It's almost as pleasing to the senses as listening to the wailing and the knashing of teeth sounds I can hear coming from way out there in Leftieland.

[agstar77]

You are right AS , it is death by a thousand cuts, by minister and gov't that does not have the political balls to eliminate the CWB outright. You may be on either side of the issue but their methods are far from democratic. It may be that their political support in the west is not as solid as they believe.

[stubblejumper]

what will people like Farmers for just me do if this doesn't work

[Incognito]

Perhaps if the CWB and AG Minister would have listened to the Western Grain Marketing Panel, no one would be in this mess.

10 years after a recommendation to remove barley, what do you have - SSDD...progress? You had an op to see if the dual marketing worked - and chose staus quo.

Instead it was decided incamera with the CWB, the NFU, the pools and every other status quo org that counted, to cherrypick the report.

Don't remember any of the right side boys parading in front the offices in Regina whining they were not included.

Goodale was a wreck. Consensus when it suited him and his ADSCAM buddies.Even his lawyer buddy Tom Malloy, chair of the WGMP,still regrets the work that was done on the report and not instituted.

Doing nothing is still taking a position. Don't think for a minute this is a 75-25 or 65-35 issue. It is a 50/50 issue.

One side got nothing in 13 years.

Don't blame this government - blame the last one.

They wouldnt deal with it and this one will. Its the right sides turn. Its not the lefts turn.

Suck it up like men instead of whining and sniveling.

Talk to the boys who believed in their cause enough to spend time in jail.

Re vote: I think there should be a vote. But the vote includes Ontario and Quebec. If the vote is only for western farmers.... change the name to the Western Canadian Wheat Board. The CWB uses Canada's name to promote itself abroad. It is NOT the CANADIAN Wheat Board. A name change would indicate to the rest of the world that equality in grain marketing does not exist in Canada.

How are you doing Director? Was that a burp or are you about to throw up?

[TOM4CWB]

Incognito;

It is about time the CWB is called on the carpet for breaking the law. The "single desk" is not a legal tool of the CWB Act. The price inside and outside Canada is by law the same. Further there is no benefit from selling outside the CWB... as Ontario and Quebec growers know... the CWB can arbitage any market DOWN in an instant... therefore the export license applicant is not getting any benefit more than any other Canadian.

If the CWB would have cash priced realisitcally 5 years ago... there would be no fight now.

THis has been a pure waste of everyone's money. Taxpayers pay because we are into CAISP payments... and growers pay even more.

The CWB "good will" with grain buyers around the globe should be enough to make a good go of marketing growers grain who want to use the CWB.

If I am wrong... then the CWB is worse than I thought... and should be dismantled... if this hole deal has been a farce.

FOr once the CWB could earn there way... not be given a pass every time!

We should have a vote...

With our grain trucks and acres like every other Canadian industry operates!

[wd9]

Stubblejumper, can you be a little more specific on what you are asking?

[craig]

Something that might be lost in this discussion as the battle between the CWB and government increases is a replacement for government guarentees. The supposed contingency fund proposed will only make the divide larger if the government refuses to put money in. Current CWB prices for wheat are poor ( in relation to world prices) at present and would only get worse if they were drawing away funds to replace government support.

[charliep]

I would also note no one ignores the operations side needs of the CWB in the current spat.

Initial payments need to be reviewed and increased if nothing else to bring the class/grade/proteint spreads into line with current market realities. This has an impact on farmers who are using the fixed price contracts.

The contingency fund for producer pricing options needs to be increased effective the 2005/06 crop from the current $50 mln. It is unacceptable for the risk factor/profits from producer pricing options be redeposited into the overall pooling system.

[cottonpicken]

They are in one dilly of a pickle to sell our grain this year-I see the dec mini wheat at $547 BOO YAA HAHAHAHA!!!

[ado089]

I would really like someone to explain to me why the rest of the world has been trying to have the CWB dismantled for years now if it is such a raw deal for prairie producers. The level of ignorance pertaining to selling cereal crops in to the open market is staggering. Currently the CWB controls 20% of the world market of wheat, which is amazing considering Canada is such a small producer of wheat. Tell me how is controlling a fifth of a market a bad situation for the people selling it. Secondly what makes you think that the Cargils, JRI, Dreyfouss...will be willing to pay you more for your wheat, that strategy has worked wonders...I really loved $5/bu canola last year, sing me up for more. Finally for all of you in the southern part of the country who think you will just be able to load up your trucks and ship wheat to the local elevator just across the line give your head a shake. The minute an american farmer complains that he can't ship his grain because the system is plugged with Canadian wheat tarrifs will be thrown up faster than you can say "free market". Is the CWB perfect? No of course not, but it is definetly not a bad system for protecting prairie farmers from large multi-national corporations, lets not forget why it was RE-IMPLEMENTED in the first place. If you want change get involved so you can have a say in how, but if you get a say so should the other side.

[wedino]

ado089, >>.I really loved $5/bu canola last year, sing me up for more.< $5.00/bu., I'll buy all the canola you got, sell it to me & you won't have to deal with those nasty grain companies.

[ado089]

I was the big nasty grain company last year...It's amazing how much money you can make when farmers think they are grain marketers. I'm not saying farmers are stupid, but for the most part their specialty is growing crops, not selling them.

[charliep]

Just as an interesting note, Canada is 15 % of world wheat trade, not 20 % (that was the case 10 to 20 years ago). Exports have been declining in both Canada and the US. Crop problems in Ukraine/FSU and Australia should give up opportunity to increase to 20 % again but will depend on how the CWB markets.

I will make one other comment that Canadian wheat exports are likely to continue to decline with open market crops replacing western Canadian wheat acres and an emerging ethanol industry taking up the slack. No one will care as some of the non traditional exporters (Ukraine and Russia will not have problems every year) taking up the slack. I think 5 years from now, Canada will make up less than 10 % of world exports. Some may disagree.

I ask the above from the issue of competitiveness. It is not a subsidy issue as both the US and Europe are in the same boat as Canada (decling market share). Your eyes have to be focused on the new exporters.

Canola is in the opposite zone with expanding exports and domestic (albeit at ugly prices over some periods but wheat was no screaming hell either).

I raise this issues because as we have this discussion, the industry needs to be developing a long term vision of where they are going.

[AdamSmith]

ado089, my aern't you quite the victim!

Your little rant reminds me why I stay out of coffee shops. I call our local one the gloomfest.

The one thing that I look so forward to once the market opens up is the fact that I will no longer have to be forced to associate myself with the gloom and doomers like yourself.

American farmers learned to hate the cwb because the cwb would ship grain right into US border elevators, A couple of years back the cwb via Pioneer Grain put over 100 cars of Durum wheat into the Bottineau ND elevator in one whack. That did piss off the local boys, it caused their local basis to go through the roof. So Mr. Was Big Nasty, deal with facts not fear and fiction.

We have a free market in Canola, Oats, Rye, Flax, Sunflowers and the border is a non issue because prices arbitage grain freely flows both way without any hassles or ill feelings. The same will occur with wheat.

Oh by the way ado089 are you that naive to think that the cwb could have prevented the price of canola to collapse, do you really believe that through some magical wave of a wand the cwb could have taken all the oilseed carryover stocks in the world and make them just dissapear and then boom high prices.

If I recall one of the biggest reasons why canola stayed in the tank for so long is because selling Canola was the only serious way a farmer could generate cash flow because a 20% call on wheat with a $1.50 initial really doesn't pay too many bills. So, farmers just kept on selling because that was their only choice.

Oh and by the way, unless you didn't learn this from your former big nasty bosses, the grain markets are CYCLICAL, they have been that way for well over 100 years. Prices go up and they go down for dozens of different reason all of which no one entity ( see cwb) can stop from happening. So you can bitch that Canola was $5.00 but you fail to realize that if Canola was under the cwb the value would still have been $5.00 but you would have been delivering it for a $2.75 inital and the cwb would have tried to sell as little as possible, so probably only a 60% acceptance level and the carry out would have remained burdensom keeping prices low for that much longer.

Sure $5.00 Canola sucked, but the alternative would have been disasterous.