$1000 dollar bonuses for all CWB Staff

[BennyHin]

Maybe all Agricultural employees should work for free or maybe they should volunteer, so that the primary producer will have a greater return.
Snappy and Cowman, phone up SWP, Agricore, Pioneer, Cargill, LD, P H, SWT, MTL, ATL, Canada Malt, etc... and ask them how many qualified employees they lost in the last 12 months to Fort McMurry. People dont work for free. Also remember we farmers arent salaried employees, we have choosen to work for ourselves. If you want paid vacations, and if you want paycheques every two weeks (taxes already removed) get a job.

[BennyHin]

I give up trying to stress my point. It sure is easy to see though why there are so many farms in trouble. The CWB is not a buisiness it's a farmer owned corporation that we own. THEY'RE SPENDING OUR MONEY!!!!!!

[silverback]

Answer the question.

Has the CWB, or the former Liberal gov't , ever done anything that you guys were not in favor of?

What would it take?

This is not a performance bonus no matter how much you try and spin it to be that way!

[BennyHin]

Snappy:

Every company spends your money, banks, machine shops, crop inputs, accountants, that’s how they make money. For example why do you think you are paying $6.25/lbs for (Invigor) canola seed and yet it is out of stock? Isn’t it a nice and convenient reason to increase price and at the same time create free publicity? For instance, compare this to how Sony marketed the Play Station 3 console... look at all the hype, and free advertising they got out of this. People were shown standing in line all night long, fighting with each other trying to purchase a commodity that was purposely restricted in availability. CNN, FOXNEWS, ABC, CBS, ABC, CTV, GLOBAL, CBC all carried this as a top news story.

Let's look at things from a different perspective. Here are some scenarios:

Scenario 1.
Image if the CWB was in the seed business, and that they owned the Invigor Hybrids (canola seed) and ran out of seed, just as what happened this year. You would be posting on this site the following: "There was 9.5 MMT tonnes of canola produced this year, yet those dummies at the CWB cant even produce enough seed to supply the demand for the upcoming year". "Why are they charging $6.25/lbs"? "This seed used to only cost $2.50 five years ago". "I sure wish there was “marketing choice” so that competitors such as Pioneer Hybrid, Hoerst, Monsanto, Decalb, PGS, Proven Seeds, Zeneca, etc would make this business more competitive. [By the way, most of this competition has since been bought up and is now owned by Monsanto]

FACT: Seed supply has run out this year, and it is more expensive than ever. Also, they are spending lots of farmers money advertising these sold out products on TV, radio, and in newspapers. Can you image if the CWB advertised on TV?

Scenario 2.
Image if the CWB owned the railways and increased your freight rates every year 3-5%, and at the same time ripped up a couple hundred miles of track, and also, cut back on 50 and 100 car incentive loading rebates to the grain companies? At the same time the “CWB railway” decreased car spotting performance even after all the grain companies gutted there old 5 car spot wooden-facilities and built 15 million dollar, 20 thousand tonne, 50-112 railcar concrete monoliths on the basis this would increase the railways performance efficiency?

FACT: Rail rates increase every year, CN Rail performance is worst than ever, (see:http://www.apas.ca/pdfs/Wade_Sobkowich_presentation.pdf ). Sub-lines continue to be ripped up, your trucking rates are going up, and highways are falling apart. If the CWB currently owned the railways you would be saying; “I wish the CWB would allow competition, so that that our freight rates would drop, and there will be more elevators built as the railways compete for grain handling business, and ultimately increasing competition to buy my grain”. “And when there is more elevators built, my trucking costs will decrease and my municipality /county won’t have to pay so much for road maintenance”.

Scenario 3.
Imagine if the CWB owned a Nitrogen fertilizer plant, hedged its position in the natural gas futures at very cheap prices early in the fall thereby locking in very affordable NH3 and 46-0-0 prices for farmers or fall and spring purchases. But later in the winter the natural gas futures sourced, and the CWB sold this futures position at ridiculously profitable levels, pocketing the profits and sending out bonuses to it's staff and CEO?
FACT: a number of years ago, most of you remember when the fertilizer manufactures did just this.
If the CWB did this, you would be posting: “This just proves the CWB isn’t accountable to farmers, and they don’t work for me, the farmer”. “They only care about themselves, I wish there was competition in the fertilizer markers so that there would be companies who would sell fertilizer to farmers at a not-for-profit level. Why should they make any money? I’m the only one who is supposed to make money”.

As a final note, before Agriville goes off air, did you realize US grain farmers recieved direct government subsidies of US $25.6 Billion last year? Apparently the US model is not the one we need to emulate, that is unless you want to continue to go cap-in-hand to the urban taxpayers.

We have a unique marketing system in Canada. We should not look at the US and assume their system is the best in the world and that ours is the worst. The US may often have higher spot prices because a large percentage of Us production is sold into the US domestic market, the most lucrative market in the world (next to Japan).
The very minute the CWB is killed, the artificial barrier (the US border) will disappear, unleashing an extra 20 million tones of wheat into the Northern States. The US wheat basis will then be pressured downward, arbitraging to a new “Western North American wheat basis level”. US farmers would now receive the same price for their wheat as Western Canadian farmers, and basis would only differ due to freight costs to market. Since we have cheaper rail freight to Vancouver than ND, MT, SD, and OR have to Portland, we will have higher wheat prices than the US farmers. However, how many of you out there think US farmers will accept this? Those toupee, wig-wearing congressmen (such as Byron Dorgan, Democrat- ND ) would feel the pressure to close up the border to artificially increase the US basis levels.

And after the US shuts the border, the CN and CP Rail, will be have already succeeded in removing the rail freight cap, moving to a full bid system on rail cars. Once the CWB is gone, the railway freight cap will also go (as the Harper government and their consultants, the WCWA , are pursing a completely deregulated market environment to increase efficiency).

Live well and prosper. Merry Christmas.

[TOM4CWB]

BennyHin;

That was quite a diverson from the topic on CWB staff... I don't agree with the majority of the fear mongering socialist theory that projects the world ending for wheat growers if the CWB has to pry our wheat out of our bins.

Self dicipline in marketing is very important. Chaffmeister has it right... the CWB gets off way to easy on the total effect of its economic impact on grain growers... as non-boards have to cash flow most growers expences.

Japan, US, AU, and Canada us the MGE, CBOT & KC grain exchanges... the majority of the worlds traded wheat transparently trades through these facilities.


THat this all worked before 1993 without a hitch... THe CWB didn't stop movement of wheat south by growers of their own produce... Commissioner Lorne Hien clearly said there was nothing the CWB could do about it. THe sky didn't fall until Goodale stopped the movement of fusarium wheat because it was bringing more than high grade CWB products... which was too embarassing to leave alone for the Liberals.

Crusher...

We use an Airmiles... Club Z, of Visa Gold reward system to have an innovation reward picked out by our team members... up to the $500 allowable by CCRA. Cash plus points gives flexibility to make this a nice option to provide the incentive personal choose... it is not a straight cash bonus; but is tax deductable and doesn't put their wages into a higher tax bracket.

[rbrunel]

Just a note
Someone earlier was complaining about the check off for wheat and barley research. These funds go the the Western Grains Research foundation. These dollars are used to fund research in all areas of wheat and barley and I would think that alot of these dollars are used to fund research of varieties that will not end up in the CWB pipeline of marketable "products" ( to steal a term used by parsley) ie feed wheat and feed barley. I say this because of the increased interest and demand for ethanol etc. I beleive that these dollars are refundable, but i am not certain. Also, is there anything wrong with publicaly funding something that we all grow. There is a some debate whether the Western Grains Reseach Foundation can somehow get check offs for all wheat and barley sold domestically in Canada. The final payement is at this time the only place you will find this check off.

[cowman]

Just one quick question? Does Adrian Measener get this bonus too? If not could he take his case to the Labour board? He is probably fairly stressed out with the rest of the crew?

[parsley]

rbrunel,

''''wheat/barley and their products''''

The term products is in the NATIONAL Licensing part of the Act.

Barley is not a "product"
It is a grain.

Feed barley is not a "product"
It is a grain.

Yet the CWB have Designated Area managers marketing "product".

Some CWB employees sell farmers' grain, Fine.

BUT, I want to know what the "product" is, that these employees are being paid to sell.

I see none. I see no product pooled either.

What product/products does the CWB sell, Vader?

No more dumb-ass Wheat Board-type answers either.

Parsley

[rbrunel]

Parsley, phone 1-800-275-4292 and aske them, or email farmers@cwb.ca or do you hate the board that much you can't talk to them directly?

maybe that will answer you "products" question.

[parsley]

rbrunel,

They don't answer because they don't market products.

But they hire staff to market 'products'.

Money out of your pooling accounts to pay that staff.

Unauthorized-by-the-Act $$$$ out of the pooling accounts.

Parsley

[parsley]

rbrunel,

If Agricore hired a bowtie marketer, would you ask questions?

Parsley

[AdamSmith]

The CWB's bogus bonus

National Post

Published: Saturday, December 23, 2006

There are some conservatives who grouse every time politicians vote themselves a pay raise. We aren't in that camp. As we see it, government won't attract good talent if the salary and benefits provided aren't comparable to those of, say, a senior manager in the private sector.

It is on this ground, for instance, that we are not distressed about the 25% pay raise voted in this week for Ontario MPPs. It is hardly a scandal that members of the province's legislature should earn a base salary of $110,000 a year; or that the premier himself should make $198,620, a sum comparable to that earned by many lawyers on Toronto's Bay Street still in their 20s. Smart people won't run for office if they have to sell their house to pay the bills.

But we take a very different view of this week's announcement that the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) will be handing out $1,000 Christmas bonuses to its 500 employees.

These sums aren't being paid to reward high productivity, or improve staff retention. Rather, they've been doled out in recognition of the "stress" and "strain" endured during the board's recent feud with the government.

At best, this is a waste of money premised on the idea that grown-up government workers have the emotional disposition of five-year-olds who burst into tears when Mommy and Daddy argue with each other. At worst, it is a propaganda move aimed at bribing the board's rank-and-file into supporting the organization's leadership.

The most galling aspect is that this $500,000 is money that rightfully belongs to Western Canadian wheat and barley farmers. Since they are forced to sell their produce to the CWB -- at pain of criminal prosecution -- they are the ones who fund the CWB's operations, including its wasteful Christmas bonus scheme. The gesture adds insult to injury for farmers who have for decades been forced to endure a monopsony that has somehow been permitted to survive since its creation during the Great Depression.

Stephen Harper's Conservatives would like to end this Soviet-style anachronism. The CWB, naturally, is fighting any such move. And earlier this week, the conflict claimed a victim when the agency's president, Adrian Measner, was fired by Chuck Strahl, the Agriculture Minister. Thus the "stress" and "strain" that are the purported basis for the $1,000 handouts.

The pretext is telling. In the private sector, management shake-ups, feuds, coups, hostile takeovers and various other top-down shenanigans are common -- and rare are the workers who get "bonuses" for enduring them. Only a statist mindset would embrace the view that change is somehow an aberration.

It is, in short, just one more exhibit proving how outdated the Canadian Wheat Board has become.

© National Post 2006