Farmer Association

[chas]

Freebird your thinking just like I did 20 years ago. But I have developed a little more insight now, onwhat seems to work and what doesn't. Just when you think you know about farming someong throws a wrench into things. I have tried all market systems that we have and have found that the more you can leave marketing to agencies that are working for you the better life is. The best farms in my neighborhood are the ones that the wealth was past on from generation to generation with good productive management and most will contribute alot of their success to cooperative marketing. Look what has happened with poultry and the dairy industries, without cooperation they were a disaster. Sorry for my try to get along attitude. Chas

[ianben]

Hi Steve
Thanks for the support.I am finding all these negatives a bit much.
I would have thought that people today knew the meaning of impossible. It no longer means NEVER just NOT YET.
Men on the moon, heart transplants.My greatuncle and his associates were the frist to predict the tides, and started a whole new science oceanography.
They knew!!!!!
We now have foot and mouth in England. More misery for those poor pig producers.
I hope grain farmers have more luck. We will need it if the attitude on this site is universal.

Regards Ian

[ianben]

Hi Charliep
I found this site on bigmac prices round the world.
http://www.economist.com/markets/Bigmac/Index.cfm
I was surprised how much they vary.
If McD can maintain different prices round the world why can't we?

All supply management system till now have not involved the individual farmer.
They have tried to control us. We can not be controled.
We must gain individually and as a whole.
By matching supply and demand, Storing surplus OURSELVES to market in times of
shortage should produce this win win situation and maintain stable prices.

Regards Ian

[chaffmeister]

ianben et al:
What's all this talk about others being negative? I assume you are talking about the anti-CWB camp. If so, I have another take on things.

I see these people - TOM4CWB, parsley, freebird and others - not as negative, but as visionary. They are not content to sit idle when things are not working. They see a better way and would like to see some changes (improvements).

These people, by stepping up to the plate and saying what they see that needs to be corrected are the ones that are going to make a difference in the long haul. They don't have the freedom to change it on their own - they know it's all about public opinion. They are expressing theirs so others may see things clearly.

And what's probably the most frustrating is that, even though they are in the majority, things don't improve. (Surveys have shown that only 1/3 of those farmers polled want to keep things the way they are. How's that for democracy.)

Those that see a "farm crisis" and yet still want to hang on to the same old institutions that have yet to prove their worth - well, I must say I just shake my head, because I don't understand that approach.

When you see something that doesn't appear to be working, are you supposed to just accept it to avoid being negative? Was Abe Lincoln negative because he saw that slavery needed to be abolished? No. Lincoln was a visionary who took a personal and political risk - and changed the world (for the better).

cm

[rockpile]

To Steve et al,
A very interesting and provocative concept, but as you can see, Steve, many are vehemently opposed to any idea of working 'together'. This is almost unique to farmers, and I can tell you with certainty, because I am involved in other endeavors, particularily in energy wholesale, that when the chips are down, fierce competitors get together in a hurry to protect their interests. Somehow, many of us have bought into the mantra that choice and individual freedom are the top protocol items. That is where Ianben and Tom4 come from. What they don't realize is that they are taking away more than they would be giving. For example, on my farm, I now have the choice of growing non-board - ie. -canola, rye, barley, oats blah, blah blah, and the choice of growing red spring wheat and durum, with the CWB doing the marketing instead. They wish to impose their freedom and remove the single desk option, thereby, removing one of my choices, with nothing in return. If they were truly sincere, they would be virulous in their demand that there be both an open market and Board option for selling all farms commodities. That is the difference between a business and idealogical choice. When one is producing a homogenous product to be melded together with other of the same, it is silly to pretend that one can extract more in pricing than another - all one can do is hope someone else gets less for the same product and you get more. That hardly sounds progressive, but appears to be more predatory. So, is there value in a farmer association - of course, but how can it succeed when so many attack the ones we've already developed, and champion a system that reduces everything to the lowest common denominator?
Rockpile

[chas]

Rockpile well said. You wrote down what I've been trying to spell out for weeks to these people of little vision. I like your attitude you silver tongue devil you. Now there is more common sense surfacing here all the time. Chas

[Steve]

Hi!! I am back.





Continued farmer association.



6 We can utilize the already established grain handling and marketing institutions to sell our grain and oil seeds at the price set by the farmer association. I will clarify this procedure.

7 The well establish CWB would market our wheat and barley for export at our set price and there is no need for pooling or pricing by the board.

8 The CWB remains a none profit organization and will operate on a check off cost per tonne to the farmer. I am not sure that will generate the revenue to operate but it’s a start. The CWB will have the same function power for export as before but excluding the pricing and there is no need for pooling, because the association would set the price for all grades. Adopting this system all the exporting countries would compete in quantity, quality and service only. This area needs more work because the transportation cost to get the grain to the seaport could vary with the distance in the respective countries. The input cost may be greater in some countries and could offset the transportation cost in others, that is something to work on. We may have to revise some of this if we see that it not working efficiently.

9 The farmers would sell their grain and oil seeds to the already established grain elevator companies at the set price or higher but not lower than the one established by the association. The grain companies can add their bases to the price and resell on the futures commodity market as they are doing now. The CWB can market domestically but will have to go by the same rules as the open market. The CWB will police all the exports into the USA because of the free trade agreement and will issue free export permit if the exporter doesn’t violate the agreement. We have to be very careful with this one because we don’t want a big lineup of US trucks coming across the boarder and dumping grain into our system.

10 The individual farmers have the options to sell to any institution they choose but keeping in mind not to sell below the set price. This may not work a 100% because I am sure some farmers will sell at a lower price to get their banker off the doorstep, because they can’t wait for the right buyer to pay the set price. So we will have to convince the banker, that once we get establish in our new marketing system the farmers will be able to pay their bills on time.

11 Now with this marketing system we may not to be able to sell all our grain every year, but I don’t think that is such a bad thing. Grain in the bin is the same as money in the bank and we surely don’t spend our last dollar. Ian I think that was your comment someplace along the line if my memory serves me right. We may have to adjust our production to make our new system work.

12 We will not take our products off the market to get higher prices but will be for sale at our price same as a grocery store.

13 We will not block off roads or drive our combines to Ottawa and be a nuisance on the roads.

14 Farmers, we produce all the food and people always need to eat that makes our business the best in the world.

15 If we can harness this farmer association we would be the biggest organization in the world and bring some stability to the grain market. This would be good for everybody in the food chain. The processors would order a steady supply of grain knowing the price will not change within the year. The participating countries will have to compete with quantity, quality and service.



My typing finger is getting stressed out so I will stop and give it a rest, but will continue at a later date to clarify marketing details

[ianben]

Hi cm
By negative I mean that reform of the CWB is the ONLY way will solve your your problems!!!!
Where is your answer to the wheat as fuel question etc,
Something we could do TODAY.
Regards Ian.

[freebird]

Steve,

Grain in the bin may be the same as money in the bank to you, but it's not to me, unless you can convince my banker! One question: If I decided not to be a part of your association, and didn't follow it's rules, would I be thrown in jail???

fb

[parsley]

Steve, we could go on for months refining your proposal, and I it seems that it is well thought out. However, I need to know one thing up front.......are you proposing a mandatory system? Shouldn't be a difficult question for such a carefully developed plan. Yes or no.
Parsley