CWB (revamped CWB)

[bgmb]

I've been to Quebec, farming is different there. Farms generally are very small and highly subsidized much like they are western Europe.
I bought excellent wines and cheeses directly from farmers while in Quebec. I commend those farmers who are producing an excellent product and marketing it directly to the consumer. I suspect they are contributing to the economy unlike most of the farms in the region.

I %100 agree with you guys when you say working together has benefits to producers. I think the key is to keep it small scale. Once these groups get to large (SWP, FNA, CWB) they become to political and to concerned with self preservation and they no longer work for the farmer.

[northfarmer]

good point BPMG, while i strongly support choice in marketing, i do support working with other farmers and am a member of several coops....and in the realm of a choice market I will look at a vountary pool and voluntary strategic partnerships with other like minded producers to better access markets and customers.....kind of like the rest of the business world....

large beuracracies that are not performance driven or compensated become woefully inefficent and unresponsive, i agree that their primary concern becomes their own self preservation.....way too political and and not market driven...

in any event, whether board stays or not, lets say we put a new salary model and bonus structure together that pays them on financial performance, their ability to get as much cash to the farmers as fast as possible, and total net return to farmers, benchmarked and arbritraged to global and domestic and continental markets