ritter

[sask]

COMPETITION IS GOOD
“We believe that competition is the key to building
the grain transportation system that our nation and
the farmers of Western Canada require and deserve.
We believe that just as we must compete in the
domestic and international markets with grain
grown in the U.S., in Australia, in the Black Sea
region and in Argentina, the transportation service
providers who move our grain must not be
insulated from competition. They must be expected
to go head-to-head with meaningful competitors
who will force them to continuously strive for the
lowest cost structure and best service in an open
and fair marketplace.”

- Canadian Wheat Board Chairman Ken Ritter's
speech to the House of Commons' Standing
Committee on Transport Hearings on Bill C26 on
October 28, 2003.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander,
Ken!

[agstar77]

Depends whether you are a buyer or a seller!!

[wilagro]

Thank goodness that we have the CWB to work on our behalf in meeting the world-wide competition. I don't have the expertise and I am sure that most of my neighbours do not have this ability either.

[parsley]

wilagrow,

You don't think your neighbors have ability? That must disappoint you.

Hmm.

They must be a particularly stupid lot where you live, because my neighbors all seem to sell their canola and flax and bulls and sheep and purebred cattle and alpacca,.. business..commerce... and get this...lots of young farmers, too.

So who has ability according to CWB exporta-mensa-guidelines? Who's so good at exporting?

smalldeadanimals.com,
poses the question, "And how does a mining company become an accredited Canadian Wheat Board exporter?", so maybe you know something I don't, and you are saying a mining company is a better exporter than a farmer.

Parsley

PS And here I thought our neighbors were so capable, but I'm learning from you, wilagrow.

[sask]

wilagro - I don't understand how it is different to
market wheat or malt barley than it is to market all the
other things that Parsley listed - explain it.

[cottonpicken]

Interesting thing about cattle on the ctv news at noon.All the packers are buying up the cattle herds.

And guess what cargill is buying up land and getting farmers to custom farm.

[wedino]

cottenpicken, ""And guess what cargill is buying up land and getting farmers to custom farm.""

Enlighten me,like, where is this happening? my farm's for sale.

[wedino]

Parsley, Sask. Good luck getting Wilagro to answer. He and Mustardman blow alot of smoke, but when you ask them a question point blank. No response.

[wilagro]

Snappy: You guys don't believe or accept answers to your questions anyway. I quit smokin' a long time ago...no longer blow.

Most farmers that I know around here don't want to be marketers to the world and wouldn't know where to start. Just because you guys have computers...you figure it is so simple to access price quotes and suddenly you are marketers/exporters/financial gurus and all round know-it-alls.

Cry and groan about the CWB all you want but they have come by their expertise honestly and try to do the best job that they can. It's a bib, big world out their. If YOU have time to market your grain to the world then who in h*** is farming your land?...robots?

[cropduster]

Willie,sorry you`re so scared to sell your/my wheat the same way you sell your non boards.Are you succumbing to the terror of the world?Speaking of robots doing the farming......Ritters hired man Veryl Richeloff didn`t get his Christmas bonus($1000).Should we take up a collection for him so that Ken can sell your wheat??

[cropduster]

Thats....Veryl Richeloff....Gen.Del. Major Sask Sorry don`t know the postal code.He`s just a regular joe tryin` to make a buck too!Just like the rest of us he has STRESS too.......just too bad his employer is so shallow as to not think farther than himself!

[sask]

wilagro - do you grow anything other than wheat that
is sold outside of Canada? Do you make money from
those crops? WHy is wheat or exported barley any
different from the other crops you are selling outside
of Canada? Having a computer or not having one has
nothing to do with it - many people who don't have a
computer sell mustard, pulses, canary seed, canola
etc. for export outside of Canada and they make
money from these crops - because they don't stay in
business from growing wheat!

[northfarmer]

Cargill buying farmland? I think not......packers buying up herds....they may be loading up on culls in advance of some future opening of the border....great, some new demand

more liberal conspiracy theory hooey, blame the multinationals and the Americans...give me a break

[northfarmer]

Sask, I totally agree with you, I asked the CWB supporters those same questions. Why does it work with Pulses, and Oilseeds?? Never get a straight answer.

As for you Wilagro, I appreciate your honesty. The truth comes out exactly what I've been preaching. The CWB supporters are to lazy to market their own grain.

[chaffmeister]

When is this drivel going to stop?

wilagro – you say “you guys don’t believe or accept answers to your questions anyway”.

JUST ONCE I’d like to see an answer to my questions. I’ve asked open questions to CWB supporters and I’ve asked direct questions to Agstar77, Vader or you, wilagro. The closest thing to an answer I’ve gotten is Vader saying he would make some enquiries and get back to me. Well Vader it’s been months – literally months – and you have failed to get back to me. There’s a very good reason I call you Evader – you’ve earned the label. And wilagro – the only thing I’ve seen from you is “Why do we have to answer your questions at all?” and “I’m not going to bother answering your questions. Time for my nap.” So don’t even begin to bore me with this crap about not believing or accepting your answers.

“NO LONGER BLOW.” !?! Are you kidding me?! That’s all you do on Agriville, wilagro. That’s all you do.

More drivel: I really get incensed when I see the same fear-mongering crap over and over again. Wilagro says “Thank goodness that we have the CWB to work on our behalf in meeting the world-wide competition. I don't have the expertise and I am sure that most of my neighbours do not have this ability either.” And “Most farmers that I know around here don't want to be marketers to the world and wouldn't know where to start.” And “If YOU have time to market your grain to the world then who in h*** is farming your land?...robots?”

What a bunch of BS. No one expects farmers to be out making international contacts and selling direct. You don’t do it in other commodities; why would you expect to in wheat or barley. So let’s put an end to the myths:
- A “choice” market does NOT mean farmers are expected to sell their wheat and barley directly to end-users.
- A “choice” market does NOT mean the farmers along the US border are going to reap benefits at the expense of those further away. (In the continental barley market in 1993, most of the barley that was sold into the US was shipped from northern Alberta into California.)
- Selling or marketing by farmers in a choice market for wheat or barley would be no different than selling or marketing in the open markets for canola, flax, peas, lentils, cattle, etc.
- If you really don’t think you have the expertise, then in a “choice” market, you can get the CWB to do the marketing for you.

What a shame that you don’t think that you could do any better. The CWB has failed you and is currently failing you in the barley market and it has nothing to do with their “expertise” – it has everything to do with the CWB system.

Since you’re not going to answer any questions, which are an integral part of an engaged discussion – I suspect the only reason you come to Agriville is to toss jibes at those that don’t agree with you and hopefully sway some of the weaker souls your way. You certainly are not interested in the advancement of anyone’s knowledge and understanding of the issues around the CWB, least of all your own.

Many of us on Agriville are here to expand our knowledge of the issues around commodity marketing which the CWB is major component right now. If you’re not going to contribute, stop wasting everyone’s time. Come with reason, logic and an open and inquiring mind - and a true an honest effort to contribute.