U.S. Wheat Associates

[sawfly]

a lot of you are saying. that the board is under cutting cargils, ADMs sales.

and in your new world , we would all get higher prices .
what happens the board is gone as a competitor.
why would cargil and adm need to return these higher prices to the farmers pocket.

the handful of major grain co.s could just divide up market share and pad their margins. you would never see any increased returns.

just like them chem companys do now. where their cost of production has nothing to do with what they charge for the product.
without fear of competition
there is no incentive for them to compete price wise.

with a handful of big players controling the north amercian grain market . how are you gonna know if your getting riped off or not?

[TOM4CWB]

Sawfly,

Quite elementary my dear Watson!

If we run a tight ship using our own cooperative... knock back costs and streamline the system... competition will bid down the costs of the grain handling services.

How many individual growers export a boat load of Canola to the Japanese market? The same will apply to wheat.

If growers in western Canada have one ounce of common sense... we will support a cooperative and put the profits multi-nationals thrive on...

JUST like we do with Federated Cooperatives or UFA on farm input costs for our grain operations! THese folks save our family on many of these items... most farm supply retailers claim we purchase them for less than the whole profit margin! Sure it takes some work to achieve this... isn't that to be expected? I just met with a large multi chem supplier... and was offered a discount that will pay half a good mans wages for a year!

FNA is proof it can be done.

[kamichel]

Sawfly, An open market would make grain companies bid for our grain. Check out the other thread on peas. Should be self expanatory.

[wmoebis]

Tom You said "we will support a cooperative and put the profits multi-nationals thrive on"

What cooperative are you refering to. Will we all have to join a cooperative?

[wilagro]

OUR grain Co-operatives are DEAD. Kaput...gone...sold out to corps like ADM to get financing because of piss poor management in the past.

Maybe Tom4CWB (who isn't for CWB), will revive the old Wheat Pools. Actually , it would be a damned smart move.

[cottonpicken]

Slightly unrelated

Weyhauser just gobbled up domtar
thanks to us lumber tariffs
what good buddies we have down south

[wmoebis]

Maybe so!
Reinvent the wheel.

In all the CWB discussions this is the first time I have herd of this co-op movement. Puts a new spin on things.

Is this a marketing co-op, handling co-op or how does everyone see it running?

[farmers_son]

I am very glad to see our industry stand up for our producers on this issue. It is not a matter of scared to label, no one in Canada has any problem with voluntary labeling.

I think Haney hit the nail on the head “"[Mandatory] Country of Origin Labeling in retail is a form of interruptive access," said Ted Haney, president of the Canadian Beef Export Federation, or CBEF. "It's not designed for health, it's not designed for food safety ... it is designed solely to force identification of non-U.S. products to U.S. consumers." Actually he is being a little too kind. It is designed to restrict access of non-US cattle and beef to the US market and that includes Canada and Mexico, NAFTA partners with the United States.

I wholeheartedly agree “Such rules, if adopted, would have serious ramifications on the amount of beef and cattle Canada exports to the U.S., according to industry officials.”

I noted the comment “Rice said another key problem with COOL is that it will represent an additional financial burden on retailers and wholesalers in the U.S. and Canada. "Retailers in both countries, from what we know, have not found that COOL will provide any benefit, or that consumers in the U.S. will even embrace the idea once there is an increased cost involved," Rice said. Haney agreed, noting that the CBEF has also heard mixed messages coming from the different sectors in the U.S., with most not supportive of the program. "These U.S. outlets do not view this program as a demand-enhancing tool, but rather one that will increase cost," Haney said. "This means that the cost will eventually be transferred back down to U.S. cattle producers." Right on!

But enough with facts and logical reasoning. We frankly do not have to try and reason with those people south of the border any more. Our American friends and lawmakers will need to give long and serious thought to how committed they are to free trade between our two countries. Canada is a new world power in energy with Alberta being home to the largest reserves of oil in the world. I will let the Americans do the math.

From an Alberta cattle producers view I feel like paraphrasing Ralph Klein and saying those American bastards can freeze in the dark. I see a bumper sticker in that somewhere. Now I personally see the advantages of trade between our two countries but the Americans need to see it too. From a Canadian point of view, MCOOL is not trade friendly. Enough said.

[stubblejumper]

Tom FNA is not a co-operative in any way they are a chem and fertilizer company.

[wedino]

Wil, ""because of piss poor management in the past.""

I have to ask you, who is management responsible to? I say they are responsible to & report to the board of directors. The board of directors are the reason ""OUR grain Co-operatives are DEAD.""(your wording) I've said before & I'll say it again, The farmer directors broke the SWP, farmers weren't capable of running it.