CWB and the C.D. Howe Study

[TOM4CWB]

Dear Charlie,

I see the C.D. Howe Institute still clearly does not get all the facts straight!

http://www.cdhowe.org/index.cfm

In "A Bushel Half Full:
Reforming the Canadian Wheat Board
By Sylvain Charlebois and Richard Pedde" the study only goes half way!

The DPC performed in a manner that lost $32/t... plus $10... freight advantage... FPC are another $35/t below... bingo we are short $75/t...on wheat just like I have been saying all along!

How can anyone in their wildest dreams believe the CWB gets us a premium?

[furrowtickler]

Oh, just can't wait for those final payments! My guess is that for the current crop year there will be no final payments at all.

[parsley]

Quite the reply from White. After you read todays' commentary by Weber, you will need to buy a bucksaw, buy a load of wood and go at it for two full days, just so you don't head out to 423 Main like a wounded moose looking for a scrap.<a href=”http://www.parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/”target=”blank”> Click Here to Visit Parsley’s Notebook Blog to Read More. </a>

[TOM4CWB]

Dear Charlie,

Expect it to be hard to get on Agriville for some time now...

This about says what needs to be said about CWB Performance:

"At this very moment, there are reports coming from European, Central and South American and Asian markets of CWB offers of discounts between US$10 and $30 per MT below US values - with one Asian customer reporting a recent CWB price indication which was US$ 50 below comparable US values at the time."

Canadian Wheat Board PPO FPC and Flexpro options... stage another level down from pool prices... to keep pool customers happy.

WE ARE A $$$BILLION or more short a year... because of foolish trading of futures... that increase our risk... instead of reducing it.

It is foolish to allow this to continue... these guys in top management at the CWB ALL deserve to pay for this crime against the CWB and western farmers. 10 years in jail... would not be long enough.

[parsley]

Why is it I don't have any prob getting on AV?

[TOM4CWB]

Parsley,

You MUST be smart! : ) GRIN!

[silverback]

Parsley,

Please tell me what I can do to my computer so that I can read your notebook.

It seems the combination of the background and font color makes it unreadable.

Thanks.

[parsley]

Silverback, I am so sorry. Wedino said the same thing. I got a glitch of some kind when sent an email post straight from my computer to the blog entry.

I posted in all black today straight onto the website. Does it help?
I'll put a few on AV for you that you might enjoy. lol

You're sure you're not into the boubon? lol

Pars.

[parsley]

Will CWB District #4 Candidate Tap Out Come Election Day?

This morning was a five o’clock adventure clicking on CWB District # 4’s Candidate Bill Woods. He seems exciting. His main reason for wanting the single desk is money, he’s straightforward about it, it's also a non-win argument, but I particularly enjoyed when he says he “is prepared to go to the table to fight”, after reading he teaches wrestling, because visions of Fedor came to mind, or Anderson Silva, or picture this, ..with Woods yelling in French at his coach St.Pierre(! ) for direction, determined not to tap out as he struggles fiercely on top of the Board table, caught in a full headlock by Henry Voss, knowing submission is imminent if he holds one voting hand up. Okay, you know I like UFC.

But Woods should have prepared a little better for this election, because he should know by now that as an instrument of Government, as the CWB is, who’s own Act governs the Directors, requires having directors sitting at the table who represents the Government itself, protecting the Government’s chequebook, the “Government-guaranteed” interests. Remember them? Do you recall how the farmer delegates themselves ran Sask Wheat Pool into the ground?

The most glaring lacking in Woods’ understanding of the CWB Directors’ role is that the Board is not solely about regional marketing, although that’s his natural farmer’s view, but it is also about the CWB as the sole export and interprovincial licenser of all wheat and barley and their products . Wheat plywood. Pearled barley. Flour. So why would Woods expect a bunch of farmer hand-picked appointees be given sole responsibility for national licensing? Does Woods also advocate that the National Gun Registry be handed over to a region, or how about Elections Canada handed over to British Columbian fisherman? Woods does not seem to understand the dual function the CWB serves, or else he would not recommend the director changes. He didn't recommend a legislative change to make the CWB solely a regional marketer, either.


I also notice Woods talks about the CWB’s mandate as being to maximize returns to producers. Good backroom policy, indeed, but that’s not what the Act says. If Woods was really serious about money he would have made his personal election platform commitment to change the CWB’s current legislation which requires the Board selling our grain for what the CWB thinks is a “reasonable price”, to his advocating getting the legislation changed to getting the maximum price. Looks like Woods tapped out and took a nap instead of following the money. Parsley<a href=”http://www.parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/”target=”blank”> Click Here to Visit Parsley’s Notebook Blog to Read More. </a>

[parsley]

Quoting Weber Commodities Newsletter: Butts the CWB Rebuttal
"Another day - Another CWB report - Another CWB Rebuttal…

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) has been earning poor financial returns for farmers over the last three years, according to a study released by the C.D. Howe Institute. In "A Bushel Half Full: Reforming the Canadian Wheat Board," Sylvain Charlebois and Richard Pedde draw this conclusion based on a benchmarking of CWB price results with US results for comparable grains. They recommend more transparency in reporting financial returns to farmers and greater accountability on the part of CWB management to the farmer-elected board of directors.

A Bushel Half Full - Excerpts:

Early in the life of the DPC program, the CWB price was lower than Montana prices by, on average, $9.23 per tonne; but later the differential widened dramatically. The price differential expanded to over $12 per tonne in the first half of the 2006/07 crop year and then to an average of almost $40 per tonne at a time when the CWB had told producers that it expected only a $5/tonne price differential relative to US prices (Canadian Wheat Board 2007b). In addition to obtaining lower prices for Canadian producers, the DPC incurred hedging losses. In 2005/06, the hedging losses were $12.58/tonne and in 2006/07, $14.36/tonne, (Canadian Wheat Board 2007a). Combining these losses with the shortfalls relative to American prices makes the returns to the DPC look even less attractive. The DPC results for the 2007/08 crop year will be made public when the Board’s Annual Report is released; our analysis, however, indicates an even poorer performance than in previous years. During the period, Canadian farmers were paid an average $32.81 per tonne less than US farmers. We estimate that hedging losses were another $75/tonne. These hedging losses constituted a drain on the contingency fund used by the rest of the alternative price programs in the CWB (Canadian Wheat Board 2007a).

The Crafted Rebuttal:

Prairie farmers deserve objective and accurate assessments of CWB performance, CWB president and CEO Ian White said today. He expressed disappointment that a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute falls far short of that mark. "Farmers are not well served by another report based on false assumptions and oversimplified numbers," White said, adding the CWB is committed to accountability through measurable performance results, developed in 2003 and directly reported to farmers each year. American grain elevators might be located in close proximity to many Canadian farms, but our wheat economics are fundamentally different," he said. "This would be true no matter what marketing system were in place for Western Canada." Because U.S. spot prices are not a valid comparison, the CWB has worked to create other meaningful benchmarks, without revealing confidential sales data to competitors. For the past four years, the CWB has used a broad set of measures developed to provide numerical performance results that are published in its annual report and mailed directly to farmers in its "Report to Producers".

The Naked Truth:
QUOTE: In our case, instead of backing prices off to farmer origin, we track US FOB PNW export prices vs. CWB in-store Vancouver, BC prices (which are not precisely the exact same logistical cost points, but differ only in the very small elevator operational cost of moving the wheat from the silo to end of the loading spout).

While CWB would no doubt take exception to this, as they have taken exception to your report, we find that it is a routine practice for the CWB to directly offer price discounts to US market values to foreign customers. At this very moment, there are reports coming from European, Central and South American and Asian markets of CWB offers of discounts between US$10 and $30 per MT below US values - with one Asian customer reporting a recent CWB price indication which was US$ 50 below comparable US values at the time. Naturally, their in-store Vancouver (or St. Lawrence) prices must reflect these discounts to US market prices - and they translate directly into the lower producer returns that you have demonstrated. UNQUOTE

The above was sent to me in an email (twice) by two different individuals. Read the red highlighted portion carefully. From time to time I receive these emails and not once - have I received one saying that the CWB sold above the market - not once. And if they did - the other market participants would be happy that their pricing would be elevated as well. Forrest Hetland, Ken Beswick and even Richard Klassen used to command a premium on some sales - and the trade used to hear about it.

No transparency and no accountability. Much the same as subprime mortgages and credit default swaps. We have been in the Information Age for over 10 years and hiding under the commercially sensitive information rock - is not valid in 2008. Everyone in the world knows what our grain is sold for except our own farmers; buyers laugh at us - sellers are angry with us.

If farmers are going to be forced to utilize the CWB, go back to the 3 commissioners selling to different areas - at least that way there won’t be high fives at 423 Main when a 500,000 tonne sale is made $50.00 under the market. The 3 commissioners were much more effective than what transpires today. What we have today is a joke. I was 64 days old when the Rt. Hon. Clarence Decatur Howe died. I am sure today that even he would say that the “children’s hour” has lasted long enough. Now where are my nitros. "

Written by Larry Weber and copied with permission by the author. Pars <a href=”http://www.parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/”target=”blank”> Click Here to Visit Parsley’s Notebook Blog to Read More. </a>

[parsley]

The Honourable Honorable Garry Breitkreuz on Property Rights

Dear Fellow Farmers, Farmers, you either own what you grow or someone else does. Farmers have often had someone else lurking in the background, deciding where agriculture should "go". Planning for us. Strategizing, scheming, calculating, organizing, manipulating and directing what path our farms should follow, according to some scratched-together divine plan thought up at midnight by some clever schemer. Farmers must make it clear we own our farms. Own our grain. Own the direction we want to go. And we must make sure our ownership foundation is firm. Property rights. Garry Breitkreuz. They are synonymous. The one MP who has been consistent and persistent about strengthening the farmer's property rights is Garry Breitkreuz. His dedication can be found on: http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/issues/property.htm Pars<a href=”http://www.parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/”target=”blank”> Click Here to Visit Parsley’s Notebook Blog to Read More. </a>

[parsley]

MP Ted Menzies Reminds DA CWB Legislative Changes Will Occur
http://www.discoverfoothills.com/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=14&categ ory=35&article=7580&Itemid=257


Can't you just hear Macleod MP Ted Menzies saying that while legislation is ready to be put forward to remove barley from single desk selling, farmers have the chance to have their voices heard at the board level . I can. The Conservative Government was elected on choice. It's an election promise, and they plan to follow through. Kinda like bringing in the Canadian flag. You were either going to fly it or not, but it happened. Sift through the CWB Director candidates and see which ones are the mules. They won't be much good for anything at the Board table other than being ornery. Pars
<a href=”http://www.parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/”target=”blank”> Click Here to Visit Parsley’s Notebook Blog to Read More. </a>

[parsley]

Near-Issueless McKague Has Two Left Feet
Right about now, some of the wanna-be-CWB directors and some of the incumbent directors are probably trying out waltzing together, nudging, and snuggling, and dipping, ....er, positioning is a better word. Who's vying for committee work, or the chairmanship, or who's eyeing tripping the light fantatsic all the way to the WTO each year, first class; my my, a waltzing Matilda is certainly going to want to support her man in case she gets to go along. Both choicers and single-desk factions will be feeling each other out, so to speak. Are there any flashy newcomers ?

I checked out CWB Director hopeful Lonny McKague's website thoroughly today; he's from Southeast Saskatchewan. One issue he has focused on is Administration Costs. I like that. But there is little else but his wish. He doesn't say what the present Admin budget is, or whether he's like to take it downwards by say, 25%, or he doesn't say what area he would cut back, (for instance, dump the weather station), and he doesn't say what it compares like to other years. And I can't ask him. Has he contact numbers or emails on his website? I missed them if he does, or maybe he doesn't want calls. But, come to think of it, a guy I know gave McKague's email to this other guy I know, and that guy gave it to his wife's best friend's cousin's uncle, so I hope it works when I send McKague a link. I'll sell it to anyone for a tooney. Parsley<a href=”http://www.parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/”target=”blank”> Click Here to Visit Parsley’s Notebook Blog to Read More. </a>

[parsley]

Too much in a hurry.[url="http://www.parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/"] Click Here to Visit Parsley’s Notebook Blog to Read More.[/url]

[parsley]

CWB District # 8
It will be interesting to see how many farmers come out to vote in CWB Director's District # 8, with less than 7,000 eligible voters, where the incumbent, Rod Flaman lost his bid to win a Liberal MP seat in Ottawa a mere few days before the applications for CWB candidacy closed.

Racing to run didn't faze Flaman, though, and a few 'sleeps and dreams' later, he put in his nomination papers to run for a CWB Director's seat for another term. So far, he's running as a single-desk candidate, but there is still a bit of time left before the voter polls close, for him to to calculate what constituency polling reflects. If he succumbs to a marketing-attitude adjustment, it would be no surprise to some farmers if his precedent is any indication of the possibility of things to come.

If Flaman wins, it'll probably be because there are so many cattlemen in Southeast Saskatchewan who do not receive CWB ballots, nor have in the past mustered the enthusiasm needed to actually apply for one; Schnell will be lucky if one hundred cowboys make the effort to apply for a ballot vote to support him. Schnell has the ability and experience to bring warring tribes of farmers together, a fractured group we are, whereas, a Flaman win will, without doubt, fuel the producer thinktanks fighting any change at all. At the same time, a Flaman win would end up igniting even more and more invading torches of ideas, ideas of choice, ideas of farmers owning their grain, hard ideas to snuff out, each one held higher, each one shining brighter, as each producer brings their light of choice to the end of the seventy year old tunnel. Schnell can make peace. And peace means concentrating on wealth creation, not fighting amongst ourselves. Pars<a href=”http://www.parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/”target=”blank”> Click Here to Visit Parsley’s Notebook Blog to Read More. </a>