52% have spoken

[wilagro]

Why don't you just accept the results of the vote and quit bellyaching?

Sore loser or what?

[LWeber]

Willy:

How many permit book numbers do you have?

Is primary producer still acknowledged by 00 prefix?

Do you still have a 00?

How many 01's?

Just trying to rationalize the 2006 census to 2006 and 2008 votes.

[Fransisco]

Nobodies disputing who won. But given these results the question can be asked, does it matter?

The way one headline put it, it's " Politics as Usual" when it comes to the CWB. The business of the wheat board is politics it just sells wheat on the side. As long as that's the case more and more farmers are going to be less and less interested in it.

The real vote is happening every year as acreage and tonnage keep dropping. Single deskers keep winning these little political battles but they're losing the war.

[TOM4CWB]

Wilagro,

"Sore loser or what"

You bet I am a sore loser... with the cost being over $150/ac... only a fool would ignore CWB tactics!

This CWB marketing plan (or the lack thereof) makes about as much sense as the three amigos with the Bloc Veto running my farm in Alberta.../this country.

You folks will eventually make us angry enough to do something about your arrogant words...!

[AdamSmith]

What you just said Fransisco!

Politics is about manipulating numbers to fit your message, trumpet those numbers that help make your case, and dismiss those numbers that don't.

Politics! Yuck!

As far as I'm concerned the worst, absolute worst thing about the current governance of the cwb and the concept of director elections by farmers is we've handed a major portion of our industry over to third and fourth rate politicians.

Not one of the directors elected (ever)or failed canditates has ever been qualified to sit at the helm of a multi-billion dollar enterprise. How many have had experience in the international grain trade? How many have had boardroom experience in anything other than a farm organization or the local co-op board, or the local curling club?

I just can't stand it. We're riding a train we know is doomed to crash yet we're powerless to stop it.

With no disrespect intended here to the people who put their names forward to run,

but just who in the hell do you think you are to think you are qualified to sell my grain, run my bussiness.

little own every other wheat farmers grain in western Canada?

Not one of us would hand over the keys of our operations over to a federal or provincial politician, but merrily go ahead and hand the keys of our farms over to failed and third rate political wannabes.

I swear to god, we're getting exactly what we deserve.

[GrainBeetle]

Franny: The wheat acres keep dropping in the good ole USA also. Why is that?

OK, I'll answer this one for you.

It is because there are better genetics, and production practices for alternative crops that diversify both income and agronomic benefits. Yes wheat acres keep dropping, but the rotation 40 or 50 years ago was wheat,summerfallow, wheat.

Of course they are dropping.

[GrainBeetle]

Francis:

If the CWB is such a big issue, why didnt your team show up in bigger numbers and vote against it? How hard is it to mail in a ballot?

[GrainBeetle]

AdamSmith

It was Harper and Anderson who dumped the appointed CWB BOD's {who had the business and financial expertise} and replaced them with ideologist, right winged simpleton farmers who for the most part lack any skill other than operating farms that generate less than a million in sales per year.

I too am worried about the CWB's BOD's lack of expertise.... thanks to Anderson.

[Fransisco]

Yes, wheat acres are dropping in the US because farmers can make way more money growing other crops such as corn. Part of the reason for this is geography and climate.

But in Ontario post monopoly wheat acres have been steadily climbing because farmers can now make more money growing wheat.

Out here in the Western monopoly environment the trend is the opposite. It's pretty obvious that Atlas is Shrugging. You can pretend that he's not but the facts say otherwise.

And the point of the thread is that to the majority of voters the wheat board is a non issue they don't care about it one way or another.

My side does better in the annual surveys and in the barley plebiscite. Your side does better in the director elections. It's a big issue for some on both sides of the debate but in the end the majority doesn't give a rip about either position, to them its just background noise as they get on with their lives.

[Fransisco]

If the majority doesn't care then one day a government will wake up and say to itself, why are we wasting all this time, money and energy on something that really only 25% of permit book holders want.

[AdamSmith]

Grainbeetle, after this past week partisan politics doesn't look too good in my eyes. I'm tired of it's his fault, no it's his fault, no he's mean, oh yeah well he's and idiot.

Yeah that solves alot doesn't it.

Why can't we all agree, they're all to blame.

In my honest opinion Goodale made a fatal error in changing from the old commissioner structure.

I believe this because it brought partisan, polorizing, pathetic politics into the boardroom.

The best people for the job run for the hills as fast as they can because of the polorizing nature of the system. And having only farmers on the cwb will only make things worse.

I'm not joking here but I really believe that we'ed have a better functioning board that could give farmers better returns if we found 100 acceptable candidates, and secretly told each oneof them that they've been chosen to sit on the cwb board of directors and the fifteen who protest the loudest and most vigorous will be selected. Kicking and screaming vulger protests would be definate pluses to look for. And then tell them that you can only leave if you are deemed to have done a great job.

It would be just like jury duty, only worse.