Feed barley?

[cowman]

Now I'm pretty blank on this whole feed barley thing and the CWB? I don't think anybody in my neck of the woods sells feed barley to the CWB...it all goes to the feedlots or hogbarns...or at least I think it does!
In 1994 or maybe 1995 there was a shortage of feed barley and prices took off. My cousin sold our barley(heavy Metcalfe) to the local hog barn for $4/bu delivered...a half mile haul. My older neighbor sold feed barley to the CWB.
I was shooting the breeze with him and mentioned that the hog barn was looking for barley? He told me he was a great supporter of the CWB and was delivering to them. I think the price he was quoted was about in the $4 range but he had to haul it about 30 miles rather than just down the road. Anyway there was some sort of screwup that year with the pooling system and he got screwed in a big way! I think he ended up with about $1.80 after a year or two! Needless to say he has never sold to the CWB again!
As I said I'm no expert on the CWB. When I was just a boy my Dad had a really good barley crop that went malt. He hauled it into the elevator, paid all the costs to ship to Thunderbay, elevation/cleaning...it was still malt! Onto the Lakers to Montreal, again he paid all costs to unload,transport,inspect etc.? Then an amazing thing happened...the malt became feed and was sold to a Quebec hog farm...at a lower price than he could have sold it for in Alberta!
Well needless to say, that was the last bushel of grain my Dad ever sold to that den of thieves!
So I wonder, when Mr. Strahl has his little barley plebicite, will anyone in Alberta vote to retain the CWB?

[wilagro]

"So I wonder, when Mr. Strahl has his little barley plebicite, will anyone in Alberta vote to retain the CWB?"

I sincerely hope so. The real aforementioned 'den of thieves' is/are just waiting to get the chance to make a competive 'bid' for your barley. The grower will be a taker of the price that "they" want to pay him/her, and not the price that is desired.

[Ron]

Actually I know a couple pro board farmers and I cant argue with them.
Unfortunately one is a large dairy farmer who uses more barley than he grows, the other has a hog barn and buys barley as well. They both feel with an open border they would have to pay more.
What about feedlot alley? Anybody have contacts there? They probably like the captive supply also.

[cowman]

Ron: I don't know if all the boys in feedlot alley like the single desk or not? I do know Cor Van Ray buys a lot of barley in this area around Red Deer, through a grain dealer?
He's usually pretty competitive with the hog barns and local feedlots...in fact he usually sets the price!
I do believe a lot of barley goes to the feed market from here that could move into the malt market? If the malt market was out of CWB control I believe more people would pursue that market?
It's pretty hard to turn down cash at the bin for a "hope and a prayer" somewhere down the road?

[Horse]

Ron I dont think this has anything to do with an open border. I can see the OTM thing all over again in the grain buiz, do you think the US producers along the border are going to sit on thier hands and let canadian bly in to lower thier price? If you do you must have rose colored glasses.

[Ron]

It pisses me off to no end when in a low price year I cant ship barley south but during the drought there was corn coming north. I am going to go back to drinking my beer before I meet the new moderator for my language (the CWB brings out the best in me)

[cowman]

Ron: Tell me about it! In 2002 we had a really ugly drought. Yeilds were down, yet it was still good barley. My cousin does the marketing and I think the grain dealer offered him $3.32/bu at the bin in October? He thought the price would go higher...and hey he was right it should have?
Then in came the subsidized corn...I think he finally sold in March 2003 for $2.80...delivered to a local hog barn!
The sad part of the whole thing was the US corn "subsidy" was "green", so perfectly legal...?
The other sad part was the western grain farmers had been struggling for several years with low prices and with higher prices could have recovered from the low drought yeilds? Instead the government did nothing, but sold them out to the Americans? Much of this corn coming into Alberta was infected with fusarium gramminearum...a declared pest...under the Pest Control Act! It was actually the Alberta government who broke their own law by allowing it in! The reason was "supposedly" to SAVE THE CATTLE INDUSTRY...I guess to hell with the malting industry?
That little episode convinced me that both the Alberta government and the federal government really would like to get rid of the small western farmer.

[grassfarmer]

So if you succeed in removing the CWB will US corn suddenly be unable to enter Canada in a year of short supply here? How does that work in your "free market economy" or will you be looking for Government intervention to stop the imports?

[blackjack]

...but cowman did you hear your fellow grain farmers whining when they,re nisa accounts were growing year in year out...you know we have always had govt get involved to distort the market...

[cowman]

grassfarmer: No I'm not happy with how a lot of trade works? I think I have a pretty good understanding of how the corn subsidy works...just don't understand why the Canadian government thinks we can't do the same thing?
If the government expects the Canadian farmer to compete with every other country in the world, then they should be ready to come up with a level playing field?...maybe that is too much to ask?
Blackjack: Okay, I'll admit it...I really liked NISA...and yep, I got my money out(and the government share!) during the BSE wreck! I certainly thought it was a better program than CAIS? Sorry if I ruined your illusions...If the government leaves a buck on the table I'll pick it up...I'm not exactly some paragon of virtue!

[blackjack]

...lol...cowman...i knew you would not be able to resist that one...like you say the govt is going to roll on this bio thing ...even if it takes a few taxpayers to pay the freight...i guess i never worried about selling export feed barley when our own operation uses what we grow...so the cwb has never been a concern since we quit with the bs of the malt market a long time ago...and as for growing a high grade wheat in these parts (red deer area)was always a little tricky...

[cowman]

blackjack: Do you know Tony Overwater? He is a partner in Parkland Ag...they are some kind of combination joint venture thing with Agrium(Cargill)in Penhold, Delburne, Stettler,Didsbury, Three Hills etc.?
Anyway here goes: At the Parkland Christmas party he gave quite a speech on the future possibilities of bio fuel and what it might mean for this area. He claimed that the barley growers group was doing research into producing a barley that would actually out perform wheat in an ethanol plant!
I know what you mean about growing wheat in this area...very little hard red spring and often it is a struggle because of frost. There is a fair bit of CPS wheat grown, but without a doubt barley and canola work very well here!
This whole "biofuel" thing has a lot of people wondering? If grain prices hold this year(and the cattle/hog businesses remain in the doldrums)I would suspect we will see a lot of grass land sprayed out this fall?
I think a lot of cow/calf producers are tired of poor returns, and the fact is most cow/calf outfits in this area grow grain as well? Not really difficult to increase grain acres and reduce forage acres? Might be as easy as not cutting silage but take it off as grain?
How many backgrounders are getting sick of making unacceptable returns feeding cattle? It isn't the nicest job...treating sick calves, out in the rottenest weather and slop, increasing costs for almost everything, new environmental rules...and a poor return for your labor, management, time, and money!
I suspect a whole lot of people are watching where this biofuel thing is going!
At the same time, I would suggest this scenario unfolding has to be good for the person who is intent on remaining in cattle? The supply is about to shrink in a big way...and sooner or later demand will catch up!
Innisfail auction mart has 600 bred cows in the Friday sale? I cannot remember those kind of numbers in January, before? I would think a lot of cow/calf men have come to a decision?...By the way I sure wouldn't want to be in the purebred business, with what is coming down the pipes!

[Horse]

I think whereever this ethanol thing lands there will be a feeding operation close to use the distillers grain and I dont know if that will help anyone but the feeder.
There is a cow sale in drayton and they quoted 850/1050$/hd boy I sure cant see what people are thinking unless its to keep the cheques coming off crown land [welfare cows].
Big sale in westlock 6/800hd and nielsons are talking the same ,kind of wonder where they all go.

[cowman]

I wonder where they all go too?
I thought maybe they were going to cheap land in Saskatchewan, but in fact Saskatchewans cow herd shrank last year! Some brave souls must be optomistic?

[blackjack]

...cowman...our family does use tony's business for a part of the farm...the rumor is definitely out that the bio plant will be just down the road from tony's business...so i can imagine he is excited about that...

...as for cows our business has been buying some...and selling the old girls as culls...the last four years has had to been hard on the fellows that bred heifers...one of the problems i see in the auction mart this fall...there seems to be more calves of poorer quality which would make you think people are trying to cut costs by buying cheaper bulls...