EPO

[TOM4CWB]

Charlie,

I see that the EPO charges on CWRS have been between $2.50/t and $8.50/t in the time between the last PRO and now...

What exactly is this premium CWB charging for, and how can it vary so much?

[charliep]

Just a note the $2.50/t is recent values and $8.50/t was the value immediately after the PRO. Wheat prices have moved higher over the past month so their is less risk doing an EPO off the August PRO today than on Aug. 23 - less risk equals lower premium (similar to a put). If the CWB raised the PRO significantly on Sept. 26, I would look for a major increase in the discount again - again higher chance that the CWB overshoots the forecast and put the normal pool at risk. The question then becomes what do they do with this money - set aside in a contingency fund, use it for an options/futures strategey, pay a premium to the derivatives market, etc.

[TOM4CWB]

Charlie;

You got it exactly. What does the CWB do with the money.

For $8.50/t I can buy a Minni. Mar. $4.50/bu. strike put, which could be MUCH more profitable than letting the CWB keep the money, as the Pool has a significant weighting factor on how much our PRO can rise or fall.

I need to know the percentage of crop marketed to factor the weighting.

At any rate it is impossible to know what kind of marketing job the CWB is doing, or if I am spending my money wisely or wasteing it by investing in the EPO program.

I guess we are back to Mudsville... AGAIN...

The falling number issue is back big time on sprouting this fall.

It is insane that falling number specs are not included in the grade... as some producers with wheat are either being ripped off or given a gift, depending on what side of the falling number quality issue the wheat is.

Beautiful Durum is being graded as #5 because the elevator manager THINKS he sees a little change in the germ end of the kernel.

I guess this means a person should do a falling number in the US, and see exactly how they grade it before selling it.

Will the CGC do a falling number test result for farmers as part of the gradeing factor if requested?

I know the grain co's are required to do falling numbers on cargos in the ships... so why shouldn't we be able to access this quality info easily???

[charliep]

On the falling number issue, I would encourage everyone to have samples graded well ahead of delivery and to request falling number information. If falling number is high, then use this quality factor to market your grain.

Even if you don't sample ahead of time, request this information from the company you are delivering to. If they say no, take your business elsewhere. This information is no different that tagging calves and requesting carcass information with the objective of improving breeding program.

Not to be a wet blanket but knowing quality/value is a sellers responsibility as is marketing to make sure you capture full value from your product. The same challenge will exist in a more open market.

[melvill]

The Grain Research Lab (Winnipeg) of the Cdn. Gr. Commission does falling number tests of cereals, primarily wheat and rye. That test, which the CGC will do for producers, isn't done in any of the CGCs labs outside of Winnipeg. The cost of the test is $26.50 plus GST. A 500-gram sample can either be sent directly to the lab in Winnipeg or delivered to one of the Prairie Service Centre labs - Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Melville Weyburn, etc. - and they'll forward the sample. If you're going to drop off a sample at a local service centre, I was told anyone delivering samples should phone ahead to the labs to make certain there is someone there. There have been staff reductions at most centers and there is no guarantee that the offices will always be open to accept samples.

I wasn't able to find out if there are any private labs doing this testing.

[TOM4CWB]

Lee,

Thanks for finding this info...

What a year, it is testing every part of our grain systems, except total capacity restrictions.

I hope we can learn from the tuff times, and make our products better... so this pain will be of some benefit to someone somewhere...