Bet on the CWB

[CptnObvious]

OK, I'm back. Where were we?

[CptnObvious]

tmyrfield, who is k.k. fellow? He sounds like a man( or woman, let us not be chauvinist) of great intelligence.

[CptnObvious]

All of you posters urging me to accept that the CWB is gone( and ignore our losses) and more on, are you just trying hard to bury your mistake?

[CptnObvious]

Agvocate, I believe the majority of farmers understand that they have lost money and want the CWB back. I would dearly love to see a survey after an audited comparison is made. To be sure there are many that wanted the CWB to stay that are silent now that it is gone. They supported the CWB but still voted Conservative because they just couldn't bring themselves to do anything else. Identity politics. They are silent because of embarrassment, loyalty, futility,.... take your pick.

[bucket]

i don't know how i get into posting on these things but I will say this.


The CWB had to change. I wish Ritz would have allowed it to buy assets. Never did I think they would sell it to an end user or a foreign entity ... in this case both.

I am disappointed that all the assets that were told be be farmers were actually worth nothing even though I was deducted every year for them.

Even a coop has equity.

Did we get ****ed...Yup.

But I don't see the difference in signing a contract and delivering 70 percent of it ....OR ....signing a contract and listening to excuses as to why its 3 months late.

The transition has proven to be less than stellar and the sad part is there is a system in the states they could have copied to provide more transparency to the market... Still doesn't exist.

What does that cost in today's market?

3mmt floating and rail service is poor again.

Costs are to farmers.

[CptnObvious]

Those of you that think we have more options now...what options? We haul the same grain to the same elevators. We could contract to sell at any time at whatever price we could with CWB FPCs and a dozen other variations. Hauling in to the states is different now but not any easier. We lost about 3-4X on the post-CWB price of wheat as we gained by losing the buy-back. Hauling across the border certainly LOOKS better now because the price of Canadian wheat has dropped relative to the U.S. price.

[CptnObvious]

jamesb, the CWB worked fairly well but it worked like a balloon. It was all or nothing. Once there is a hole in the balloon it doesn't work at all.

[CptnObvious]

vvalk, the analysis on excess basis in the current system is well documented, well explained, and easily defended by Dr. Gray. Ritzy et al. asked some economists to tear apart his report but it couldn't be done. It's bulletproof. This IS what happened.

[CptnObvious]

Hamloc, I seem to be the only one that DOES have numbers comparing prices with and without the CWB. And I use rhetoric sparingly( FYI the definition of rhetoric is not 'ideas that you don't like').
The final payment for #2, 14.5 in '08-'09 was $250/t, $180 the next year, and $310/t in '10-'11. In the first post CWB year sales averaged $285/t, which at times was lower than the price of feed wheat. Following the average difference between #2 and feed that the CWB showed the previous 15 years, the price that year should have been $361/t.

[CptnObvious]

Daylate, more oil by pipe is a good idea as is professional grading that the grain co.s cannot mess with. AS trains cannot pass each other like planes can, joint running rights won't work unless a separate authority commands the traffic. Like if we nationalized the railways.

[CptnObvious]

blackpowder, yes, slowdowns in transport or plugged terminals are used as an excuse by the grain co.s to steal our money. More dedicated, or even COMMANDED, grain cars would really help.

[CptnObvious]

Macdon02, both your memory and your math are suspect. The total operating budget of the CWB was about $70 million( less, I think) which would equate to about 50 cents/tonne. The CWB also made $30-50 million/yr on the interest differential between the prime rate at which it borrowed and the rate which it charged its' customers. This means the CWB cost farmers at worst $40 million, and in some years, almost nothing. In comparison post-CWB losses to farmers because of lower port prices and excess basis are averaging $2 billion/year.

[bucket]

The only thing I can say is those deductions to run the board included the assets that were farmers that ended up at Zero.

[binthere]

A disgruntled ex c.w.b. Employee speaking on behalf of farmers is always funny.

[tmyrfield]

tmyrfield, who is k.k. fellow? He sounds like a man( or woman, let us not be chauvinist) of great intelligence.

kyle, it is you! you were always a modest fellow, with much to be modest about!

I always enjoyed our debates, it was like hitting my thumbnail with a hammer, it felt good when i stopped.