Wondering?

[grassfarmer]

Some refreshing posts on the strengths of working together whether through pools or Co-ops. All too often such sentiment is kept hidden for fear of the speaker being branded a communist - just don't come out with it on the commodity forum LOL!
Kato hit the nail on the head with her comment "The co-ops and the Wheat Board ... are really the only big entities around even come remotely close to balancing out the power of the multinationals." Exactly so - at least some people in the beef sector realise this basic fact.
You say Alberta seems to be a lot farther from the philosophical base of the co-ops and I guess that stems from the US Corporate takeover that occurred in Alberta in the 1980s centred on Calgary. Unfortunately this buy out of business (and Government) now results in an ongoing campaign to indoctrinate Albertans against the value of any kind of cooperative thinking.
I personally think it is a shame that Canada Gold did not look at the concept of single market selling of beef.
I am still a little unclear on the purpose of CGB also - is it to ensure a fairer distribution of the proceeds generated by the beef production chain? Is it to market a branded product at a higher value?
If it is seeking to achieve the former I think it has a chance of succeeding, if it is seeking to achieve the latter I do not see that there is anything substantial "value added" that the consumer would pay a premium for.

[kato]

One thing I think it could do would be to provide a marketing angle to utilize in the American market. A brand under which to advertise and promote Canadian beef which the proponents of MCOOL are so determined to keep out of American packing plants.

That being said, I think the American owned packers are not about to knock themselves out promoting Canadian beef as a premiuim product in the States. I think they'd rather buy it up cheap here and take a regular profit on it rather than compete with themselves in the U.S. for high end customers.

This is the thing that worries me. Why would the big packers here want to do CGB any favours? Why help someone who is a potential rival?

We saw a bit of this on a smaller scale in Saskatchewan with the custom killing of cows for Natural Valley in the days before they had their kill plant up and running. I would bet that they paid top dollar for this custom kill, and that the ones doing the killing got paid before the guys who sold the cattle too. I won't mention any names, but we all know who I'm talking about. This is all stuff I've heard through the g****vine, (aka neighbours who never got paid for their cattle) so maybe if someone here is a little closer to the subject they can fill us in on how it worked. The result was that same cashflow shortage that seems to get everybody.

Can these packers be trusted to do a good job at a fair rate? Or would they try and sabotage the setup so CGB fails, and they take over for pennies on the dollar? Then they can go south and promote big time for themselves riding on a brand that others have worked hard to get going.

I guess my trust level is pretty low on these companies. Caution is needed here, but boy, I sure hope this works out because we need it.

[gcreekrch]

Quote "Like their animals, cattlemen are better suited to a stampede than for a march." Philip Danforth Armour
Sept 1887
From the book Past Present And how we can survive for the Future in the beef cattle business by Benjamin C Roberts.

The only way to answer all these questions is to get in "formation" and get our hands dirty.
It seems to me that most things fail due to lack of support. IF CGB is successful it WILL put a LOT more $ in your pocket, IF you use it wisely

[rkaiser]

When Canada Gold is successful Dave, When.

I don't even have the time to respond to farmers-son and his bs right now. If you think Rome was built in a day buddy, you got another think coming. We are moving ahead with new developments every day, including today. We needed to become public and thus the website which is already out of date.

You can simply keep trying to tear it down farmers_son, or offer some alternatives like I asked.

[wd40]

I like most of you don't like the word Coop. However a trip to New Zeland, Austrailia and Europe you'll find where producers have collectively taken control of their own industry. Call it what you will.
Maybe fs can at least coin a word for it.
Our erban cousins bellies are full. They don't slow down an iota paying gas at $120.00 per liter or $.85.
I'd bet they wouldn't slow down much either paying a reasonalble % of their disposable income for good food. In spite of what CBEF or BIC says if all of Agriculture were to take control of their industry.
That also includes CWB. Single desk selling works for OPEC, feedlot producers in Southern Alberta, Texas, and Kansas. Just fire a smoke bom in the bottom of the nest of termites and when the building is empty move the contents 'lock stock and barrel' to Calgary and operate it with free enterprising westerners.

[grassfarmer]

Move it "to Calgary and operate it with free enterprising westerners." Give me a break - look how well ABP works for us, they were based in Calgary the last time I checked.

[gcreekrch]

I'm hearing the rumble of a stampede again.

C'mon guys lets be constructive here.
What happens in other organizations needs to be recognized so we can learn from their mistakes but looking forward will get us way further down the road than staring at the rear view mirror

[grassfarmer]

gcreekrch, "Like their animals, cattlemen are better suited to a stampede than for a march."
Maybe so - but who is stampeding and who is marching in this case? Sometimes I think marching slowly and surely, thinking about and assessing the project is the way to go. It's easy to get caught up in the stampede of enthusiasm for a new idea but hard headed business decisions should not be made in that atmosphere.

[rkaiser]

The only thing that will stop Canada Gold from succes will be ego's. Until we (yes old grumpy Kaiser included) can all leave them at the board room door before entering, the well oiled machines of Cargill and Tyson will continue to run the industry.

[gcreekrch]

Grassfarmer : Does that mean you like the slow steady march that the CFIA,Canadian govt, CCA, and the multinationals have had us on for the last several years?