CWB performance

[chuckChuck]

CWB performance

By Ken Larsen

Benalto, AB

July 28, 2011

http://www.producer.com/Opinion/Article.aspx?aid=38875

Ed White (Politics monopolizes single desk issue, WP July 14), among others, has complained that a convincing business case has never been made in favour of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk. The fact is the business case is so simple, compelling and routine that newspaper pundits seldom report it.

The CWB’s audited statements show that more than 98 percent of sales revenue is passed back to farmers. Private corporations, with their requirements to pay off banks, investors and risk managers, cannot come close to this performance.

The CWB’s sales premiums have been tested and proven in 14 international trade tribunals. These tribunals are held under oath with both the CWB and its opponents being required to provide complete sales records.

Every one of these exhaustive investigations by the United States has shown that the CWB gets premium prices for Canadian grain when compared to the private trade.

This quote from the 1999 U.S. Department of Commerce investigation referring to the CWB and barley prices says it all: “The Canadian domestic price was actually higher in portions of the Period of Investigation (POI) and after the POI.”

The evidence on the business case is clear, yet we have seen 20 years of howling by the private trade to get rid of the CWB’s single desk. Why is their howling still news while the iron-clad business case for the CWB seldom rates any coverage?

Ken Larsen,Benalto, Alta.

[silverback]

The "private trade" is not howling to get rid of the monopsony, it is farmers who despise them for holding a gun to their head to give them their grain.

What a great and simple "business case".

[Fransisco]

Funny, every time I've ever looked at what I actually get in my pocket after all of the wheat board deductions there's less there than if I'd sold my wheat in the states or in Ontario.

Ed White is right, Ken Larsen is wrong.

[Fransisco]

Lets put the CWB price premiums to the test once again then. Hows about the 09-10 wheat pool?

[Fransisco]

And hows about those fixed price contracts? Lets see what they looked like at fridays close.

CWB fixed price for #1 13.5% wht $6.53 can

Same wheat in Bottineau ND $7.56 can sept delivery

In Berthold ND $8.51 can january delivery

Fortuna ND $$7.75 can new crop wheat

This was using an exchange rate of 1.045

Oh, and in Ontario? The off the combine bid from the voluntary Ontario Wheat Board on Friday was... $8.04

Once again we see that when you put the wheat board "premiums" to the test not only do they FAIL, they fail miserably. You don't need some fancy international tribunal to figure out that the wheat board is screwing you over. Simple math and some price checking is all that it takes.

[Jfreedom]

While a few CWB employees on here and a
couple of completely left wing nuts have figured
out the Internet . It doesn't take much time with
the old google machine to figure out these
premiums are a fantasy . Modern technology is
going to be the down fall of the CWB they may
get away with spewing out their mindless drivel
for the old timers to gobble up but it is easy to be
informed if you want to. Twenty five years ago
you did not hear one person talking about the
weather in other parts of the world and basing
planting and marketing decisions on them now it
is common place with the younger and
progressive farmers. The likes of Burbert and Bto
will go on and on about how being a large farmer
is bad and how a profit is such a dirty word .
They only need to remember that in a few years
when it's time to sell you better hope that one of
these guys is there to buy. If they are fortunate
enough to pass it on to another generation let's
hope that the profit stays in the farm through
forward thinking policies . The CWB downfall
started a few years ago when if refused to
change with the evolution of the farm to a
business from a lifestyle and as with any change
there are casualties it will be one of them as with
farms that don't evolve. While I think the horse is
a wonderful animal to be loved I wouldn't want to
stare at the ass of one for 12hrs anymore, time
moves on .

[TOM4CWB]

Chuckchuck,

I see Mr. Larsen is of great help... and quoted by the NDP in:

" At least in Canada the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) only sells wheat to countries that can afford to buy from us. When multinationals are in charge of trade this brings a total loss of control of our food supply.
Further, it was stated that in contrast, our supply-managed commodities produce almost exclusively for the domestic market, and are really the only farmers who have a sustained record of financial success.

The forum heard that historically, farmers got together and addressed globalization by forming cooperatives and ultimately the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) to manage grain.

It was noted that the CWB feeds premium markets thanks to the single desk. Farmers have control of grain sales through the CWB and had control of handling that grain through the cooperative elevator system until the provincial government sabotaged it.

One participant stated that currently, the Harper government is attacking the CWB again and also the Canada Grain Commission (CGC).


Another said that the idea of marketing choice for wheat and barley is an illusion.
“But really, when it comes down to marketing grain, we only have a choice between working together or letting some brokers take it over, and lose all the benefits from working together. . . there is no choice, really. When you’re talking about marketing, there’s more to marketing than getting a price and selling it. There’s customer support and development. When the Wheat Board goes to a miller or a pasta maker in Italy or whatever, they fly them over here and say, “What kind of stuff do you want?”

Ken Larsen, Benalto, AB


The forum was told that if the CWB loses its current credit rating, it will mean less money in farmers’ pockets.
It was also pointed out that there has always been a struggle around the family farm for a number of reasons, from peak oil to corporate power.

Farmers have not for many years been able to recover their costs of production. Prices have gone up but so has the cost of production."

http://joehillndp.com/foodforthought.pdf
EXEMPTIONS FROM PURCHASING QUOTA
WHEREAS the NFU has policies which promote local
healthy food production and consumption, and
WHEREAS the NFU has policies to promote more farmers
instead of fewer farmers, and
WHEREAS supply-managed marketing boards need
positive public relations,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NFU work
aggressively to get supply-managed marketing boards to
implement small but meaningful exemptions from
purchasing quota for family farms who market that
produce locally.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these exemptions should be
significant enough to be a significant portion of a
diversified family farm’s income."

http://www.nfu.ca/ufq/ufq/UFQ%20Winter%202008-09.pdf



NDP Cherry Pickers... with a real lack of respect for the private property rights of others...

Doesn't Ken Larson produce cattle?

Doesn't cheap feed grain raise the price of his animals???

[TOM4CWB]

Chuckchuck,

You support the CWB spending pool money on promotion of the 'Single Desk'... as does Ken Larson obviously.

You offend me.

The CWB Minister told the CWB... as did the Canadian Courts...

TO STOP spending my money on promoting the CWB 'single desk'.

CWB Chairman Allen Oberg is directly breaking the law of Canada.

NOW that is offensive.

[wilagro]

Farmers as well as CWB customers deserve to know what is going on with the CWB. That is not "promotion" per se...that is INFORMATION and that is what we should have.

[Fransisco]

One mans "information" is another mans <b>-PROPAGANDA-.</b>

[TOM4CWB]

Wilagro,

The WHOLE world... knows the CWB has lost the right to take grain from western Canadian grain growers... without first paying them a competitive price.

The whole world knows they will be required to pay a competitive world price for our CWB Board grains... instead of the confiscated CWB price... which is obviously less than they pay the US for the same grain.

The CWB is close to $20/t less cost to Vancouver BC Ports... than Montana growers must pay to Portland or Seattle. Yet the CWB is often over $100/t lower farmgate value than Montana Wheat buyers. Durum no different.

We must change to survive. Why is the CWB exempt from the very structural change requirements that will save the corporation from certain destruction?

[newguy]

No need for fancy figures to prove CWB does not give farmers a premium. This crop year is now the third in a row I could have pocketed more by selling staight #2 durum to the local hog barn. Until the CWB can get more from their so called customers than the hog barns pay there is no premium.

[begood]

I strongly suspect that chuckchuck et al do not consistently use or derive the majority of their farm income from the CWB.

Tell me chuckchuck that you really have some skin in this debate and have declared any serious conflicts of interests that would otherwise mislead these readers. Then I would be willing to debate opinions and supposed facts.
Conflicts such as protecting and "saving" organic access to out of country markets are the epitome of lack of respect of the majority of farmers.
Tell me I'm not on the right track.

[Jfreedom]

I just watched the TD bank commercial with the
two old guys pissing and moaning about change.
I'm not sure but that could be Chuckchuck and
Berburt with off farm jobs as D rate actors.

[jdepape]

The simple business case - that farmers benefit
from the single desk - has never been proven.  In
fact, evidence from publicly available data shows
the opposite.

Comparing the CWB costs to those of grain
companies is meaningless.  The fact is, the CWB
charges are in addition to the elevator costs.  
And to suggest that private companies have
requirements to "pay off" banks (pay interest)
and the CWB doesn't is just plain stupid.  And
when he says that grain companies have risk
managers and the CWB doesn't shows how little
Larson knows about this business.
 
Larson is also wrong to say that "The CWB’s
sales premiums have been tested and proven in
14 international trade tribunals".  All the tribunals
showed was that the CWB did not "dump" at
below market prices.  I'd still like to see the data
that they saw.
 
Reported premiums of about $6.00 with reported
costs of about $10.00 for a net loss of $4.00 -
these are the facts that analysts like Larson
never look at.

Iron clad indeed.