Elevation charges

[cowman]

The elevators are raising elevation charges and grain cleaning charges this year. Wheat up to $11.63 from $11.18 and cleaning from $3.68 to $3.83. They claim they need the money due to higher operating costs. Which is understandable. And after all that grain is worth a lot more than it was last year so farmers shouldn't kick too much! Well if you have any grain that is! So everyone is happy!
Now what happens when things turn around and it rains and we get a bumper crop somewhere down the road? Say we have a big barley crop and we need to actually export some feed barley?(I use barley as an example but you could substitute any crop). Say the price falls back into that $90/tonne range. Now take off $11.63 and another$3.83 for a total of $15.46/tonne! 17% of the total price for elevation and cleaning! Add in the freight by rail and trucking to the elevator and we're getting to the point where about 3/4 of the price is going to the "grain handlers" and 25% to the farmer! Now somehow this doesn't make much sense as far as I can see? Sort of the tail wagging the dog?

[TOM4CWB]

Cowman;

I don't have a problem paying a fair value for services like elevation, cleaning, and marketing.

Obviously the grain handling system will be in a sad state of affairs for some time to come... as the CWB quota and tendering system takes more flex out of our system and increases costs for this sector.

We must remember that the tarrif costs last year on CWB grains were not accurately reflected, as the CWB tendering system returned much of the cost of cleaning and elevation back through the pooling accounts...

Now an accurate better performance measure of real elevator performance will be basis levels on non-board grains.... as these levels will more accurately reflect how much of the market value is returned to producers, without all the CWB shell games.

IS this clear?

Or does mudsville score another win on totally messing up market signals!!!

[TOM4CWB]

Cowman;

I don't have a problem paying a fair value for services like elevation, cleaning, and marketing.

Obviously the grain handling system will be in a sad state of affairs for some time to come... as the CWB quota and tendering system takes more flex out of our system and increases costs for this sector.

We must remember that the tarrif costs last year on CWB grains were not accurately reflected, as the CWB tendering system returned much of the cost of cleaning and elevation back through the pooling accounts...

Now an accurate better performance measure of real elevator performance will be basis levels on non-board grains.... as these levels will more accurately reflect how much of the market value is returned to producers, without all the CWB shell games.

IS this clear?

Or does mudsville score another win on totally messing up market signals!!!

[cowman]

Well it sort of clears it up! Not being personally involved in the grain business, other than as a crop share landlord, I'm sometimes a little lost on some of these things. Especially when it comes to the CWB! They seem to have this web they have wove that is hard to figure out.
The last time my Dad grew any board grain was back in the mid-sixties. Malt barley. It was accepted by the elevator in Penhold Alta. for malt but low and behold when it got to Thunderbay it had become feed! I guess Quebec needed some feed that year! After waiting for his final payment he finally ended up getting considerably less than if he had sold it to a local feedlot! He said that was the last time he would ever sell the SOBs anything and it was!