Shaun Haney's Video Interview with Earl Geddes of the CWB

[joedales]

Shaun Haney showed me some interesting videos he recorded....

Any thoughts on this interview?

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[Hopperbin]

Actually seeing 1 per head now also on first plantings. Trying to hold off spraying yet as don't want to spray too early but looks like a sure thing now.

[parsley]

Lawsey.

1. Somebody needs to tell Geddes that there is money to be made in the lower value markets, too.

Not everyone drives a BMW. There are Fords.

2. Someone needs to tell Geddes that in the lower price markets, the marketer doesn't underbid in order to make a sale. Lawsey. Instead, the marketer establishes a sound working relationship. Reliability. Service.

No everyone buys a 2 carat diamond ring.

3.Somebody needs to tell Geddes not to trash the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. After all, the Wheat Board have their own CWB marketing manager sitting as a Director at the exchange. Duh!

4. Somebody needs to tall Geddes that MGX sets the world price of grain. Does he think Kola, Manitoba Feed Mill sets the world price of grain?

Somebody needs to get a headhunter to find a replacement for Geddes.

Farmers need to trade UP.



Haney sounds like he's licking at the ass ort ideas of supply management by asking, "How many acres should be produced this year?" Somebody go tell him to milk cows, he'll be better suited to woking with dairy guys/quotas/jail. He should keep his nose out of grain.
A few diplomatic tips for your bile to sort through. Pars

[Hopperbin]

Wrong thread hmmmmm,

[parsley]

1.Geddes says the 6th floor at the CWB is filled with marketing staff. Lovely. How many bushels of feed barley did these idiots sell last year?

2. Geddes claims he's concentrating on large farmers. So much for the idea of the Wheat Board looking after the young guy starting up. The CWB could end up being pillared by maybe three "million acre farms"? And subsidized by the rest from the pooling accounts? Now, there's an incentive for a young guy to choose farming. Scheesch!

3. Geddes wants to deal with only big dollar grain. Meantime he doesn't know there is a lot of money in feed grain. Durum is his pet? Makes all 5'6 of him feel good? Maybe he dreams about selling bmw's, but a lotta folks buy a jeep. He's got the attitude of a useless car salesman.

4. Haney said, "how many acres should be produced this year?' suggesting grain should have supply management? No other reason for herding along that notion. Kick his ass over into milk cows. That's where Haney belongs.

5. Geddes trashes the MGX? Remind the lout the CWB have their own CWB Marketing manager sitting as a director on the MGX. And they don't even whisper it aloud, in the dark, under the covers, huddled together, I'll bet.

6.American approach to marketing? The MGX sets the price. Who does Geddes think should set the price? Kola Feed Mill in Kola, Manitoba?

7. "An American approach to marketing" is that Americans buy sell and trade grain. They are Western Canadian farmers' best buyers. Just a little detail Geddes has forgotten.

8. Finally, somebody has to head hunt a new guy for Farmer Services and dump Geddes, because this one 's method of selling lower value grains is to "Bid lower than the next guy". No wonder the pooling accounts don't replenish after the CWB piddles away the money gambling on the exchange they brag they hate. Kick Geddes out.

Pars

[parsley]

I shouldn't have been so diplomatic. I should have been upfront with AVer's and told you I didn't like what Geddes said or what Haney wanted to say, but didn't.

Now that I've confessed, has anyone else got an opinion?

[haveapulse]

blah blah blah blah blah
The only question that needed an answer: Why is the CWB average price lower than the AWB and the OWB?

[Hopperbin]

Why is there no bid on our soft wheats?

[Hopperbin]

Who gets the profit if any from the Eropean Mcdonalds deal?

[Hopperbin]

And who the **** wants to deal with a monopoly seller anyway?

[parsley]

haveapulse is the classic textbook worry that 'someone else is getting more'.


Thank goodness there is at least one farmer out there who recognizes, in the folly of barraging CWB propoganda, the main issue, which is being able to sell our own grain.

Keep snoozing, and next, Messenger Haney will be listing the farmers who WILL be growing crops. You will sit up and pay attention when your name is not amongst the producers who have permission to produce.

Oops, too late.

Pars

[wd9]

haveapulse, easy answer, its the floor full of sales people, and the other 6 floors of employees that go a long way to explaining why. Heard it said it would take 9 or ten extra people to market the grain the board does in existing grain companies structure.

[AdamSmith]

Wow what a gem,

The blind leading the dumb.

Earl says "The CWB's job is to market, NOT manage the farm"

Hate to burst your balloon there Earl, but,

the successful management of my farm revolves around my ability to profitably market the grain I grow.

The two, my dear Earl, are not mutually exclusive. The one is contingent on the other.

Has the lightbulb flashed over the top of your pointy head yet?

I din't think so.

Here's another gem of either pure ignorance or slimmy used car salesment speak. I'll let others decide for themselves.

Earl says of the "American Approach" to marketing: They have a system where there is an exchange in Minniapolis that sets the price, and that's the price.


An exchange which is open and transparent in which the rules are well identified and understood and whose function is to discover a price for it's specific contract. This is for a futures contract. The Cash market reflects this price but is influence by a whole host of other facctors. This is known in parts outside of the ghetto of western Canada as BASIS.

Not to be confused with the CWB's version of basis which as I have surmised in the past as having something to do with the last four digits of Earl's phone number multiplied by the number of farmers who tell a cwb phone survey person to FO then divided by the value of an unnamed CWB directors bar tab at Hy's.

Or maybe that was how they came up with the Freight Adjustment Factor but I digress. Futures price plus or minus the basis, is the price.

As opposed to the "Canadian Approach" which is neither open nor transparent, determined by a bunch un accountable pinheads working for a quasi government organization and where the farmer has little or zero choice in the matter.

[Hopperbin]

We can grow HRS wheat and Durum here in Canada and sell it into Europe And USA because American and European subsidies discouraged farmers there to grow the wheat making it higher value than it should be. Not because the CWB is pushing any sort of magic buttons here.

[shaney]

Great discussion. Before everyone jumps on the Shaun Haney loves the wheat board bandwagon I do have to defend myself.

I asked Earl the question regarding the quota system on durum acres due to the fact durum acres are so small globally and a fluctuation in acres in Western Canada can result in significant price swings. I was only referring to durum and not all bread wheats.

If you have read or watched much of my material in the past you would know that I have been very critical of the board for the most part and actually get a lot of hate mail from pro board farmers quite often.

Here are some of my wheat board material in the past.

http://www.realagriculture.com/2009/05/biotech-wheat-coalition-is-formed-to.html
http://www.realagriculture.com/2008/12/coalition-govenment-means-cwb-single.html
http://www.realagriculture.com/2009/04/canadian-wheat-board-election.html

Thanks for commenting on the piece.