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

[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.

[Hopperbin]

Actually you did a very good job. Your job as an interviewer is to make the interviewed comfortable and open up their mind. Very good job. It must be very hard sometimes as we all have our opinions. You are very professional. Keep up the good work.

[shaney]

Thanks for the thoughts. If the single desk is going to
stay in the meantime farmers need to push people like
Earl to drive new programs that give farmers more
options and ultimately higher prices. There is many
things that the board does that drives me crazy too
like not requiring certified seed for an IP contract.