CWB hosting meetings to gain Input.

[boone]

Parsley: that is not really what I'm looking for here, I just want the right to cash out a couple times a day based on Minn.HrdRed, Kansas City, minus costs, adjusted for dollar and basis. I don't want to be running around willy nilly with my samples undermining the Canadian gathering system, as peddlar extrordinair.

[boone]

Parsley: that is not really what I'm looking for here, I just want the right to cash out a couple times a day based on Minn.HrdRed, Kansas City, minus costs, adjusted for dollar and basis. I don't want to be running around willy nilly with my samples undermining the Canadian gathering system, as peddlar extrordinair.

[boone]

Sorry about the double post, but I have a mouse that stutters.

[parsley]

boone

It would appear that you are one who thinks that if a farmer, (instead of the the so-called experts) markets his own grain, you would consider that "peddling". You certainly try to make it sound denigrating, and it reflects your attitude towards the thousands of purebred livestock breeders who "peddle" their breeding stock around the world. And put cash in their pockets.

Good thing all Western farmers aren't hobbled with the single-desk paradym. They's all be huddled in the commune waiting for their final CWB payment.

Parsley

[charliep]

The issue comes down to there are farmers who grow a more specialized product and are wanting to market this product directly. This may not be within your business plan/interests.

The current buyback system makes the CWB pricing system very transparent in that the farmer knows what they have paid for their wheat under the producer direct sales and what they have sold for in the outside market. They remain at risk for the final payment and the impact this has on total returns. would encourage every farmer to do this at least once (try a "B") as an educational experience to understand what the system asks direct marketers to do.

Realizing this will not satisfy all but the move to daily pricing could potentially some of the issues around producer direct sales/export licences. To do this, the producer pricing options would have to reflect actual daily market prices and not a advance payment that reflects the expected blend and timing of sales during the year .

[wbrower]

Today I recieved a response from Shirley McClellan, to a letter I had written to The Premier of Alberta concerning the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly. In this letter she says "Our analysis has shown that US farmers often do receive better prices on the spot market than western Canadian farmers are able to get through the CWB. The Alberta Grain Commission(AGC) is doing an assessment and analysis of prices in Montana and plans to publish Montana prices on their website....(www.agric.gov.ab.ca/agc)... She goes on to to suggest "With the change in the federal cabinet, we have an opportunity to raise the profile of this issue and achieve the results we need."

Maybe Mr Speller or Mr. Alcock can explain just why it is that their Canadian Wheat Board monopoly returns about one Canadian dollar less to western Canadian farmers than Grain companies pay farmers in Montana.

[charliep]

Just as a note on the buy back, anyone who exported wheat directly in the fall of 2002 paid an extremely high price for wheat through the buy back process and like everyone recieved no final payment. A lot of pain. With the exception of people who were lucky enough to book basis and convert to a fixed price contract in the fall of 2002, most people have been at the bleeding edge of change using the producer pricing options.

I am supportive of change in CWB producer pricing options. The question is how far this change goes to reflecting markets versus a full advance on pooled price or a change to the point where there is a full market price signal outside the CWB/pooling.

[parsley]

charliep,

You seem to think doing the buyback is exporting directly. It isn't.

Doing a buyback means selling my grain to the CWB. This means a legal change of ownership of my grain to the CWB. Exporting it means I must first become a grain buyer. I must legally purchase Wheat Board grain if I want to sell anything at all. Not for me.

In the 26 August/99 Western Producer article, now-CWB Director Rod Flaman brought this very issue to court and his statement of claim stated, "It would appear that the license application is arbitrarily denied unless the applicant is willing to first sell to the CWB Corporation that very grain which he wishes to export"

I don't want to twiddle and tinker with daily prices, or designing new pricing options or streamlining the buyback procedure. They simply result in more staff. I don't want to buy Wheat Board grain, charliep. I want to market my grain. I

With a simple export license, and a marketing course from all the bull-marketers in Western Canada, I can peddle, (as boone says), my grain. And folks like wbrower won't have to ask the Alcock's of the world where his $$$ went anymore.

Parsley

[TOM4CWB]

CHarlie;

Since the last PPO numbers showed the CWB extracted over $.70/bu on the basis... this is a very small concession...

Crusher;

Art Macklin, Butch Harder, Ian McCreary, and Bill Nicholson are just a few of the elected Directors who voted to stop CWB Director's from using PPO's in marketing their CWB grain... along with many of the appointed Directors.

This was pure self interest on the part of these CWB Directors in preventing cash pricing options (that work reasonably well)... for if these same folks were required to ONLY use Fixed Price and Basis contracts... we would have had many of these PPO problems resolved years ago...

These CWB Directors have a vested interest in stopping transparent prices from being offered to farmers. THey themselves do not believe there would be a CWB to provide a pay check... if daily direct transparent pricing were avaliable to "designated area" farmers who market through the CWB.

[boone]

parsley etal I'm not here to denigrate anyone but you know it get's a little tiring when I see players who only see how the market seems to short them. Last year Tom4 and more spoke about how Ontario get's special treatment that was true but measure the tonnage and you realize the insignificance of setting policy based on a miniscule market. You know many years ago I asked a lady that had been smuggled out of mainland China, to Hong Kong (1957) who was very free market oriented (no pun) why Tinamen square happened and she said in a very pragmatic way. At some point the government is responsible to the majority regardless of how unpalatable it is. And this comes back to me when I see some of the responses on this string. We'll get there, (like China) but don't be led, lead. I see brokers with a lot of self interest championing the cause of change. They are under some dillusion that they will have one of the BIG mansions in Winnipeg like pre CWB days. Ain't going to happen.