Alberta Ag employees - Spending tax payers money wisely

[charliep]

I agree the initial payment can work for a farmer and against. The issue is the farmer is not in control of deliveries because of contract acceptance, contract calls and elevator capacity/logistics issues.

The other issues are how much risk is passed back to the farmer to protect the overall pools. Farmers should be able to lock in spreads to protect their risk/price based on the market conditions.

How would the CWB manage their risk? I have the CWB match farmer contracts up against sales. A domestic miller uses daily spreads - not averages during the year - when they buy from the CWB. They likely (haven't been in the CWB for a while) can forward book spreads. I would match off sales spreads to farmer spreads to manage CWB risk.

I note your example of an extreme change in spreads. What would be wrong with this? I note similar changes have happened in a very unplanned manner with changes in initial payments. There is more likely to be a gradual change (not overnight) in a market based process where the current initial payment based spreads occurs all at once based on simply luck of the draw. Managing spread risk should be a CWB responsibility - not additional price uncertainty passed onto the farmer.

An open market will force the CWB to much innovative in they handle spreads. In this case, they will have to manage their spread risk by matching against sales.

[TOM4CWB]

Charlie,

It is the very lack of market transparency, unwillingness to daily indicate market signals, that is most disappointing in CWB management.

The pool again sucks up the distortion, and those with "special" priviledges take the cream off the top... as with any communist collective system.

Shortages in the midst of plenty of supplies... as happens with malt barley... are a hallmark of a communist system... which the CWB passes with flying colours.

CWB idealogy on democracy clearly fits the "democracy" that communists have used... The rights of individuals who create prosperity must be sacrificed for the greater good of the collective.

[charliep]

No response on the comments on spreads so will return to the original posting by highlighting the Alberta government position. I will note the ministers comments on the last "Choice Matters" newsletter.

** Barley Plebiscite Results **

62% of respondents from across the prairies voted for marketing change for barley

Minister Groeneveld's Message on the Barley Plebiscite Results

The results of the federal barley plebiscite are in and they should come as no surprise to anyone who has worked with Alberta's grain and barley producers over the last decade. Alberta's producers have once again voted in favour of innovation. They have voted in favour of competition. They have voted in favour of choice.

With the results in, it's time for the Government of Canada, the Canadian Wheat Board and industry to work together to strengthen the barley marketing system. The Government of Alberta will support the work that needs to be done to make this happen.

We are a province known for our hard work and independence; a province whose reputation was built setting trends and getting ahead of the competition. It is time now for us to apply this spirit to an open barley market. Our options are no longer restrained. It is time to plant our seeds in a field of opportunity.

http://www.choicematters.gov.ab.ca/