CWB Producer Survey Has Been Released

[Fransisco]

When it comes to the question of the CWB getting you better prices...

36% of surveyed farmers showed that they don't do price checks or just can't do basic arithmetic, lets call them the true believers.

44% weren't really sure one way or the other, the agnostics

and 19% actually did their homework and knew what they were talking about.

[Fransisco]

The majority of farmers surveyed also believe that competition would lead to higher prices and better service.

[haveapulse]

Wonder where the questions were on the relevance of the voters list?

[charliep]

I would encourage farmers/farm organizations to request the full
producer survey interview schedule similar to 2007. Has not been
released in either 2008 or 2009. Information like opinion on the
voter list will be in this fuller presentation/documentation.

You also has to go back and compare how the information is
presented between 2008 and 2009. Interesting the survey
company introduced segregation by age, size and percent of farm
of farm receipts (don't know what this is) but didn't include the
Provincial breakdowns. There were also a lot more longer term
graphs such as page 10.

My interest was peaked by the questions around the contingency
and I have to admit to confusion. It would appear to farmer motto
around the financial aspects of the CWB is "what you can't see
doesn't hurt you".

[Fransisco]

I noticed the survey weighting at the begining as well and haven't had time yet to check previous surveys if they did it there as well. But I found it interesting that 1/3 were 640 acres and under, 1/3 640-2500 acres and 1/3 2500 acres.

Would be interesting to see what the results would look like if you dropped the lower acre farms.

[charliep]

Would not the results on barley when the CWB support went up by 6 %.

Majority of western Canadian farmers still favor an open market for barley, 46 % open market versus 42 % single desk (12 % didn't say). Alberta was 64 % open market versus 27 % single desk.

On performance, 47 % of survey respondants said the CWB does a poor job of marketing feed barley versus 20 % that said a good job. The survey was split at 35 % good versus bad on malt barley. I knocked off the 30 % percent moderately good - don't know what moderately good is. Would the 30 % have been different if asked the question as moderately bad.

[charliep]

Perhaps a bit of an irony but interesting that most farmers feel the CWB does a poor job of marketing feed barley and yet the CWB made $20 mln cash trading feed barley in 2007/08(none of which benefited barley growers but rather was deposited into the contingency fund). Won't back to review but I think this was on about 150,000 tonnes of sales. Most grain companies would like margins like that on feed barley transactions.

[GrainBeetle]

Franny:

How are your free-market pigs treating you? Lower priced feed barley (pig food) is what you want isnt it? You are smarter than the average farmer.

[wilagro]

I understand that free-market hawgs have been in free-fall for some time now. They need some cheap barley real soon or the loss will be even greater than is has been.

[Fransisco]

Was also interesting to see on page 20 how pooling ranked at the bottom of the priority list.

It also looks like the monopoly is more favoured by those who have one foot already in the old folks home(page 23). Socialism was good enough for old Granddad it's good enough for you sonny, "I had to work two jobs to make back the money the board cost me, now its your turn young fellow!"