Off to a Parlimentary vote----Please respond

[charliep]

Sorry barleyman - you initiated topic, not erik.

[charliep]

tower

Other interesting stuff.

Page 11 of the CWB survey. 25 % of farmers say the CWB do a good or excellent job of marketing feed barley 39 % who say they do a poor or very poor job.

Page 12 of the CWB survey. 36 % of farmers say the CWB do a good or excellent job of marketing malt barley 26 % who say they do a poor or very poor job.

The CWB surveyed was based on 26 % of respondents from Alberta versus Alberta share of western Canadian barley production of 50 %. No provincial results around the barley issue where released. In the plebescite, 79 % Albertan either wanted choice or no CWB. The numbers between the plebescite and the survey are consistent.

Don't know whether there will be an appeal. Don't know whether the federal government will try to achieve change through parliment. The above are the numbers that should be used in decision making.

[tower]

Sometimes spin is all their is. If you check out page 37 you will see the concernI mentioned expressed in a graph in the survey. more than 60% want a strong board whether they use it all the time or not. How, given the conditions of the board as a physical presence in the prairies, would it achieve that strength.

Politicians will see that as as much of a problem as farmers do, don't you think?

[AdamSmith]

This is totally anacdotal, but since I've barely spoken to anyone about this topic since the court decision, (swathing canola and combining winter wheat, 60 bpa, would have been 70 but had wild oat issues).

But any how, my father who voted #2 in the pleb, said "after this, the only way to go is to get rid of it (the cwb) altogether" No prompting from me other than I said if someone openly admits to me they voted for the cwb, I think I'd punch them in the nose" So there is one individual who was a two and is now definatly a #3.

I was a #3 all along, and I'll always be a #3, wheat and barley.

It's the only way the industry can function in any way of a normal fashion. The lunatics have to be removed from a dominating position of influance forever and that is done by repealing the cwb act, period.

IMO it's delusional to think otherwise, as the cwb will never, ever, be content to operate in competition with others, they will always, and forever desire to dominate. And that's why I believe people like that should never be allowed to have positions if influance in a free society.

[kamichel]

Also Adam as you and I know the CWB pricing options are a joke, When you only have one entity giving fixed , daily pooled prices. More of this is now what the CWB is now talking, they are so far out of touch. More of that is not what we need. Just look at all the export business that open market stirred up in the last few months, much more than the CWB could ever do or has ever done in my opinion. Now the CWB wants to talk to these farmers and businesses to take over the sales. Should they really be given that? The business was done without the board. Business that did not want to deal with the board. To the guy that stated should the board be sacraficed to give options to 20 percent of farmers that cannot access them? Yes if it is really so, remember that your price may be 50 cents per bushel higher because of the extra buyers end users even if you do not do producer direct sales. I have no intention to do producer direct, but who knows some day a door may open and the extra sale is good for all producers.

[tower]

you think the people in the cwb are dedicated toholding and getting power? lol. compare them to the bozos who run the grain multinationals. The ones that will win if we lose the bard and the option of the board.

[AdamSmith]

tower, there in a nutshell, is why the cwb has to go, they see the buyers and the users of the grain we grow (the multinationals) not to mention our domestic grain companies, as the enemy.

It's like Stronach at Magna, seeing GM,Ford and Chryler as the enemy.

Farmers do not need to be protected from our buyers.

And yes, the cwb is all about domination of an industry, and it's run and managed by people who see everyone as the enemy, farmers who desire to freely sell their own grain are the enemy, buyers who wish to accomodate those farmers are the enemy, buyers who wish to deal directly with farmers are the enemy, railroads who transport the grain from a croplands to ports are the enemy, terminal owners who think they could manage their space better than some ivoryTOWER winnipeg employee are the enemy, anyone who dare hold a different opinion is an enemy and as such deserves to be treated like scum. The deserve to be lied to, treated like children (farmers) intimidated and threatened (grain companies), and most of all impoverished (farmers)

That mindset has nearly destroyed the viability of the grain sector.

[Lifer]

"you think the people in the cwb are dedicated toholding and getting power?"

You don't? that's funny.

[Burbert]

Yeah I bet, the Chucker is in a big hurry to get this on a roll. Apparently he has already written a letter stating his commitment to Canadian farmers. What a bag of wind, his face must be soooooooo reddd right now, what a fiasco. Let Chucker rush into parliament and make this an issue. I hope Mr Meas--- now sues him for wrongful dismissal. Anything Chuck does now, will be an attempt to cover is brightly exposed as=.

[Lifer]

Strahl and Co. may have screwed up around the interpretation of the law.

They have shown a committment to the majority of Canadian Farmers. I find his letter more genuine then Ritter's recent writings.

[silverback]

Do you mean where Ken writes that the cwb is going to become FNA II, FCC Lite, and CWB CO-OP Milling???

[Lifer]

fna II, fcc Lite and pretty much f all. Yup that's about right.

[chaffmeister]

Tower:

Did you know the plebiscite was about CHOICE – not about the CWB as an institution. When you say 86% voted to have the choice of dealing with the board, that’s a misrepresentation based on a misunderstanding. If you want the “choice” of the CWB, you vote for the status quo – the single desk. The ONLY reason to vote otherwise is that you don’t want the SINGLE DESK – you want CHOICE.

You asked <i>What would it take to make the board a viable alternative given the nature of the system?</i>

Not much:
- No pools or flexible pricing in pools (no fixed initial payment, final payment stuff)
- Relationships (the CWB’s got them – they need to exploit them)
- Farmers support (again, the CWB’s got some)
- Negotiating skills (to negotiate with graincos to handle the grain)
- Market sense
- Creativity, dedication and an abundance mentality (not a slice of the pie mentality) – the CWB has no monopoly on this stuff – they may need to hire new people.
- And the CWB culture would need to shed its arrogance


Did you know that the Bloc is against CWB choice because it doesn’t like the Conservatives approach to WTO? Did you know that Dion has stated that when it comes to the CWB issue, the Liberals will do whatever is most expedient for the Liberals? That means pander to Quebec. Don’t think for a minute that anyone’s posture has anything to do with supporting western farmers’ interests – except the Conservatives, both in Ottawa and Edmonton.


You seem to think that we’ve been better off with the CWB than without.

Did you know that REAL DATA shows the CWB SYSTEM COST is dramatically and substantially higher than the non-CWB system?
Did you know that REAL DATA shows that the CWB sales performance in barley over the years has been well below average – WELL BELOW.
Did you know that the CWB’s calculations of its value (presented to the Special Task Force) were WRONG, based on a shockingly poor understanding of how the grain system works?

REAL DATA. REAL COSTS. REAL POOR.

[wilagro]

What is this REAL DATA of which you speak? Where can I get some? Is in on the open market...or is it controlled by a consortium of truth sayers?

[chaffmeister]

CWB System Cost vs non-CWB system:
http://www.quorumcorp.net/Downloads/AnnualReports/AnnualReport200506DataTablesEnglish.pdf
Pages 184-186 (wheat, durum, canola)
- data comes from all the players, including the CWB

CWB Sales Performance:
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agc6751/$FILE/sparks%20barley%20study%20april%2004.pdf
Section 5.
- main data source was the CWB