CWB: Eyes Wide Open

The man has a lot to lose.

Open the books.

I believe he himself gets somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 a year from the wheat board for being chairman. With every cent of it being stolen from prairie farmers.

I'm not a farmer, but I don't see how any rational person can argue for a farmer or anyone else to be forced by law to sell his product to a specific organization.

It goes against the very foundations of freedom in a Country.

Don't kill the CWB,make it voluntary to sell the crops to them, then we'll see the truth about how efficient and well run they really are,all politics aside.

dmorris; You said it for me. All I can add is the closer the producer is to the marketplace the better the decision making. Cheers;

I pointed out to him that the government isn't stopping farmers from deciding how to proceed with the CWB after August 1, 2012, it's merely allowing producers to sell to someone other than the CWB after that date.

I also asked him to enlighten me as to why his organization hasn't been lobbying to extend the CWB to the rest of BC, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. After all, if it's good for some, it must be good for all, right?

I have no illusions that my comment will be approved, however I hope my point got across.

His comments section still has 0 comments.

Mine, saying "Hopefully the CWB will go the way the one in Australia did", we will see if it sees the light of day.

I've yet to meet someone from outside the prairies who knew the CWB was mandatory for prairie farmers and optional for others. But what pisses me off is how indifferent they seem after learning.

In order to survive the CWB will have to make a massive paradigm shift in their operating philosophy. The CWB will have to change from the mentality of a monopoly to that of a service industry.
I get the impression that Allen Oberg is not the individual to take the CWB where it needs to go after it's monopoly is gone.

From my point of view, it is not a question about the survival of the CWB, but the end to a monopoly that has been forced on Western Canadian producers for far to long. Most of the second world war vets have passed on but the CWB created to insure food for war torn Europe lives on.

I think it's time to end all the marketing boards in Canada,and for once try out a free market system.

A friend was in the business of producing eggs for hatcheries. He said their quota fee to go into business was a million dollars.

When I complimented him on his facility, he ruefully remarked,"yeah, me and the bank have a real nice operation here".

Canada is allegedly a free market,capitalist Country, yet we have so many communist ideas when it comes to agriculture production.

Does anyone here know the history of how we got into this mess?

Well, I will go against the popular point of view here. I get all the arguments against the CWB, I really do.

But abolishing the board will (in the long term) raise prices for consumers, and decrease the supply - which may be good for a MINORITY of farmers, ie those near rail lines or inland terminals, but not great for the majority of farmers.

I gather the CWB employees will not be getting their $1,000 Christmas bonuses for being hard workers this year.

Erik, what you say is possibly true and also possibly false. Nobody has a crystal ball that foresees the future. Nobody should decide where I sell my grain but me - period. Western wheat growers are nothing more than glorified serfs and that is why many farmers in western Canada refuse to grow any wheat or barley. I say freedom is the more important issue. Why should anyone be able to tell you what you must do with your property?

petra, I totally get, I really do. If I was a farmer near the supply routes and near the USA, I would be anti-CWB. If I was located further from supply routes, I would be pro-CWB, because then I wouldn't have to find my own market for my grain.

The CWB has distorted the market - but we've grown accustomed to that distortion. Removing the CWB will have some effects that I fear.

Free trade was great at first, we got more selection of products at cheaper prices, but lots of North American manufacturing jobs disappeared, forever. And that wasn't good.

My point - short term gain for some, but in the end, it will be bad for all farmers. JMO thanks.

The other day I saw a Mercedes car with a farm plate on it. Really, do the farmers burning purple gas in their Mercedes cars and motorhomes need any type of protection from the big bad open market?

No,Erik,you DO NOT get it.No one is ABOLISHING the CWB,just giving farmers in Western Canada a choice. Howza about I come to your place of business(if you have one),and dictate who you will sell to and at what price,or I will put you in jail?

Dear Mr. Oberg,

Funny how things change.

A year or so ago, every time I thought of the CWB, an old Beatles tune went through my head: Back in the USSR.

Now-a-days, I just can't stop humming,

"Go on and kiss him goodbye, na-na na-na, na-na-na-na, hey, hey, goodbye...

Much happier now, I am,

Yours truly,

etc.,...

Oberg seems to assume that farmers are not shareholders in the grain companies... I know that is simply untrue.

Justthinkin - as a guy in a quasi-union type job, my salary (price of my services) has been determined for me . . . . . . . there is no free market for me . . . .

The main problem is that Canadian prairie farmers are, as a group, too few, too old, too nice and too lightly armed... so their independent nature is often subverted by organized collectivists.

Thankfully the CWB supporters' main argument is also an excellent point of attack for detractors like me. Wheat and barley are only two of many other crops grown by prairie farmers. CWB supporters' justification hinges on an assumption that selling independently is harmful to farmers, which is proven wrong every time a farmer chooses to grow crops other than wheat or barley. The only reason the CWB is around is because they are a bunch of classic rent-seeking bureaucrats. If you really want to give them the coup-de-grace, get hold of their travel and accommodation expenses through Access to Information requests. I've been told by a travel agent that they spare no luxury.

-a grain farm refugee

"They are about to pull out the rug from an organization that returns between $4 and $7 billion a year directly to grain farmers."

He forgot to add "on between $8 and $14 billion worth of grain" LOL

"If you support a woman's right to choose, but deny a farmer's right to choose, you may be a Liberal."

I left a comment " I am betting you are not going to print ANY comments".

"If you support a woman's right to choose, but deny a farmer's right to choose, you may be a Liberal."

If you support a farmer's right to choose, but deny a taxpayer's,
you may be a right wing hypocrite....yes, I know...right wing hypocrite is redundant.

The other day I saw a Mercedes car with a farm plate on it. Really, do the farmers burning purple gas in their Mercedes cars and motorhomes need any type of protection from the big bad open market?

Yes, of course, the "free" market is only for groups and programs small dead teabaggers don't like.
For rural conservative welfare bums, there ain't enough nanny state socialism in the universe to fill that insatiable maw.

Oberg seems to assume that farmers are not shareholders in the grain companies... I know that is simply untrue.
Posted by: djb at July 18, 2011 5:11 PM - I noticed the same thing in the wild, incoherent diatribe that Oberg released from the bowels of CWB.
He seems to be having a little hissy fit - it is really quite funny.

My Dad is cheering in Heaven - he hated the baboons at the CWB - I am happy that I lived to see the end of this colonization of Western Canada by Eastern Canada. The eastern establishment is no longer ruling us - next move - no fwench on our cereal boxes. Quiver and wobble jellie bellies.

Thanks for the link, Kate. Gave me a big smile.

Erik Larsen

I think you might be out of your element here. Where are you WalterF?

Erik, if the Wheat Board is such hot shit, why have so many farmers stopped growing wheat and switched to unregulated crops? Why not the other way around??

To see the impact that the CWB monopsony is having all you have to do is fly over the prairies this past week. Never have I seen so much canola in bloom in my life... simply jawdropping...

Perhaps someone who knows more can instruct me:

My understanding was the original reason for the CWB's existence was that farmers who were close to the US border and/or rail lines paid much less for transport and thus received higher prices than farmers who were farther north and/or remote. The board, by providing a single desk, ensured all farmers got the same price, which was to them "fair". And there was a war on, so I can see where the idea of everybody sharing the ups and downs was considered important.

But that was 70 years ago! Today, I can buy grapes from Chile and apples from South Africa cheaper than I can buy Ontario grapes or apples. Surely there have been big enough improvements in roads, etc. over 7 decades that the cost of moving grain a few hundred extra miles must be negligible, if the cost of moving other agricultural commodities thousands of miles adds little to their cost.

Can anyone help me out?

It is not up to me or Minister Ritz to ensure the CWB survives. That is up to the people who want the CWB and believe it has value to them. I believe the CWB has taken potential profits from my pocket for years and look forward to the day I will have the freedom to market my wheat and barley as I now market my canola, peas oats, rye and hay. If the CWB board of directors continues to make the argument that someone else must plan to save the CWB, then the CWB is doomed. The Prairie Pools went down due to lack of vision and leadership, it appears the same will happen to the CWB.

I tried to leave a message on his post,and it said that I was using illegal characters and I couldn't be identifyed. There was no comments listed either.

Gord, and FLAX...and even wild rice in Manitoba.

I don't know if my comment will get posted on that blog, but this is what I submitted:

"He’s also saying the CWB can be strong and viable in an open market. A government-appointed task force concluded otherwise in 2006, but hey, he’s a politician, and he’s a master of the sound bite."

If a marketing agency cannot be strong and viable in an open market, the last thing it deserves is to be given a monopoly. The only way that the farmers can have a valid plebiscite on this issue is to allow them to market their wheat to whoever they chose. If they choose to sell their wheat to the CWB - great - if they choose to sell wheat to someone else - just as great.

No entity should be allowed to dictate to the farmers who they may or may not sell their wheat to. Such Stalinist policies have no place in a Western Democracy.

If you didn't sell wheat or barley to the CWB over the course of the last 5 years, no vote for you in Alan's big plebicite but if you were issued a CWB check of any kind you get a vote even if you havn't resided on a farm for years. "Democracy" CWB style. Tried the above comment at Alan Obie Wan Kenobi Oberg's blog site but it didn't seem to appear. Funny that?

Hold the phone,it was phil in that Mercedes.I told him to buy a farm and get in on the gravy train,become rich and buy a Mercedes and by golly if he didnt go and do it.Must have been all of those subsidy checks.Way to go phil.Aint it great to be a rural welfare bum,darn near as good as being in a union job.

Erik yes farmers run "F" plates on our cars and 10% off on insurence. In the country less accedents but we still pay full price for gas. Kevinb the WB started in the 30's.But we didn't have to sell to them. In 41 or 42 they made us at 1.00 a bu. untill into the 50's. Then the price slowly went up. But we have never got close to world price. So for the last 15 years I grow none board grains. It is not where you are but how much you make.

Can someone able to comment there put one up for me? I want to see him put up a public bet: CAN$10,000 wagered on the average farmers profit on a bushel after 3 years of the board being gone. If the profit goes down, he wins; if it goes up, he pays. It's a bet I might want to take. Do you think he would?

Alan does not want to have a discussion, he only wants to lecture us like lefties do. Still no comments being allowed on his blog.

This is very strange.The left won't talk.

Erik yes farmers run "F" plates on our cars and 10% off on insurence. In the country less accedents but we still pay full price for gas. sic

Lots of non farmers live in the country driving the same roads in the same vehicles for the same purposes, yet subsidize free loader farmers for f plates.
Lots of free loading, welfare bum farmers live in town, yet get subsidized insurance rates. Like all of your free loader entitled to your entitlements rationalizations, it's bogus.
And you sometimes pay the full price for gas...oh the humanity.

Spike, I've told you before, I've got too much self respect to
be a professional leech, not that self respect is a concept
within your comprehension.
And a job, union or no, unlike farming, requires one to actually show up to get paid.
Try it... you may like it.

wow phil, you sound like a complete idiot.

and since you can't tell us where you work...
you also qualify as an idiot without a job.