Narrative Advocacy Media is a Toronto-based PR firm (whose clients include the Ontario government and provincial Liberals).
On November 2nd, they issued this news release on behalf of the Canadian Wheat Board. It included this link to print and radio ad files.
The ads were created by Bensimon and Byrne, a Toronto-based ad agency.
This print ad appeared in the Toronto-based Globe and Mail. The newspaper placement alone cost an estimated $72,000.
Click for full size
The radio ads are running in the Toronto and Ottawa markets only.
All paid for by prairie farmers.
Related – Wheat Growers to launch legal action against the CWB
Given the gigantic machinery tooling around here in Southern Ontario right now at harvest time, I’d say the 100-200 acre family farm’s time is over already.
Looked into the economics a bit, and in my estimation you couldn’t -start- a farm right now and make it pay. Between the cost of land, machinery and marketing boards (egg, milk, beef etc.) even at the absurdly low interest rates we currently have a new farm couldn’t possibly pay off.
It may be there are some kinds of Special Deals you could get into with the Province and the Feds that would get you over the break-even point that I don’t know about, but even with that you’re looking at a hell of a lot of debt, work and stress for not much payout.
Existing farms are a slightly different story around here. Some families have done fairly well, buying up land and consolidating holdings into 1000+ acre farms, basically becoming agribusinesses owned by one family. Over the course of my lifetime that’s the way its been going around here, one guy owns much of the land and hires on guys to come and run the machinery.
Specialization is increasing, particularly harvesting. Custom cut companies have taken over from the farmer owning his own combine, I think there’s maybe ten combines harvesting all of Haldimand County. It may be less than that, I see the same machines day after day in different guy’s fields, reaping it in. They can do a hundred acre plot in a morning, by the look of it.
So I think guys with operations that big can probably figure out the wheat futures market, know what I mean? The big noise down here is getting rid of the milk and egg boards, and the hog regulations. Selling straight to the Americans would allow MUCH bigger dairy and hog operations to exist, bringing up demand for feed etc. and Ghod forbid making it possible for a guy to grow a cash crop on 100 acres and feed his family on it.
the voice in the radio ad sounds a lot like wayne easter or perhaps a relative
Phantom @ 8:52;
I think you touched on the ‘nut’ of the CWB protest. If the CWB goes then what is next? Milk. eggs etc. Big impact in Quebec which dominates dairy in Canada. The big snag in international trade negociations is always Canada’s ‘supply management’ system of marketing.
I suggest that the Libels have called in their ‘markers’ more than once from those that benefit big time from this protectionism.
Once again the cwb is spending my hard earned cash. Stay out of my pocket. If people from the east want the cwb canvas their mps so they can have this horrible thing. Us real farmers have to stand up against this. Friends of the cwb and cwb alliance do not speak for us and never will.
May as well take a nuclear bomb to this knife-fight.
Dig up the fellows who were jailed by the CWB’s monopoly. Interview them.
Canada’s own Political Dissidents. Jailed for merely trying to exercise freedoms other Canadians take for granted.
Here in Sask farmers don’t a marketing board. They have the Sask A Tories and the provincial treasury. The gov’t pays them with our tax dollars for any short falls. Farmers are the highest civil servants in Sask including you kate.
Agreed, but note the Stephen Harper quote at the end – it’s a lie, they should be taken to task for that as it’s misinformation and unethical, if anyone knows who to lodge a formal complaint with, please post it here.
The actual Harper quote was from 2004 at a Tory Convention and was this:
“We can create a country built on solid Conservative values, not on expensive Liberal promises, a country the Liberals wouldn’t even recognize, the kind of country I want to lead.”