CWB & organics
Organic response to John Husband: I am an organic farmer. I grow organic wheat and barley and other organic crops.
I want to be treated fairly by the Canadian Wheat Board. I don’t ask for special treatment. I do not want preferential access to premium U.S. markets. I just want my fair share. Perhaps this is the point where John and I disagree.
When I buy back my wheat from the CWB for a producer direct sale to the U.S., the CWB does not charge me any extra because it is organic. I pay the same to buy my wheat back as any other western Canadian producer. I am then free to sell that wheat in the United States.
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I could sell that grain as conventional or organic. There are two distinct prices for these two products. The difference in these two prices reflects the demand by the consuming public for organic products and I will retain 100 percent of that organic premium. I do not share that premium with the CWB or with anybody else.
If the premium for growing organic grain is not a sufficient incentive for a producer to be organic, then the whole organic industry is in trouble.
I don’t believe that the organic industry is in trouble. I believe that the organic industry is flourishing and that the organic premiums are substantial incentives for most organic producers.
However, marketing organic grain may be a challenge for some producers as the industry matures and becomes more competitive.
I might advocate that the CWB get involved in the marketing of organic wheat. We could, for example, offer our Japanese customers the choice of No. 1 Canada Western Red Spring wheat or No. 1 Organic Canada Western Red Spring wheat.
This would do nothing to detract from the current marketing activities of organic producers, and I suspect that some organic producers might actually be supportive of the CWB providing marketing assistance to organic growers.
– Rod Flaman,
CWB Director, District 8,
Edenwold, Sask.
Too much money?
For the past decade the United States has tried to bring an end to the Canadian Wheat Board by accusing it of dumping our wheat and durum into its domestic markets – an argument which they have lost every time.
So now they are singing a different song. If they can’t honestly say the CWB is selling our grain too cheaply, they are now accusing it of doing too good a job of it.
Point in fact. In the World Trade Organization negotiations, the U.S. and Europe point out that the CWB, through single desk selling, makes an additional $160 to $200 million a year for farmers. They want this to be declared as a subsidy.
My, what an about face. Who in their wildest dreams would have thought they would hear a U.S. or European negotiator accuse the board of making too much money?
Furthermore, the hypocrisy of this latest charge makes me nauseous. Here are the two biggest subsidizers in the world, who spend billions upon billions in support of their own farmers, wanting this $160 to $200 million declared a subsidy.
What do you think is really behind this move? Could it be that they realize the power of single desk selling and consider it an unfair advantage, or could it be that they would like to see numerous sellers of our grain and consequently take advantage of the lowest price? I think it’s both.
– Don Bamber,
Oyen, Alta
Too docile
Alberta feedlot operator Rick Paskal should be commended for having organized the blockade of cattle destined for slaughter at Cargill owned by an American R-CALF member who thought he was going to have it both ways.
Every one of the demonstrators deserves accolades heaped upon them, for they have done the cow-calf producer an enormous favour with their blockade.
If not for the feedlot operator, we would not have a market for our calves. Co-operation between the two will prove successful.
That is the problem with our national association. They behave like a bunch of wimps, and our provincial associations fall into the very same category.
This wimpy attitude demonstrates why the federal government does absolutely nothing for our industry. Why should they? They have nothing to fear on sitting with their arms folded on their chest.
We should take a page out of the native demonstration handbook and picket the various agriculture minister’s offices. Then and only then will our industry be recognized and receive fair treatment.
The natives are allowed to block highways and cause disruption and everyone pussy foots around them. Why should we not be allowed blockades? We have just cause.
Our associations keep telling us to be patient and do nothing because the border will open soon and we’ve listened to this rhetoric for the past year to no avail. …
Witness our weak attitude towards the World Trade Organization and North American Free Trade Agreement. Our negotiators always come up short. The agriculture industry has always been bargained away. Are there no professional negotiators in Ottawa?
This past election our industry was not even on the radar screen. Where were our associations to remind them of their obligation to our industry? Why are we paying hefty check-off fees? I suppose to pay the travel expenses directors incur….
Recently three cows tested positive for BSE. At least the initial field tests were positive. However, instead of having an independent country analyze and verify the tests like Canada did, the U.S. authorities directed their own laboratories to do them.
Do we not find this strange that all three tests came back negative? Shoot, shovel and shut up is the new U.S. policy. Not one objection from our association or government.
Is it not time we shucked our docile attitude and became more vociferous toward our so-called elite and held them to account for their poor performance in representing our industry?
– Mike Dudar,
Ethelbert, Man.
Say no
While not living in a farming area, with family members operating a mixed farm in southern Saskatchewan, the problems of farmers are never far from our thoughts. Like many in this area, we make sure that our beef purchases are Canadian only and avoid American produce.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no easy way to get action from the American government, especially when it is not in our interests to start further trade wars.
The actions of a few teenagers in southern Saskatchewan in getting major fast food chains to use Canadian beef seems like a better and less risky approach.
Recently I noticed another way to get the direct attention of an American owned business. Wal-Mart is frequently asking customers for their postal code as they pass through the checkout. The explanation is that their American head office needs the information to determine the shopping area for each store.
Wal-Mart is, I believe, the world’s largest retailer, and prides itself on its marketing expertise. Here is an ideal opportunity to get the attention of this retail giant.
When the clerk asks for you postal code, politely say “No, not until Wal-Mart helps to reopen the border to Canadian live cattle.”
If everyone used this small refusal to co-operate, large areas of Western Canada would not gather the needed data and the failure of a marketing strategy will get the attention of Wal-Mart.
You might also tell your local Wal-Mart manager why you are opting out of this marketing plan. If the clerk tells you they do not know how to proceed with the transaction, tell her to press ‘enter’ to skip ahead.
Remember, if a few active teenagers can influence the fast food chains like they did, surely the rest of us can just politely say no.
– Bill Burbidge,
Flin Flon, Man.
Next time
It is difficult to understand why anyone would vote for a political party that had lied to them, that had cheated them, that had overtaxed them to spend their money without due process.
That is precisely what the Liberal party has done to the Canadian people over the past 30 years. This has become known as the most corrupt in the history of Canada. Blame can be placed at the feet of Jean Chrétien, but let us not forget that the Liberal party supported him all the way.
Paul Martin does not have clean hands either. He was minister of finance for 10 years during the Chrétien regime and must have known what was going on.
If he didn’t he was inept. If he did, he was crooked. He is the one who balanced the budget by using Employment Insurance funds that had been built up by the overcharging of employees and employers and by cutting back funding of Medicare.
Today he is billed as the man who will clean up the mess, the mess that he created. Paul Martin’s steamship lines received huge grants from the government. … He registered his company offshore to avoid paying the heavy income tax rates ….
Liberal politicians consider themselves to be above the law and the rest of us are simply pawns in the game to jump at their command. The prime minister has become a virtual dictator. Chrétien demonstrated this fact many times. Can we expect Paul Martin to act differently?
Liberal policy is designed to control the people and to this end they have succeeded in legalizing their gag law, which virtually controls freedom of speech in Canada. Federal Liberals tried to have this law accepted by the high court of Alberta and failed. All of these courts declared the gag law unconstitutional … Finally the Liberal puppets in the Supreme Court approved the act on a vote of six to three, a sad day for freedom of speech in Canada.
Canadians have suffered enough under Liberal rule. It is time to put them out. Until Stephen Harper came along, there was no united national party to challenge them. Today there is. The new Conservatives came close. Next time it will be all the way.
– John I. Fisher,
North Battleford, Sask.
Foreign packers
There is considerable discussion concerning the need to slaughter our own beef in Canada. I agree with this idea but wish to explain some dangers.
I believe that a country should be owned by the citizens of the country.
No foreign ownership of our land, resources and businesses.
We have had Canadian owned slaughter facilities.
When Cargill started up their High River (Alta.) plant, supposedly they operated it at a loss for three years and put many Canadian abattoirs out of business.
What is stopping them from again paying a premium for our beef and again putting this new processing plant out of business?
I also am concerned that we are being used to reduce competition in the U.S.
With animals worth $700 more across the line, smaller packers in the States are hurting and may go out of business.
We may be helping set up a North American corporate meat packing monopoly.
All that is needed to build and operate a plant is labour and resources. We have these ingredients in Canada.
I believe competition is good for a country, providing all the competitors are citizens of the country. Having adequate processing capacity with real competition and not allowing any unprocessed product out of the country is an idea worth examining.
– Laverne Isaac,
Medstead, Sask.
