Fuel over food?
Re: Biofuel by Ken Sigurdson, (Opinion April 3.) I do agree with most of what is said in the article. I do not have any documentation on biofuel but think that some of the numbers might be a bit distorted.
That being said, I do think that Ken is missing a big part of the equation. I do think that the prices we are seeing for grain are out of hand and no good for anyone. Where will we be when commodity prices come down? We will be left with higher inputs and no return on investment.ÂÂ
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Why is it that the farming industry is always pitting grain farmer against hog or beef or any livestock? It is very unfortunate and unfair for them or anyone losing money in droves and I only hope they can hang in there.
As a grain farmer it is high time we get something for our work. We have been losing money or break even for too long. We should be food producers first, but not at a loss and if industry thinks that producing fuel is more important than food, then maybe the general public will finally realize that food comes from the land and not the grocery store.
I do not think that the biofuel industry is the only one to blame for the high prices of grain but rather the greed of Wall Street. …
What I cannot understand is that the grain stocks have been at their lowest numbers for a number of years but that was not enough to bolster prices. Does this mean that we value fuel over food? Something is wrong with this picture.
– Denis E. Robert,
Aubigny, Man.
Durum lesson
On page 19 of the April 3 edition of The Western Producer the article titled “U.S. mill refuses Canadian wheat” should be read by every western Canadian wheat producer who might be under the false impression a sale of their wheat at Chicago or Minneapolis daily quoted wheat prices to U.S. flour mills or grain companies is possible, if only the Canadian Wheat Board would get out of the way.
When wheat prices in the U.S. are higher, every conceivable tactic to keep Canadian grain out of their system has and will be employed. Should Canadian wheat be offered for sale or delivered at a cent lower, any movement of grain to the U.S. would be immediately labelled as dumping.
Canadian wheat, beef and soon pork, is not welcomed by U.S. producers. They have the political clout to do and have done something about it.
Not until multinational grain giants have full control of all the grain on both sides of the border will there be any change in how grain will be marketed.
How this change will affect the financial position of producers on both sides of the border is obvious. American wheat producers have the protection of the U.S. farm bill. Canadians do not.
– Roman Pankiw,
Dufrost, Man.
More premiums
John De Pape should acknowledge the published conclusion of the study he’s discussing (Barley premiums, March 13).
Despite what De Pape says he was told in conversation, the study he refers to concluded that the CWB garnered $59 million in additional premiums for malting barley than would have been received under identical market conditions if the CWB did not exist.
The 2005 study, conducted by three leading academics, was entitled The Canadian Wheat Board and Barley Marketing. I’ll quote from the conclusion: “Over the 1995-96 to 2003-04 crop years, the introduction of multiple sellers would have resulted in an annual average loss of $59 million in revenue accruing to Canada’s barley producers. Multiple sellers of Canada’s barley would have caused losses in revenue to Canadian barley producers in every year (from 1995-96 to 2003-04).”
Similar conclusions have been reached in study after study for both wheat and barley, proving the basic economic concept that one seller commands a higher price than multiple sellers competing to sell into the same market.
– Larry Hill,
Chair, CWB board of directors,
Swift Current, Sask.
Tire hazard
When I received my copy of the April 3 Western Producer, I was shocked to see your lack of judgment in publishing the picture of a child relaxing in a tractor wheel.
With all the publicity on farm safety lately, you’d think you would know better.
While my children were young, if I ever caught one of then sitting in a wheel, they received a severe reprimand. There have been children killed after falling asleep in a wheel or climbing in a dual leaning against a wall and having it fall on them.
I have seen pictures on the paper front cover of such dangerous things as riding in a front-end loader bucket before but thought it was time someone there took a look at common sense before selecting the cover photo.
– Erwin Bateman,
Craven, Sask.
Nasty costs
It has come to my attention that grain producers in the Canadian Wheat Board area are being forced to pay a cost not of their making. Why? Because Chuck Strahl fired CWB chief executive officer Adrian Measner without cause.
To add insult to injury, the CWB is now being forced to take the farmers’ money from the pool accounts to pay severance compensation to Mr. Measner.
This firing of Mr. Measner was nothing more than a display of mean-spirited political power, against the wishes of the farmer elected board, and the majority of grain producers in the wheat board area.
My MP, David Anderson, was parliamentary secretary to the minister for the CWB (Chuck Strahl), and now Gerry Ritz. So, I am asking my MP to provide some clarification.
How many dollars will these unjust charges cost farmers in the wheat board area? How much of a financial burden would this be to each of your grain-growing constituents? I expect you have the information to answer these question, so please do so.
– Henry Neufeld,
Waldeck, Sask.
Cattle call
After reading the Alberta Beef Producers and packers letter in the March 27 issue, one has to wonder why, when there are over 20,000 Saskatchewan beef producers paying into the Cattle Market Deduction Fund, that they are not speaking up about the proposed new Saskatchewan Cattlemen Association.
Do they not realize their checkoff is about to be commandeered to fund an idea that, according to producers and the media alike, has been attempted in other provinces, cost millions and is failing due to overwhelming obstacles?
Is it not time the Saskatchewan beef industry, including anyone that benefits from the fund, to stop thinking of this as an internal issue of two beef associations and start thinking about what is about to happen?ÂÂ
Should total control of the Saskatchewan checkoff be handed over to a single association without a province wide producer vote? With no province wide vote on who controls the checkoff, who will decide whether or not it will remain refundable? Who will decide whether or not the levy will be increased?
Are all Saskatchewan producers willing to risk funding cuts to the well-established groups that have been doing a lot of good work on behalf of the Saskatchewan beef industry?
It should be the right of the 20,000 plus Saskatchewan producers that contribute to the CMDF to have a say in who controls the checkoff. All Saskatchewan producers and CMDF beneficiaries need to speak to their MLAs, government officials and the media and let them know they want to have a say in this process….
– Tamela J Burgess,
Big Beaver, Sask.
Hog doublespeak
I write in response to federal minister of agriculture Gerry Ritz’s April 17 letter regarding the hog crisis.
I would have to say that the minister has certainly mastered the art of political doublespeak. On the one hand he says he is committed to helping family farms no matter how big or small. He keeps spouting the mantra of flexible bankable agriculture programs to achieve that end.
When the inherent flaws in these programs are pointed out to him, and his department continues to discriminate against a certain agricultural sector, he sanctimoniously hides behind the cloak of accountability to Canadian taxpayers in defending the caps on these support programs.
He certainly seems to have very few qualms about spending the uncapped tax revenue that these companies contribute to provincial and federal coffers.
Isn’t it time already to walk the walk and treat everybody the same? If that is not possible, then quit trying to insult our intelligence by insisting these programs are sufficient to solve our safety net needs.
– Joe Kleinsasser.
Chair, Sask Pork,
Rosetown, Sask.
