ERRONEOUS ARGUMENT
In a letter in the Feb. 28 issue of The Western Producer, Bev Currie of Swift Current took exception to Kevin Hursh’s comments about the new open market, found in the Jan. 31 issue.
Unfortunately, Currie’s arguments are based on erroneous assumptions.
For instance, he says that Canada is different than the U.S. in that “Canadians consume 20 percent of our crop and we export the balance.” He adds the U.S. has it the other way around.
“The U.S. produces 80 percent of its requirements and the balance was met with purchases from the CWB.”
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…Currie is ignoring well-known statistics, including the fact that the U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of wheat. Whereas Canada exports about 60 percent of its wheat — about 12 million tonnes annually — the U.S. also exports about 60 percent of its wheat — about 35 million tonnes. Yes, not much U.S. wheat comes to Canada, but the U.S. clearly has a surplus over its domestic needs.
Currie’s assumption that the U.S. market is a premium island previously held captive by the CWB (at a premium) is misguided….
Hursh was absolutely right in his assertions that the market is doing very well without the single desk. Current statistics bear this out.
Immediately on Aug. 1, 2012, Canadian farmgate prices in the southern portions of the Prairies aligned with U.S. farmgate prices, minus freight to get it there, removing any incentive to truck wheat to the U.S….
But competition between western Canadian buyers has taken things even further.
On March 1, the DTN cash index price for spring wheat, the average price of over 300 elevators in the U.S. Northern Plains, was $7.72 US per bushel.
On the same day, the FARMCo cash index, the average price of over 150 bids throughout Western Canada, was $7.73 Cdn, or $7.56 US, the closest the two indices have ever been.
The freedom to sell wheat at will has greater implications than Currie has considered.
Now that wheat is a cash crop, the burden on canola as the only major cash crop has been lifted. Not only are wheat system economics improving, so are canola economics. Canola and other “non-CWB” crops should no longer feel the weight of burdensome deliveries in the fall for cash flow, as we now have wheat to deliver as an option.
And the beauty is it’s your decision what you sell and deliver…
John De Pape,
Winnipeg, Man.
DISCOURAGE THIEVES
I would like to respond to the article, Livestock thieves pose difficult task for police (page 42, WP Mar. 7).
RCMP livestock investigator cpl. Chris Reister stated that about 580 cattle and 70 horses were reported stolen in the province of Alberta last year.
I was the manager of a community pasture in southern Saskatchewan for 39 years. When I originally started in 1957, there were no plastic tags, so I tattooed some of the patrons’ animals with the patron’s initials in one ear of the animal. At that point in time, it discouraged thieves as well as differentiated the owners if there was an argument.
It could still be a good practice at branding time; it takes very little time to apply. The problem with brands is that they are almost impossible to read in the fall when they are overgrown with hair.
Hopefully, this little tidbit helps prevent some future theft.
Emile Frerotte,
Assiniboia, Sask.
LAND DESTRUCTION
When I read Nick Parsons’ story Feb. 7, I wondered where we are going with the environment. We destroy thousands of acres of farmland a year.
We are being talked into flooding number one land for a dam. We drill for gas and use millions of gallons of fresh water in the process. This is never recovered. We see children in the United States getting sick because of polluted air and water all for the almighty dollar.
B.C. Hydro has a deficit of $70 billion — that’s billion — according to Ralph Mair in the Vancouver Sun, Feb. 13, 2013. Add the cost of the Site C Dam proposed on the Peace River and you have $78 billion.
To grasp how much a billion is here is a comparison. A person who is 50 years old has lived one billion seconds.
They say we need the power from this dam for the liquid natural gas plant being proposed at Kitimat for gas production to China. My solution would be for them to build the natural gas plant at Kitimat and generate their own power.
Why should the taxpayer go further in debt for this project?
The premier says natural gas pollutes the air. Is there any difference from us burning it here or selling it to the Chinese and letting them burn it there?
We have an oriented strand board plant in town that wants to use MDI in their manufacturing after promising never to use it here. We can’t seem to stop them, even though it is highly hazardous to health. The EPA in the U.S. has banned it, but we are going to use it in Canada because our environmental laws are very lax.
We are all warm and healthy up here, but we have to follow the U.S. and pollute our air and water. What are we going to leave our grandchildren but debt and destruction? Will we never wake up or is it already too late?
Tom Wolsey,
Fort St. John, B.C.
NO TO GM WHEAT
We must all wake up to the fact that genetically modified wheat in any shape or form is spelling disaster for mankind. Scientists must be listened to. Our health is at risk.
It goes without saying, we would all wish for more drought tolerance in today’s changing weather patterns. But GM, no, it is not wanted or needed and the companies involved must not be allowed to market this in Canada or anywhere else.
If we cannot better yields without GM, so be it.
Health, not wealth maketh a man, and until this is adopted, mankind is on a very slippery slope to despair.
Nick Parsons,
FARMERS AREN’T IMPORTANT
It is a clear blow to farmers and Canadian democracy that the Supreme Court decided not to hear the farmers’ appeal on whether the Conservative government had followed the law in abolishing the farmers’ single desk marketing system.
The Supreme Court usually hears cases that are of national importance. But look at the amazing number of farmer-related issues the Supreme Court apparently thought were not important:
- The farmers’ right to vote, en-shrined in law, was taken away.
- Over $200 million of assets that farmers paid for were confiscated by the Conservatives without compensation.
- The minister defied a court decision but then hypocritically ap-pealed that decision at the same time.
- The question of whether or not the minister of the day in fact had to follow the CWB Act.
And finally, what about the integrity of a minister who promised a vote by farmers before any move would be made on the single desk while he was campaigning and then changed his mind after the federal election?
Apparently none of these things are of national significance. I would wonder what would happen if the Conservative government confiscated $200 million of Canadian’s RRSPs? Would that be of national importance and deserve a Supreme Court hearing?
Susan Korneychuk,
Emerald Park, Sask.
