Re: NFU, wheat cartel, (Opinion, Aug. 24) is pie in the sky. An oil cartel worked because there is no substitute for oil. With wheat, there are many things that can be eaten in its place: rice, buckwheat, oats, barley and even grass. The pellets that are made for livestock are high in protein and can be eaten. If the price of wheat doubled, the consumption of it would likely decrease to about half.
Our problem is not that there is too much wheat in the world but rather not enough people with enough money to buy it.
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Millions of people are starving, many thousands of people are dying of starvation every year but we, farmers, can’t help them. Our costs are too high. Even when we are selling below cost of production, many people are not able to buy from us.
Our problem is simply that in the ’70s our Government, in order to get votes, gave the labor unions the right to strike. About then we discovered what we were doing to our environment and what extra work it would take to correct some if it.
Our unions, instead of working harder or longer, demanded more pay. They were passing this increased cost to agriculture.
Canadian agriculture is the most efficient in the world. However, our costs are set by labor unions where people earn up to 50 bushels of wheat every day, while we have to sell on the world market, where some people are earning less than a bushel of wheat in a day. How can we expect more money for our wheat? …
– Mathew Wozniak,
Grande Prairie, Alta.
