[Newsbot]

Title: Rancour deepens in wheat board fight
Category: Political
Posted By: Robair
Date: 2011-11-04 08:09:29
Canadian

[Robair]

$1:

Martin said the legislation has a profound impact on prairie farmers and it deserves more time for debate than three days in the house and three nights at committee. He said the last time there was this significant a bill affecting farmers it was to eliminate the Crow rate subsidized shipping program.


"The debate went on for weeks," said Martin.

The loss of the crow rate cost my father around $20,000.00/year.
The loss of the wheat board may just do him, and the grain terminal he and his neighbors have built, in.
His Conservative MP came to a meeting with farmers over the issue. He showed up with a blank piece of paper and asked the farmers (all pro wheat board) how they saw this panning out. He had no plan, no details himself.
The Conservatives have not done their homework. Because of trade agreements, once that board is gone we can not bring it back.

[Proculation]

Robair Robair:

$1:

Martin said the legislation has a profound impact on prairie farmers and it deserves more time for debate than three days in the house and three nights at committee. He said the last time there was this significant a bill affecting farmers it was to eliminate the Crow rate subsidized shipping program.


"The debate went on for weeks," said Martin.

The loss of the crow rate cost my father around $20,000.00/year.
The loss of the wheat board may just do him, and the grain terminal he and his neighbors have built, in.
His Conservative MP came to a meeting with farmers over the issue. He showed up with a blank piece of paper and asked the farmers (all pro wheat board) how they saw this panning out. He had no plan, no details himself.
The Conservatives have not done their homework. Because of trade agreements, once that board is gone we can not bring it back.

Never heard of the concept of freedom called free-market ?

If your father is not able to live of farming without other people's money (subsidies), maybe he should get another job he is better at. I would like to have a better income too from other's people money. Unfortunately, it seems that my lobbying skills are not so good because the government said no and punished me with higher taxes.

[Regina]

Does the current Wheat Board also manage the sale of other grains like canola, flax, rye, oats and barley? If not how are they managed and sold?

[jeff744]

Proculation Proculation:

Robair Robair:

$1:

Martin said the legislation has a profound impact on prairie farmers and it deserves more time for debate than three days in the house and three nights at committee. He said the last time there was this significant a bill affecting farmers it was to eliminate the Crow rate subsidized shipping program.


"The debate went on for weeks," said Martin.

The loss of the crow rate cost my father around $20,000.00/year.
The loss of the wheat board may just do him, and the grain terminal he and his neighbors have built, in.
His Conservative MP came to a meeting with farmers over the issue. He showed up with a blank piece of paper and asked the farmers (all pro wheat board) how they saw this panning out. He had no plan, no details himself.
The Conservatives have not done their homework. Because of trade agreements, once that board is gone we can not bring it back.

Never heard of the concept of freedom called free-market ?

If your father is not able to live of farming without other people's money (subsidies), maybe he should get another job he is better at. I would like to have a better income too from other's people money. Unfortunately, it seems that my lobbying skills are not so good because the government said no and punished me with higher taxes.

Maybe he could if you were willing to pay more for your food, and by more I am talking about a LOT more, not just an 50 cents. The wheat board exists so that farmers don't require even more government help than they already get (and they get a TON of breaks). How much are you willing to pay to maintain our food production because without the farmers a lot of western towns will completely die off. Hell, the farmers already work harder than most people ever will, many families work side jobs just to support the farm and in the busy reason they work from the crack of dawn to after the sun goes down.

[jeff744]

Just wiki'd to find a stat

$1:

This system of guaranteed prices and distributed income was extremely popular and when the Board dissolved in 1920, farmers were livid. It certainly did not help that, "from a peak of $2.85 per bushel in September, 1920 [prices] began a slow and sickening decline to less than a dollar a bushel in late 1923."[4]

Find me a modern farmer that can live on less than half what they make today.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_W ... eat_boards

[SprCForr]

Isn't the CWB just losing the monopoly? Won't those farmers selling to the Wheat Board be able to continue if they wish?

[Robair]

The wheat board is not subsidized, the crow rate was.

The farm he has spent a lifetime building, from scratch, cannot be relocated. It was built under the current system. With a stroke of a pen, a politician is going to change that system. The grain terminal and short line rail both owned by local farmers are likely history with that pen stroke. Both of those were invested in, by farmers, under the current system as well.

He has succesfully started three seperate businesses on that farm, as well as worked various jobs in the winter. He does not live off other peoples money. He is quite good at farming, he's still around. A lot of his heighbors no longer are.

[andyt]

It sounds like this will lead to agribusiness taking over even more of farming. Then when prices drop, govt subsidies will just go to agribusiness instead of individual farmers. The Americans don't have a wheat board, but they sure understand something about farm subsidies.

[Robair]

SprCForr SprCForr:

Isn't the CWB just losing the monopoly? Won't those farmers selling to the Wheat Board be able to continue if they wish?

The wheat board has no assets. Ports etc are owned by the companies the wheatboard will be competing against under the Conservative version of things. So it will be squeezed out in short order.