Food prices are going up and up

[Mr.Canada]

I am of the opinion that people should start growing their own food, even some of it will help.

Our whole economy is dependent on oil if the oil runs out there'll be no gas for the trucks to being goods to the stores. The stores only carry enough food for 4 days. That will be gone in a matter of hours if no more food is being delivered.

If no more food will be delivered then food will become even more valuable and those that are growing food will probably become targets for robbery and thieves. Making guns more necessary for defense of ones own food supply. Imagine Mad Max but instead of gasoline people will be killing for food.

Even if everyone starts off growing tomatoes and some herbs on a balcony it will help offset ones reliance of grocery stores.

Once the oil is gone the world will revert back to a lifestyle more in line with times 100 or more years ago.

[William Ashley]

I completely agree.

I don't farmers have the right to grow what they want, and sell to who they'd like.

If you want food grow it (collect it) or buy it from those offering it.

There is no food shortage in Canada. It is a free market and people have the right to sell their property and goods at the price they agree to and to whom they wish, on a basis of offering type (public or private offering) as a principle of ownership rights.

Edited March 5, 2011 by William Ashley

[Saipan]

It is a free market and people have the right to sell their property and goods at the price they agree to

Unless they are farmers, then they are told what exactly the price is, by the Wheat Board that buys it from them.

[William Ashley]

It is a free market and people have the right to sell their property and goods at the price they agree to

Unless they are farmers, then they are told what exactly the price is, by the Wheat Board that buys it from them.

They don't have to sell to the wheat board.

And even if they are a part of it: The amended Act set up a "shared governance" corporation overseen by a 15-member board of directors consisting of 10 elected farmers, four directors appointed by Ottawa and the fifth, the President and CEO, who is appointed by Ottawa in consultation with the board and only after the board has fixed the nominee's remuneration.

MYTH: The Canadian Wheat Board controls wheat and barley production. ↓

Fact

The CWB has no control over what Canadian farmers grow. Canadian farmers decide what crop to plant based on market conditions and agronomic factor

MYTH: The Canadian Wheat Board discounts wheat and barley prices on the world market. ↓

Fact

The CWB has no interest in selling grain for low values. Its mandate is to market quality products and services to maximize returns to farmers. An independent group surveyed about 100 grain buyers in 1996. The buyers indicated that they had to pay top prices to get Canadian wheat. However, they felt it was a good buy due to the excellent customer service and product they received.

It is their choice:

Upon delivery to an elevator, farmers receive an initial payment for their grain from the CWB that represents a percentage of the expected return for that grade from the pool account. After the end of the crop year, July 31, an interim payment and a final payment are paid to farmers, in addition to their initial payment so they will have received 100 percent of the return from the pool for the grain they delivered. The initial payments are guaranteed by the Government of Canada so that farmers will receive payment even if there is a deficit in the pool account. Initial payments are set with a risk factor built in to guard against the event that price expectations are not met. Farmers from Eastern Canada and most of British Columbia are not controlled by the Canadian Wheat Board and may market all their grain on the open market. The area of British Columbia known as The Peace River District falls under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Wheat Board.

I don't agree but farmers can grow something other than wheat or barley if they don't like the board. I think it should be optional definately.

Edited March 6, 2011 by William Ashley

[Saipan]

They don't have to sell to the wheat board.

True. They can give up farming or grow cabbages.

[blueblood]

True. They can give up farming or grow cabbages.

Or we can grow soybeans,corn,canola,and lentils. Land going into wheat production is on a decline.

Ontario and quebec producers are exempt from the wheat board. As for marketing, a producer is at their mercy, they don't always get the best price. There are large deductions, and producers are forced to use their stone age distribution system.

[Molly]

Or we can grow soybeans,corn,canola,and lentils. Land going into wheat production is on a decline.

Ontario and quebec producers are exempt from the wheat board. As for marketing, a producer is at their mercy, they don't always get the best price. There are large deductions, and producers are forced to use their stone age distribution system.

King Wheat died 20+ years ago. The flip side to that criticizm is that producers marketing on their own don't always get the best price either. Sometimes, they even get the very worst price. The board has demonstrably produced an overall premium year after year, even though most of that is through the very tight quality controls and management of such a large volume. It's neither bogeyman nor sacred salvation.

When the board was first being hit so hard by the folks who wanted to run durum into MOntana/N. Dakota to cherry-pick spot prices created by US export subsidies, it was noted around the bar tables that if the board should disappear, the first thing most folks would have to do is to hire someone to do their marketing. The more production has shifted to non-board crops (thanx to transportation deregulation, not to board incompetence) the more brokers have appeared. The service is a necessary one.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

I am a westerner, and I would prefer to see the government sell the damned thing back to the farmers. Do an asset transfer straight up employees and all.

[blueblood]

King Wheat died 20+ years ago. The flip side to that criticizm is that producers marketing on their own don't always get the best price either. Sometimes, they even get the very worst price. The board has demonstrably produced an overall premium year after year, even though most of that is through the very tight quality controls and management of such a large volume. It's neither bogeyman nor sacred salvation.

When the board was first being hit so hard by the folks who wanted to run durum into MOntana/N. Dakota to cherry-pick spot prices created by US export subsidies, it was noted around the bar tables that if the board should disappear, the first thing most folks would have to do is to hire someone to do their marketing. The more production has shifted to non-board crops (thanx to transportation deregulation, not to board incompetence) the more brokers have appeared. The service is a necessary one.

If you can't market your own grain, farming isn't for you. Its that simple. Why should I have to take a bath so some incompetant producer down the road gets bailed out. The reason wheat has disappeared from canada is because black sea region producers can produce wheat at a much lower cost. They are at most 200 km from navigable waterway whereas canada is more than 1500 km. That and non board grains provide a better return and are more extensively researched. Nom board grains travel on the same crappy railway that wheat does. The only protection a producer has from this crappy railway is buying shares and collecting dividend cheques.

The us has a much better transport network than canada, why should producers have to face massive productions so some shmuck from thunder bay and montreal has a salary not based in economic reality.

[Smallc]

The us has a much better transport network than canada, why should producers have to face massive productions so some shmuck from thunder bay and montreal has a salary not based in economic reality.

Except that you're wrong. Canadian rail/sea combinations get things places faster than US ones, because Canadian ports are closer to Europe and Asia. There is a reason that Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver haven't disappeared, and it has nothing to do with the CWB.

[Oleg Bach]

Who's idea was it to give up our best producing food land to developement? Whose idea was it to come up with flying a piece of fruit 12 thousand miles to land in my fruit bowl? What does it cost in fuel to carry on plumb from Chile to me? Must be more than a litre of jet fuel for sure - The oil companies created this mess...They encouraged and duped people into shipping food long distances. There is plenty of food for all....For the fuel jerks to get greedy to the point that they are now using food as a coersive weapon - then they have hit an all time low in evil behaviour.

[blueblood]

Except that you're wrong. Canadian rail/sea combinations get things places faster than US ones, because Canadian ports are closer to Europe and Asia. There is a reason that Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver haven't disappeared, and it has nothing to do with the CWB.

When the cwb and the western canadian wheat growers association and viterra are all in agreement that the railway sector in canada is horrible, there's a problem. The only reason that the railways are allowed to operate in such an inefficient manner is that so many canadians own a piece of the railways and it would be political suicide to put a dent in people's retirement especially after pushing the tfsa.

Its not about speed, its about cost and canada has the highest cost of moving grain in the world. It would make far more sense to send out grain through the gulf of mexico or churchill than through the great lakes.

[Saipan]

Ontario and quebec producers are exempt from the wheat board.

Of course they are part of the East. Why punish them

[GWiz]

Food prices are going up and up

Can INFLATION and HIGH INTEREST RATES be far behind?

just askin'