Combines fertilizer

[AJTIII]

Ed, I'm a Republican but I think your ideas are right on the money! The problem its just too simple and makes too much sense for it to work especially in Washington. Wouldn't it be great if we were not dependant on foriegn oil and when OPEC countries get hungry we can tell them to eat "OIl". Whose technology developed these countriesIJ look where its gotten us. Maybe we should learn from OPEC and cut our product to the point where we control the prices and not the "middleman." In my part of the country I'm hearing about "corporate farms" and it scares me. If something doesn't happen I think agriculture will be like oil. The big boys like ADM and Cargill and land O lakes will run the show and we'll just be contract farmers or worse, employees. look whats happened to the livestock market. Just my two cents. I want to leave a way of life for my sons but its getting tougher every year. Good luck to all this year and keep your heads up. We grow the most important product in the world except for our Mothers and it isn't right we're treated like second class citizens. Sorry for rambling on but it feels good to get it out once in a while. AJTIII

 

[Deerebines]

Your doing a real good job at being a smart alec.....unfortunately I'm not buying your b.s. I have had the opportunity to drive truck this winter and talk to several drivers and only owner operators are making the bigger dollars and with the high fuel price there is a small margin of profit. Geography lessonIJ So just what is this "fair bit for freight going north"IJ Maybe I'll quit pulling skateboard and start running van up there if the money's so damm good!

 

[Row_Crop]

Where abouts in Canada are you from IJ. Just got a quote from my farm supply place, numbers are roughly the same as yours.

 

[belly_acres]

Not meaning to be a smart alec, Manning Alberta is 12.5 hrs north of the border. NH3 is $700 - $800_ tonne (Cargill price). 46-0-0 is $435_tonne 50 miles south of Manning. Most truckers up here are owner operators realizing $23_tonne freight from the processor's yard which is 380 miles south of us. You may think that these cdn dollar numbers are b.s. but unfortunately they are not. let's talk fuel and equipment prices........it doesn't sound like things are any better here than they are there. Unfortunately someone has to suffer in this economy - and it is apparent again that it the farmer, yet again.

 

[boyblue]

ok some of us agree we should try to band togather to send a message to the cbot or the public, that we need a fair price without ticking the public off. Any good ideas about how to do thisIJ If we could get good straight ideas maybe we could start somethingIJIJIJ

 

[rf]

I agree but maybe 20% to 50% out and we would see the benefits for years to come. The problem isn't the oil and gas it is the fact that the farmer cannot control his selling price. The only way to control the price is to limit or reduce production. Unlike normal industry the problem is that we are competing against a world market with 100's of thousands of producers and not an industry market with 4 or 5 compaies making the same product. We need to get the farmers off the welfare state that we are relying on here in the US to continue to operate. I agree we need to develop ways of using our commodiites for alternative end products. But lets be real we are tooo productive compared to 20 years ago and unfortunatley the market has not kept up with our productivty. It is going to be a tough lesson to learn.

 

[jmassey]

You have a very good idea there Ed. If farmers could just get a little backing from congress and tell opec where to stick their oil, and have the U.S. start to produce our own from corn and beans. I too get the feeling that I am the only Democrat farmer around so it is nice to see another person can think for himself instead of being brainwashed by the rich republicans.

 

[erndog]

dont worry there are plenty of republicans,democrats, and political affiliations from all sorts of other countries who read these posts. to sum up, the problem is producing for the export market. if each country's farmers produced for their domestic market whether it be grains or livestock i think we would be in much better stead. as long as the big multinationals keep dangling that carrot of increased exports in front of our noses and we keep biting at it, we will continue to get whacked with the big stick they are holding behind their backs. granted i know that to do this we may have to have something like a nafta agreement between farmers in canada, us and mexico. you know clinton got bashed for something he said a few weeks before he left office. it concerned how to fight hunger in undeveloped countries. not to try to paraphrase it but i think it went something like this, if we would stop trying to export food to them maybe it would give their farmers a chance to produce what they needed. these are just my ramblings. bash away.mho

 

[4020]

I agree with erndog. This sounds exactly like Clinton---stop exporting food so their farmers can produce everything they need. Years ago we did the same thing with South America and now their goal is to put us out of business. The democrats had 8 years to get behind ethanol and they gave it a little bit of lip service but did absolutely nothing to help it out. We will probably have better luck with the oil man in Washington because has some integrity and honesty and is a Christian.

 

[Madfarmer]

I farm on East side of Sask. along the trans Canada Highway.Prebought in Dec. 28-0-0 liq. @193.00 0-25-15-0 dry blend @ 298.62 0-25-15-10 dry blend @ 282.92. Check out a Farmers of North America Incorporated www.fna.ca