farmer ignorance unfortunate, page-11

re: yellowcake ignorance unfortunate hear hear Alpha, boo drunk - farmers may appear ignorant, but anyone making plans on that basis will come unstuck - they may be old and cranky, but not ignorant - not since tractors started to come out with cabs and radios.

I farmed for 25 yrs, 4th generation on the one block, but gave it away when NSW State took away 75% of my groundwater allocation, with no compensation, after I spent $2 mill developing the land and accessing and distributing the water.

You are missing a vital point YC, as well as assuming everyone who disagrees with you, majority or not, is stupid. The single desk has of late at least, been badly run, and many graingrowers (esp durum niche marketers) have suffered. Other famous monopoly positions ruined by bad management over decades are NSW state rail, and of course telstra. It doesn't mean we should destroy the single desk, just manage it better and let local companies export and grow under that umbrella.

But while you can pick the eyes out of the local market with quality product and marketing skills, the domestic market is small beer compared to our production capacity, and that must be cleared into corrupt international markets. The single desk control of all grain was imposed after years of pleas by farmers for help, because they were always getting picked off by the grain merchants. Farmers are indeed their own worst enemy, and one poor deperate sod cracking on price levels brought everyone down, year in, year out.

That was of course in times of bagged wheat, zero on-farm storage, and poor market info flow. Times have changed, and some of my neighbours can store not just 1, but 2 years production of grain safely, on-farm. But no-one I know can wait more than a season to sell, they have to make the market for cash flow reasons, and if the big American grain merchants (who already have positions in our domestic market, just waiting for the chance) can get our strong international single desk broken, then all grain farmers will eventually lose, even clever ones like you YC.

I do value your comments about oil and energy problems affecting grain production, they are spot on, but your do seem to me to be one a bit of a self-deluded crusade re the single desk.