Farm leaders at a Regina meeting last week say they’ve made a good start toward developing a stronger agricultural sector in Saskatchewan.
The first meeting of the 60-member Farm Leaders Advisory Group was held to identify issues that should be dealt with and how to go about finding solutions that benefit everyone, said Saskatchewan agriculture minister Mark Wartman.
Too often, producers don’t listen to each other, he added.
“We have heard people talk about the need for one voice in agriculture,” he said. “The difficulties (in doing that) are huge.”
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The group separated myth from reality in its first gathering, Wartman said. Members will meet once or twice a year at a cost of $20,000 to $25,000. Sub-committees will meet more often and at less cost.
The minister said members will not receive per diems from the government.
Membership includes representatives from a wide range of general and commodity organizations, grain companies and financial institutions, as well as 10 members at large.
Co-chair Melanie Boldt of Pine View Farms at Osler, Sask., said FLAG’s task is worthwhile but not without challenges.
“There is a future and how it will be defined is yet to be determined.”
David Gullacher, FLAG co-chair and president of the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute, said everyone can identify the forces that are tearing at agriculture but they also know how “near and dear” the agricultural industry and rural culture are to the province.
“We’ve got to do this,” he said of FLAG’s mandate.
After the first meeting, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan vice-president Dave Brown said everyone in the room wanted to see agriculture become stronger.
“Hopefully we can come up with solutions that will work for all sectors of agriculture,” he said.
“That is the goal, and APAS certainly looks forward to working with all of the other groups.”
