Changes in how research checkoffs are collected may come whether producers are offered choice or not.
The Western Grain Research Foundation is developing a strategy to protect the money it gets from check-off funds.
Domestically sold feed grains generate little revenue for research because they don’t pass through the Canadian Wheat Board. That agency collects the checkoff from final producer payments from cereal sales.
If the board is removed from cereals marketing as the federal government proposes, the foundation would no longer have a mechanism to collect its check-off funds.
Read Also
Canola oil transloading facility opens
DP World just opened its new canola oil transload facility at the Port of Vancouver. It can ship one million tonnes of the commodity per year.
Lanette Kuchenski of the foundation said that uncertainty and an increasing domestic livestock feeding industry have the organization rethinking its check-off collection methods.
The foundation funds more than $4 million in cereal breeding programs on the Prairies annually, collecting 30 cents from each tonne of wheat and 50 cents from each tonne of barley shipped through the CWB in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
In Alberta, barley checkoffs are taken by the Alberta Barley Commission, which shares some as a member of the foundation, as well as separately paying for research on behalf of its members.
Kuchenski said her organization is seeking comments from producers and the 18 groups that have representation on the foundation’s board.
“We need to hear from producers to find out how they see us collecting the checkoffs,” she said.
The fund collects about $4.3 million in wheat checkoffs and $830,000 from barley.
If non-CWB wheat sales in Western Canada were included, it would increase the checkoff by about $1.2 million annually. Barley sales to the feeding industry would add another $1.1 million to research coffers.
But that is only half of the picture when it comes to funding. Kuchenski said the federal government matches the producer checkoffs.
Doug Robertson, who chairs the Alberta Barley Commission, said his organization sees “a lot of slippage when it comes to the livestock feeding industry and the collection” of 50 cents per tonne of barley marketed.
“When it comes to collecting from the feeding industries, we could all use better methods. We hope the (foundation) comes up with some good solutions that aren’t going to create bad will between the livestock industry and grain,” he said.
Robertson said if the feeding industry received more specific products that met its needs, it might be more willing to collect and remit check-off money for grain research.
“We need to see more relaxed rules that would let plant breeders develop higher yielding, high starch varieties here in Canada to help get feeders on board,” he said.
Kuchenski pointed to barley varieties offering low phytate, hulless and slow dry matter disappearance as examples of what the foundation’s research funding has brought to livestock feeding.
Herb Groenenboom, the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association chair, said grain research checkoffs can be a tough sell for the cattle industry.
“We’d like to see better (plant breeders’ rights) rules first. We need to see more benefits before it becomes appealing to add administrative costs like collecting grain research checkoffs,” he said.
“If there are checkoffs in place … if they add money to the cost of feed, they are going to come out of the cow-calf producer’s wallet at the end of the day,” said Groenenboom.
“Either the cow-calf grower or the grain grower will pay for the benefit of new varieties so they better be the ones to decide the issue of broadening the checkoff base,” he said.
Kuchenski said the foundation hopes to have suggestions to propose to government and its member organizations by spring 2007.
She said research returns $12 to growers for each $1 paid by barley growers and $4 on each wheat dollar they invest.
