The idea that a team of horses is stronger pulling together than a singleton is behind two of Alberta’s largest commissions decision to collaborate.
The 20-year-old Alberta Barley Commission and the newly formed Alberta Wheat Commission have come together in a posh new office in northeastern Calgary where they can share staff and join on certain projects or go their own way on other issues.
“There’s a lot of overlap, but there’s a lot of separate issues that are specific to commodity,” said Kent Erickson, chair of the wheat commission and a farmer at Irma.
Read Also
Klassen: Lower feed grain prices set to enhance feeder cattle prices
For the week ending July 19, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets were unchanged from the previous week, although volumes were limited.
Both commissions have a mandate to fund research and marketing. In some instances those projects may be shared, but others will be commodity specific.
“We want to ensure duplication of certain projects does not take place,” said Matt Sawyer, chair of the barley commission and a farmer at Acme.
“With producer check-off dollars, you can make sure you are maximizing it in the best way possible,” said Sawyer.
Sharing office expenses and some staff saves money that is collected from farmers through a provincially mandated checkoff. Barley collects $1 per tonne marketed while wheat collects 70 cents per tonne.
They have separate executive directors and their own research managers but share staff for accounting and communications and plan to launch a joint producer quarterly magazine. They also hired a joint policy adviser, Erin Gowriluk, who can research and provide information on topics like the proposed changes to varietal registration, trade issues or research projects.
There was no question about amalgamation.
“There are still individual issues where you want to have your own programs for, but you never know. Everything is evolving all the time,” said Sawyer.
