Seventeen farmers have thrown their hat in the ring for the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission’s inaugural director elections, which will take place next month.
The SWDC announced yesterday that 17 nominations have been received to fill seven seats at the wheat commission’s board table.
The Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission, which will also hold director elections next month, received nine nominations to fill six seats.
Tom Steve, general manager for the two organizations, said organizers are pleased at the high level of interest in the new commissions.
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“I think any time you establish new entities, there’s always a question of what the level of interest will be,” Steve said.
“I think we anticipated that we would have a number of candidates come forward, but it’s probably fair to say that this exceeded our expectations. We’re just happy that there’s a level of engagement amongst Saskatchewan growers for these commissions and for the directorships.… It bodes well for the future that producers are prepared to devote their time to helping us build a platform for growth in the cereals industry.” Elections for both boards will be conducted by mail-in ballot with voter packages distributed to all registered wheat and barley producers in early November.
Saskatoon-based Levy Central will act as the returning officer.
Ballots must be received by Levy Central no later than Nov. 29.
Steve said 25,000 farmers will be eligible to cast votes in the wheat commission election while 10,000 producers will be eligible to vote in the barley election.
Saskatchewan producers who cast a vote will see familiar names on the ballots.
Nominees at the wheat commission include Rod Flaman, an Edenwold; farmer who served as a director on the Canadian Wheat Board; Bill Gehl, chair of the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, Gerrid Gust, chair of Western Canadian Wheat Growers; Mossbank farmer Cherilyn Nagel, an interim director on the wheat commission who also sits on the WCWG’s board of directors; Ken Rosaasen, a farmer and agricultural economics professor at the University of Saskatchewan; Bill Rosher, a former secretary of an organic certification co-operative; and Glenn Tait from Meota, a long-time director with the National Farmers Union.
Other wheat commission candidates include Bartt Chute of Moose Jaw, Ivan Costley of Mossbank, Dan Danielson of Saskatoon, Margaret Hansen of Langbank, Randy Johner of Estevan, Clint Pederson of Saskatoon, Laura Reiter of Radisson, Robert Rigetti of Moose Jaw, Larry Sletten of Hazlet and Jim Wickett of Rosetown.
Barley commission candidates include Zenneth Faye of Foam Lake, a founding member and former executive with Saskatchewan biofuel manufacturer Milligan BioTech; Cam Goff, a former CWB director from Hanley; Vanguard farmer Allen Kuhlmann, who is a past chair with the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission; Mike Bratton of Langbank; Louis Hebert of Fairlight; Brent Johnson from Strasbourg; Jeff Mathieson of Regina; Marion McBride from Regina and Jason Skotheim from Spruce Home.
Saskatchewan Agriculture announced the establishment of the commissions June 20.
The producer-directed commissions will administer check-off revenue collected on all wheat and barley grown in the province.
Saskatchewan levies have been in place since Aug. 1 and are set at 52 cents per tonne for wheat and 50 cents per tonne for barley.
The levies are expected to generate $4 million a year on wheat and $1 million per year on barley.
They are in addition to existing Western Canadian levies that support the Western Grains Research Foundation, the Canadian International Grains Institute and the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre.
Meanwhile, representatives from the new Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association say it should be operating early in the new year.
Interim chair Don Dewar said the association is awaiting cabinet approval, which is expected in the next few weeks.
After that, work will begin to collect and administer wheat and barley levies in that province.
Manitoba levies have been set at 52 cents a tonne for wheat and 44 cents per tonne for barley.
