Cherilyn Jolly conceded she was having an “unorthodox honeymoon,” leaving her husband on the farm in Saskatchewan and flying to Winnipeg to meet with a bunch of men only days after her wedding.
But for her – the first president of the rejuvenated Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association – and her fellow board members, getting to know the Winnipeg-based grain industry is a necessity that can’t be delayed.
“We believe our voice is needed now more than ever,” Jolly said in a speech during a reception held by the WCWGA for the grain industry July 8.
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Jolly and most of her fellow directors spent a couple of days in Winnipeg touring the Canadian Wheat Board and the Canadian Grain Commission, as well as meeting representatives of grain companies and railways.
Unlike the former leaders of the organization, who were well-known in the grain trade, most of the new executive are young and unknown.
Manitoba executive member Curtis Hiebert hopes the youth of the board will bring new blood into the organization, which had a near-death experience last year.
“I think the (young) age brings energy and enthusiasm,” said Hie-bert, 28.
“We want to get young people involved so regulations can allow farming to be profitable in the long term.”
Jolly said youth and relative inexperience is a strength, not a weakness.
“As young people, we don’t claim to be experts on any one topic,” said Jolly in an interview.
“We have no vested interest. We just want to make farming profitable. If we can make some changes and make an extra dollar by doing it, we’ll do it.”
The WCWGA officially disbanded in 2003 after the leaders said they were worn out and unable to attract new members. But soon after shutting down, members began pushing for the organization to be revived, and after an early 2004 conference, the WCWGA returned with a new board of directors.
A few members of the new board are longtime members, such as Doug Campbell of Alberta, but 25-year-old Jolly typifies the new leadership.
She said her organization is still committed to removing the CWB monopoly, but will not obsess on it as the old WCWGA was accused of doing.
“What we are trying to do is broaden our issues,” said Jolly. “We want to celebrate the changes the board has made. We want to educate our members on the options that are available within the current system.
“We’re still fighting for change; we still want marketing options. But how to make a dollar involves educating those farmers and members on the fixed price contract, the basis contract, the options that the wheat board has come out with that are great options that we need to start using.”
Jolly said the WCWGA wants farmers to realize it is concerned about many issues outside of the CWB, including varietal registration, grain transportation regulations, pesticide approvals and biotechnology.
She hopes other young farmers will join the organization to improve their future prospects.
“We feel we’re fresh when we come to these meetings,” said Jolly. “It’s not like sitting at the local coffee shop at home, where negativity and a black cloud surrounds the ag industry.”
The WCWGA may be changing its focus, but it hasn’t abandoned its core values, said board chair Randy Hoback, a farmer from Prince Albert, Sask. That’s why the organization kept its name.
“There are a lot of good things the wheat growers have done in the past. We don’t want to ignore that.”
Jolly agreed: “We’re proud of them.”
