Checkoffs are rising for new deliveries of barley and wheat eligible under the Western Grain Research Foundation.
“It’s been 10 years since there has been an increase. Ten years since the inception of the research programs,” said Lanette Kuchenski of the foundation.
Funding contracts and research agreements were recently renewed by the foundation with the federal government and western university partners.
“Reality is that we need to increase rates just to maintain the research we are doing today,” she said.
Research checkoffs amount to about one cent per bushel. The new rates are 30 cents per tonne for wheat and 50 cents per tonne for barley, except for barley produced in Alberta. In that province, a 50 cents per tonne research checkoff is paid to the Alberta Barley Commission.
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Researchers say despite improvements to plant breeding system efficiency, those savings haven’t kept up with inflation or rising costs of technology or lab space.
The foundation’s research is focused on disease and pest resistance,”chair Keith Degenhardt said.
“Those are the areas that save producers money and put more grain of higher quality in the bin. We are concentrating our efforts on things that improve farmers’ margins.”
Kuchenski pointed to sawfly resistant varieties developed through the foundation’s funding that are being planted in western regions of the Prairies.
The increased check-off money will be placed in a reserve fund to ensure continuity for research programs in years when yields are reduced due to production failures or market trends that see fewer planted acres.
With the increased fees, about $3 million will be collected annually from wheat and $1 million from barley production.
The rate increase was reviewed and debated by two panels that each recommended approval to the federal government. The increases were made law a few weeks ago.
Despite research benefits, about six percent of the check-off total is requested back in producer refunds annually.
“The return on investment is between a nickel and a dime for every penny that goes into the research we support … this past season or two we have seen fewer producers asking for their money back,” Degenhardt said.
Checkoffs are tax deductible and for producers operating larger acreages, accountants suggest applying for federal research tax credits in addition to the basic deduction.
