Alberta’s wheat and barley farmers are deciding in two separate online plebiscites whether to formally unite under one commission in what would be a first for Western Canada if approved.
“I think everyone’s watching as we do this and to see how it goes,” said Tara Sawyer, chair of Alberta Barley. If full amalgamation with the Alberta Wheat Commission gets the green light, it will mark a significant departure from the typical practice of commissions focusing only on one crop, she said.
Separate plebiscites are being held from Oct. 3 until 12 p.m. Nov. 1, with 15,658 wheat farmers and 9,655 barley producers eligible to vote in Alberta. Many of them grow both crops, making them eligible for a total of two votes due to the levies they separately pay for each crop.
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“As for expectations with the vote itself, we don’t have an exact number in mind, but we have received great engagement so far, and have continually been hearing from farmers across the province as they receive their ballots in the mail,” said marketing communications specialist Harley Groenveld in an email Oct. 14.
Sawyer said the month-long length and timing of the plebiscites were designed to ease participation by farmers. Although many people might think the fall season isn’t the best time, much of Alberta ended up having an early harvest, she said.
Officials also wanted to make sure voting occurred well before the provincial election, which is slated to be held on May 29, 2023. “This has been in the works for quite a while,” said Sawyer about the plebiscites.
The plebiscites mark the final steps in a process that began when Tom Steve, general manager of the Alberta Wheat Commission, also became general manager of Alberta Barley in 2017. Although it was originally intended to be temporary, he stayed on in both roles, resulting in the creation of a single management team to serve the two separate boards of directors.
Producers are now voting on whether to complete the process by forming a single commission. Eligible farmers are those who have remitted checkoffs or received refunds in the last two years.
They each were slated to receive a letter by mail during the first week of September from third-party election adviser MNP and the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council containing information about the plebiscites.
The deadline to register for voting was Sept. 16. A second letter was sent during the first week of October containing a voting PIN identifier.
“Now at the end of the day, it comes down to this vote …,” said Sawyer. “So really, we won’t know until Nov. 1, but I’m certainly hopeful that everybody gets out and we have a very nice, clear, concise answer either way.”
