Some prairie organic farmers object to the Canadian Wheat Board’s role in the marketing of their grain, but few will find fault with the agency’s latest initiative.
The world’s largest wheat and barley marketer is contributing up to $200,000 a year to an organic research and market development initiative.
“Our goal is to have the organic grain sector do the kind of research that has proved indispensable to conventional agriculture,” said CWB president and chief executive officer Greg Arason.
The program will help address a funding deficit that exists for a part of the grain industry demonstrating “enormous potential” for growth.
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“The money the organic grain sector will be able to access through the CWB will be significant in its own right. It will also allow groups to leverage matching funds through government programs such as the federal Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Program,” said Arason.
Brenda Frick, research and extension co-ordinator for the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, said the funding commitment is a sign that important players in the agriculture industry are taking notice of organics.
“For organic researchers there hasn’t been much funding available and it’s really nice to see that there are opportunities and that the industry is putting money in. That’s excellent.”
She agreed with Arason’s assessment that it is a significant injection of cash for an underfunded segment of agriculture, one that should trigger additional investment.
“That’s huge because many of the more academic sources of funding require some level of matching funding from industry,” said Frick.
The first deadline for project proposals is Nov. 1, 2007. There will likely be two deadlines a year, with the second one in February or March. Preference will be given to proposals from organizations with a public mandate, such as producer groups, research institutions and certification bodies.
Patty Rosher, the CWB’s marketing manager for organics, said eligible projects will run the gamut from production to marketing. They could include anything from transitioning from conventional farming to developing a brand or launching an education campaign.
“I’m very excited to get going on this,” she said.
