Farmer-funded cereal grain commissions from across Western Canada are calling for major changes in a federal consultation process that’s looking at new ways to fund seed variety development in Canada.
In a joint news release issued Jan. 14, wheat, barley and oat commissions representing growers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba said current consultations seeking feedback on two funding models — end-point royalties and trailing royalties on farm saved seed — are unlikely to gain industry-wide support.
In a letter to federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay, the commissions said the likelihood of achieving an industry-wide agreement on either end-point royalties or trailing royalties on farm-saved seed is low.
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The commissions are calling on Ottawa to consider other funding options and launch further consultations that are focused on producer engagement and offer primary producers a “new value proposition.”
The letter to MacAulay was signed by the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission, the Alberta Wheat Commission, the Alberta Barley Commission, the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association and the Prairie Oat Growers Association.
“The commissions agree that there is a need to maintain, sustain and grow research and have been involved in value creation discussions through the Grains Round Table (GRT),” the joint news release states.
“However, the GRT has not approved these two models and had requested that AAFC (Agriculture Canada) conduct an economic analysis of the two options prior to any farmer consultations.
“To date, this analysis has not been done, making it impossible for producers to make an informed decision on a path forward.”
The provincial commissions said Ottawa must put the time and due diligence into the issue of varietal development funding to ensure the outcomes are in the best interests of producers.
Earlier this month, the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission issued a statement saying wheat growers in the province need more information before the commission will offer support to any new royalty collection proposals.
“The SaskWheat board of directors does not support either of the options as presented by the federal government, and it’s clear that neither of the two models have resonated with farmers,” sais SaskWheat chair Laura Reiter.
“Too few farmers know about what is being proposed and have had a chance to express their views. The current federal consultations need to be expanded, and more options and information must be made available before any value capture changes are made.”
Board members from the Alberta Wheat Commission offered similar comments during a Jan. 16 conversation at CropSphere in Saskatoon.
“We’ve gotten a lot of pushback from our growers in Alberta and a lot of that was based on misinformation or lack of information that they’ve received,” said AWC chair Kevin Bender.
“There was some fear there about what’s potentially coming or what they thought was coming so … we thought we just slow things down a bit and give things a better look before pushing anything through because if you do that, it’s not going to go very well.”
Added AWC director Terry Young: “We haven’t seen enough information, and it’s hard to reach a decision on something if you don’t have the proper information.”
Bender said an economic analysis should be conducted to show wheat growers how their costs of production might be affected.
“If it can’t show benefit back to the farm, it’s not something we could endorse,” Bender said.
