Saskatchewan organic producers have endorsed a plan to establish a commission that will redirect existing check-off dollars from a number of provincial commodity groups.
Growers returned 235 of the 1,150 ballots that were sent out in January and 78 percent of those were in favour of creating the Saskatchewan Organic Commission.
“It shows a clear mandate,” said Bob Willick, interim chair of the commission.
“I believe that we can proceed with the plans as outlined in our letter and ballot.”
Those plans involve redirecting an estimated $192,445 in annual funding from groups like the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission and the Western Grains Research Foundation, or WGRF. No new money would be collected from producers.
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The proposition has not been well received by existing commodity groups.
“Creating additional boards and commissions is going to result in inefficiencies and fragmentation,” said Saskatchewan Pulse Growers executive director Garth Patterson.
In a recent letter to the editor published in the Western Producer, WGRF executive director Lanette Kuchenski said it would be more cost effective for organic farmers to continue working with agencies like the WGRF rather than setting up a new entity.
The vote is just one step, although an important one, in establishing an organic commission, said Joy Smith, secretary of the Saskatchewan Agri-Food Council, the provincial government agency that supervises the activities of marketing and development agencies.
Before it can submit an official proposal to the council, the group will have to work out the logistics of how the commission will operate, and attempt to come to terms with the existing commodity groups from which it will be drawing revenue.
That could be a tricky set of negotiations and nobody is sure what will happen if agreements can’t be made.
“This is new legislation created by Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food and they are moving into uncharted waters so I really don’t know if they’ve thought through how to handle this,” said Patterson.
Smith said council staff would be available to help mediate the discussions but couldn’t say for certain what would happen if no agreements could be reached.
“That’s a hard question,” she said.
In addition to the work that remains to be done by proponents of the Saskatchewan Organic Commission, there will likely be further review of the proposal once it is submitted to the Agri-Food Council, including additional consultation with producers and other interested parties.
That is a precautionary step that is not always taken by the agency but in this case it feels it is warranted.
“We’re feeling very strongly at this point that when the proposal comes to council, the council will be undertaking some additional consultation work. It is very likely that we’re going to do that,” said Smith.
The file is unique in that it overlaps with existing checkoffs and it represents the first time a checkoff has been developed around a method of production instead of a commodity type.
“This has generated a lot of interest; much more interest than is the norm,” said Smith, who has fielded more than 100 telephone calls about it.
Since she has been with the council, five groups have proposed forming commissions.
“I can absolutely say that I have had more inquiries and more calls about the organic one than those other five combined,” she said.
Patterson said the council is going to have to decide whether it wants to set a precedent that could lead to the further fragmentation of check-off dollars into other methods of production such as irrigated or zero-till farming.
“How many boards and commissions do we want? This could be the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
“The big question that the Agri-Food Council and ultimately the minister of agriculture have to answer yet is – is this in the best interest of farmers in Saskatchewan to create more boards and commissions that are really going to result in layering?”
Willick doesn’t consider organic commission plans as duplication. It intends to keep administration costs in line with those of existing commodity groups, which means organic farmers will be getting the same bang for their buck as they were before.
And when it comes to spending the check-off money, the group intends to place more emphasis on market development activities than has been happening in the past.
“Those dollars could be working on different priorities than new varieties,” said Willick.
He said the interim commission will do its part in trying to work with commodity groups to figure out how check-off dollars can be redirected.
“We’re going to work together to be conciliatory and patch it up. Let’s get at it. There’s a big job to do,” said Willick.
He said the group plans to have the new commission in place by the beginning of the new crop year.
Smith said that timeline is feasible, noting that it has already achieved a strong show of support from producers and a good return rate on its ballots.
