BRANDON, Man. – Members of Manitoba’s farm lobby group are getting ready for a barrage of questions about a new checkoff on grain sales starting next week.
Keystone Agricultural Producers has armed its farmers with an answer sheet for the tough ones, including:
- From where do you people get the right to take money off my cheque without ever asking me, and without my giving you permission?
- Why should I belong to an organization which is in bed with the provincial government?
- I’ll be at your door in the morning to get my money. Will it be ready?
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On May 15, elevators will automatically collect one-half of one percent of grain sales for KAP.
There’s one snag. A membership in the group costs $100, but most grain companies are unwilling or unable to stop the deduction after the $100 mark.
“This is a keg of dynamite, dealing with the amount of money we could be dealing with,” said Garth Short, a member from Shoal Lake.
“I see an explosion out there from those who don’t want to belong to KAP,” said John Castle of Miniota, adding even farmers who support KAP don’t like the thought of someone else handling their money.
At a meeting here last week, president Les Jacobson explained KAP will send refunds at the end of February, May, August and November to farmers who have reached the fee maximum or who choose not to belong to the group.
He said KAP won’t pay interest because in most cases, the amount would be too small.
Farmers who don’t want to contribute have to send a letter to the organization, said Jacobson. Farmers who don’t reach the $100 mark within a year can either receive a refund or pay the remainder to become a member.
Alan Clark of Melita noted KAP could handle more than $10 million in refunds over the course of a year. “I don’t think KAP wants to play with that.”
Jacobson said KAP will keep working with grain buyers to devise a way of capping the check-off. “Technology changes every day,” he said. “We’re talking with our computers across the Atlantic now, so technology would be able to be there to shut off the system.”
The group hasn’t estimated how much money it hopes to collect and how many farmers may choose to opt out. “There will always be a few, and we expect that,” Jacobson said, adding farmers need to stick together in order to have a say in the industry.
