Farm organizations | Province’s slow response frustrates farm leader
Manitoba’s main farm organization is losing patience with the provincial government’s failure to fix a check-off system that it says is broken.
“I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt, for another week or two,” said Keystone Agricultural Producers president Doug Chorney.
“It has to be done by summer. We’re not going to let another year go by.”
KAP is supported by a refundable checkoff but says there are problems with its collection, enforcement and refundability:
- Grain elevator managers don’t always collect it.
- The provincial government does not force offenders to comply with the rules.
- Refunds can be demanded right up until the last day of KAP’s financial year.
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After a speech to the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association, agriculture minister Ron Kostyshyn reiterated his support for the concept of a checkoff to fund “general farm organizations,” a category in which he also places the National Farmers Union.
“I definitely believe in stabilization funding for producer group organizations because they are going to become more valuable,” said Kostyshyn. “It’s a matter of finding the appropriate formulation.”
His response left Chorney fuming, saying it revealed no progress on an issue that has simmered for years.
“We’ve been in a perennial cycle of government admitting there are flaws with our check-off system and government wanting to fix that because they see value in KAP, and then government not doing anything about it,” said Chorney.
“We’re not really sure why this happens. It’s been the experience with minister (Rosann) Wowchuk, minister (Stan) Struthers and now minister Kostyshyn.”
KAP’s ability to form a budget is undermined until after the end of its financial year because it never knows how many farmers will demand a refund. KAP has called for a mandatory, non-refundable checkoff so that it knows what size of budget it will have for the next year.
However, Chorney said his organization has accepted the provincial government’s demand that the NFU also be included as a check-off option and is willing to budge on the issue of non-refundability “if that’s what it’s going to take.”
He said KAP is unwilling to see the issue linger and might soon take the problem of non-enforcement to the provincial ombudsman for an investigation.
The province now has the power to enforce compliance on grain companies, require retroactive check-off payments that were not deducted and issue fines against grain companies and buyers that fail to comply.
However, the government isn’t taking those enforcement actions, and the most KAP has seen in recent years have been letters from provincial officials asking for compliance.
Kostyshyn said he supports the concept of a general farm checkoff and an improvement to the present regulations but promised no quick action. Many organizations help represent farmers and he thinks they will play a big role in future farm policy development.
