Members of the organizations talking amalgamation will have their say in February at the CropConnect Conference
Manitoba farmers will vote this winter on the amalgamation of five commodity groups.
Leaders of the Manitoba Corn Growers Association, the Manitoba Flax Growers Association, the National Sunflower Association of Canada, Winter Cereals Manitoba and the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association have been formally talking about a merger since 2017.
The vote will happen at the Feb. 12-13 CropConnect Conference in Winnipeg. Members will vote during the annual general meetings for each commodity group.
The steering committee that is leading the merger has drafted a set of bylaws for the new group. They also have issued a draft of the amalgamation agreement.
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They are doing this to “provide as much information as possible prior to the vote in February 2020,” said Gregg Fotheringham, National Sunflower Association of Canada president.
“The draft bylaws cover topics including the purpose of (the group), who are its members, how (it) will operate, the duties of its crop committee delegates and board of directors, and how meetings are conducted,” he added.
The proposed group doesn’t have a name, but for now the steering committee leaders are calling it Newco.
Organizers say joining forces makes economic sense because some of the groups represent commodities with limited acreage and small production in Manitoba. In some cases, the levy on that production may not generate enough money to fund a standalone organization. For instance, Manitoba farmers only seeded 50,000 acres of flax this year and about 65,000 of sunflowers.
The proposed merger could strengthen the existing groups because there would be more funds for research, agronomy, market development and communications.
However, some farmers have said the amalgamated group might ignore the needs of smaller acreage crops and focus most of its resources on crops like wheat.
Leaders behind the merger say that won’t happen.
“To address concerns from members, the agreement includes the provision that cash reserves collected by each of the five organizations before the date of amalgamation will be invested by Newco into research and market development initiatives into the specific crop types it was collected on,” said Fred Greig, Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers chair.
The steering committee has scheduled webinars on the merger for Nov. 26 and Dec. 10.
More information on the webinars, the draft bylaws and the proposed amalgamation can be found at mbcrops.ca/.
