There will be an important SOD turning ceremony in the organic community this fall.
Saskatchewan Organic Directorate, or SOD, is going through an organ-izational review to revamp itself. The group is looking for a new structure and direction to attract more members.
“We really haven’t been able to reach a good group of the farmers,” said SOD president Arnold Taylor.
Funding is also an issue that must be addressed in the review. SOD has about 550 members who pay a $50 annual fee to belong to the association.
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“We’re pretty bare bones,” said Taylor. “I don’t even get paid. We had to fight to get our expenses for mileage and meals and stuff.”
University of Saskatchewan agricultural economics professor Gary Storey is chairing the organizational review.
He said a big challenge facing the committee is how the new organization will tackle divisive issues like the Canadian Wheat Board’s buy-back program or the debate over a mandatory versus voluntary national standard.
Another hot topic is what type of involvement certification bodies will have in the remodelled organization.
Most of SOD’s membership comes from six chapters of the Organic Crop Improvement Association and from the Saskatchewan Organic Certification Association.
Taylor said some people feel certification bodies shouldn’t have such a powerful voice in a producer-based organization.
Storey said alternative structures being discussed include either setting up an industry group similar to the Canola Council of Canada or Flax Council of Canada, or SOD could go the way of a commodity association, such as Saskatchewan Pulse Growers.
Whatever shape it takes, SOD will have to deal with a number of policy issues that have sharply divided the organic community.
“One way is for the organization itself not to take a specific stand on a particular issue if there is divisiveness,” said Storey.
The group can distance itself from contentious issues by appointing a task force or subcommittee to provide direction to governments. But Storey admitted that’s a bit of a cop-out. The best way is to come up with a firm policy stance that reflects what most members believe.
“Then the organization has to hope they are strong enough that they can weather the storm over doing that.”
Taylor sees the new SOD as a type of umbrella organization spreading the organic gospel.
“I don’t envision us getting very involved in marketing, more so in promotion,” he said.
The review committee hopes to complete a report outlining the alternatives for organizational change by late fall. The 12 person committee is controlled by nine SOD members who will decide what options go to the board of directors.
If SOD chooses to adopt a format similar to a commodity group, the funding issue could be addressed through a producer checkoff. But that has its own “peculiar problems,” said Storey.
“The task is a little different than say if it was a single commodity.”
That’s because organics includes commodities ranging from wheat to beef. Taylor said members might have to pay a checkoff at the point of certification or something along those lines.
