One of the oldest and most influential organic marketing associations on the Prairies is closed for business.
Marysburg Organic Producers is winding down operations after a 12-year run as a supplier of certified organic grain to wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers in Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan.
The Spalding, Sask., company, once touted as an organic success story, ran out of money.
Marysburg was the brainchild of seven farmers from the Humboldt, Sask. area, who wanted to share the costs and risks of marketing organic grain among themselves.
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Over time the limited company evolved into a collection of 46 shareholders. In its heyday in 2001, it marketed $4.3 million of their 50,000 acres of cereals, oilseeds, pulses and other crops through the association.
But a confluence of events, including poor harvests, the appreciating Canadian dollar and competition from new marketing ventures forced the directors to shut down the company before it ran into problems servicing debt.
“It served its purpose for when it was in operation,” said Larry Hoffman, a former director and founding member of the company.
He emphasized the company did not go into bankruptcy or receivership it simply ran its course. One of the death knells was when the business manager and marketing manager decided to leave the company, the latter forming Sunrise Foods International Inc.
Others included increased competition from other organic marketers and a soaring Canadian dollar that made exports worth less back home.
But in no way does the demise of Marysburg give organics a black eye, said Hoffman.
“I would consider it business as usual because the people that were marketing through Marysburg are still marketing,” he said.
Another founder and former director, Ray Bauml, said it is hard to keep a marketing association afloat when there is nothing to sell. Most of Marysburg’s members farm in central Saskatchewan, an area that has been particularly hard hit by drought and frost.
“Three of the last four years our crops were pretty much zilch,” Bauml said.
“It’s our baby and you hate to see it go down but Mother Nature kind of conspired against us.”
The company operated on a small sales commission charged to members and other organic farmers who marketed their grain through Marysburg. Those fees paid for container rentals and fixed costs like certification fees, audits and director liability coverage.
“We needed a reserve of cash around and that reserve was starting to run out and there wasn’t enough grain being sold to get it back up again,” said Bauml.
He plans to sell most of his grain through Sunrise Foods, as does Hoffman.
Shareholder Marc Loiselle prefers the co-operative marketing approach. He is saddened by the demise of Marysburg and is afraid organic agriculture is following the same consolidation path taken by conventional agriculture.
“We should have more of these organizations and not be concentrating the marketing into fewer hands,” he said.
“It’s not going to necessarily lessen my capacity to market my grains, but it’s still a loss in a certain sense because it’s one other option that won’t be there anymore.”
