Producers hope a new checkoff on Peace River region forage seed will boost research and profitability, said a member of the new organization that will collect the money.
Randy Graw said the checkoff would help producers compete in the worldwide forage market.
“The grass seed market is global and if you don’t keep up with research … we’re going to fall behind and we’ll be at a disadvantage,” said Graw of Manning, Alta.
The Peace River region is second only to Oregon in world forage seed production, generating $30-$40 million of farmgate sales each year.
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On July 1, the Peace Region Forage Seed Association began collecting the refundable checkoff of 0.75 percent of the value of seed sales. The checkoff will be collected on all turf and forage seed like fescue and brome grass and legume seed like alfalfa and clover.
What’s unique is the levy from producers in British Columbia and Alberta will be used for joint research and promotion. Many groups join forces nationally, but this is one of the few times that groups have joined as a region to fund research.
The Alberta Peace Region Forage Seed Growers Commission and the British Columbia Forage Seed Advisory Board will collect the levy in their respective provinces. Each province has different rules on how the money must be handled. Once the money is collected and accounted for by each organization, it’s funneled to the Peace Region Forage Seed Association. It’s hoped the checkoff will generate $110,000-$140,000 each year.
By co-operating, producers on both sides of the border will see an increased benefit, said Mike Pearson with Alberta’s Agricultural Products Marketing Council.
“This will give them more punch,” said Pearson, who added that the levy is set at what forage seed producers in Manitoba pay.
“One way or another, the benefits spill over the boundaries.”
Under the proposed budget, about 23 percent of the money will be used for research including fertility, entomology and disease testing. The forage groups also hope to begin a variety testing program.
About 27 percent of the funds will be used to try and generate a consistently higher quality forage seed by looking at projects like wild oat control in brome grass, promoting minor-use herbicide registration on grass seed crops and disease control.
A little more than 30 percent of the levy will be used for technology transfer by organizing tours, initiating a forage seed website and compiling production manuals.
“It’s a way of farmers getting control of what kind of research gets done,” said Graw, a director on the Alberta Peace Region Forage Seed Growers Commission.
He points to the benefits canola producers have received since implementing their checkoff several years ago. There are hundreds of varieties of canola, but grass seed producers are still growing the same boreal creeping red fescue they were 30 years ago, he said.
Graw wants Peace River producers to have access to new forage varieties coming out of the United States.
Sandra Burton, co-ordinator of the Peace Region Forage Seed Association, said about a third of the forage seed is grown in B.C. and the rest on the Alberta side of the region.
