SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – It was a difficult labour at times, but a new
farm organization was born here March 13.
Prairie Producer Car Shippers Association Inc. intends to be a
single-issue organization, dedicated to protecting farmers’ right to
load producer cars.
About 100 farmers at the meeting passed a motion to form an
association.They also agreed to an annual fee of $100 per individual.
The annual fee will be reviewed in a year, when other membership
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
options, such as a checkoff, might be considered.
But the meeting was not without difficulty. An initial motion to form
the group, along with a statement of purpose, was debated and finally
defeated.
“Beginnings are hard,” Paul Beingessner, former manager of a short-line
railway and now a consultant, told the meeting. “We all have the same
interests at heart here.”
He outlined the issues the new organization will face, including the
possibility the Canada Grain Act will be opened up as the Canadian
Grain Commission develops a business plan.
The deadline for completing that plan was moved ahead last week, to
October 2002 from June 2003.
Beingessner said producers can tackle these issues more effectively
together.
“People are really looking for important things to come out of this
group,” he said.
