BANFF, Alta. – In a single year, Rick Stamp figured he paid check-off money to 16 farm groups.
To make matters worse, there were times these groups were at cross purposes with one another.
“We’re sitting on both sides of the fence as producers,” the farmer from Enchant said during the Alberta Barley Commission annual meeting Dec. 9
in Banff.
He presented a resolution that was narrowly defeated encouraging the commission to investigate the formation of one farm organization.
“We need to be organized at the next higher level,” he said.
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Wild Rose Agriculture Producers is a voluntary group representing a broad cross section of interests, but Stamp said many farmers have mixed feelings about the group. He admitted being envious of the Quebec farm group Union des Producteurs Agricoles, which has broad membership across the province with support from all commodities.
Dale Fodness of St. Paul said organization is needed and a good approach is to meet with local farmers through agriculture service boards found in every rural municipality.
While some producers worry that the diversity of farm opinion in Alberta does nothing but divide and conquer, Ed Armstrong of Dapp said there is room for all groups that balance one another with different points of view.
“We seem to think if we got this great organization, well funded, we would have this great lobby group. Not likely,” he said.
Commission chair Doug Robertson agreed that finding common ground on certain issues would be a better approach when going to government on behalf of farmers.
“We have to, as much as possible, get into a co-operative vein,” he said.
“The problem is you hit policy right away.”
Some Alberta groups receive producer checkoffs and others have voluntary memberships. Many of them have different policies and agendas on marketing and trade.
“If we had a voluntary wheat board, we could probably get together on most things,” Robertson said.
The barley commission helped form Grain Growers of Canada, which Robertson sees as a unified voice for his sector. He also accepts the Canadian Federation of Agriculture has a different perspective on trade and marketing since many of its members come from the supply managed sector.
Still, there is room for agreement in some areas.
“We’d all like to have a good domestic program that somehow gets us into the value chain to be paid as producers for what we grow,” he said.
Groups could also come together to promote agriculture as food production and remind consumers where their food comes from.
