A committee is pushing ahead with plans to establish a wheat commission in Alberta.
Kent Erickson, co-chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission steering committee, said his group is continuing to gauge producer support for establishing a commission that would collect a producer levy of 70 cents per tonne on all wheat produced in the province.
If approved, the Alberta levy would be in addition to an existing levy of 30 cents per tonne administered by the Western Grains Research Fund.
The two levies would bring the checkoff for Alberta wheat growers to $1 per tonne, which is similar to what Alberta canola and barley producers pay.
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Erickson said the checkoff would be invested in wheat research and market development programs.
“Right now, we are trying to get producer feedback and trying to get a benchmark of how much support we have,” said Erickson, who farms near Irma, Alta.
“We’ve got a meeting set up with the (Alberta minister of Agriculture Evan Berger) … some time in February. He has been … very receptive to the idea … if there is sound support in Alberta.”
Erickson and other members of the steering committee are distributing a survey at industry events that asks producers for their views. It is also available online at www.albertawheat.com.
Erickson said 500 producers have completed the survey. Of those, roughly 80 percent support the idea.
The committee will circulate the survey until March 1. It hopes the new commission will be operational by Aug. 1.
The Alberta Winter Wheat Producers Commission and the Alberta Soft White Wheat Producers Commission have endorsed the idea. Those organizations would be dissolved if the new commission goes ahead.
Erickson said the new commission would complement work already done by the Western Grains Research Foundation.
An Alberta commission could provide a provincial perspective to the WGRF, which operates on a wider, regional basis across all of Western Canada.
WGRF executive director Garth Patterson said there are different models that could be used to direct producer investments in cereal research.
The concept of a national wheat council with regional and provincial representation is also being considered.
