Legislation that will change the way the beef checkoff is collected in Saskatchewan is expected to go to committee next week, one of the last steps before it becomes law.
The Agri-Food Amendment Act, 2009, will move authority for the collection and distribution of the $1 refundable provincial beef levy to the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association from a government appointed committee.
The association will also collect the $1 non-refundable national levy and forward it.
Although the SCA was established as a development commission more than a year ago, and an election to determine a board of directors was held last fall, second reading debate in the legislature indicated there is still work to do to get the message out.
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NDP opposition members raised questions about who belongs to the association and how it was formed.
“It’s fair to say that not every livestock producer in Saskatchewan is a member of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association,” said Regina MLA Ron Harper, adding there is no representation for non-members in terms of the checkoff.
However, every registered producer who has paid checkoff in the past year is automatically a member.
SCA chair Jack Hextall wrote a letter to former agriculture critic Pat Atkinson correcting her statements during debate and pointing out that the board of directors includes representation from across the province.
Communication has gone out to 26,000 producers, he said.
“The establishment of the SCA aligns us with other provincial associations where the collected levies go directly to the provincial association and not the ministry,” he wrote.
The change hasn’t been without controversy. The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association membership was bitterly divided over the issue, with some fearing it would lose check-off funding, before finally endorsing the new organization last summer.
