A decision could be made this fall on whether to increase the research checkoff on wheat and barley.
The Western Grains Research Foundation’s board of directors will likely consider the issue at its regular November meeting, says executive director Lanette Kuchenski.
“There are very strong supporting factors for looking at the potential of an increase,” she said.
The refundable checkoffs, which are deducted from Canadian Wheat Board final payments, have remained unchanged at 20 cents a tonne for wheat and 40 cents a tonne for barley since they were introduced in 1994.
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“We are definitely losing to inflation,” Kuchenski said.
A recent report by a special wheat check-off review committee strongly recommended increasing the checkoff.
“Without adjustments for inflation, this means the amount of research produced by that funding has been reduced substantially over those years,” the report said.
A separate committee also recommended an increase in the barley checkoff, but suggested it be done in combination with an expansion to include sales of barley outside the wheat board. If that can’t be accomplished within two years, the committee said, the checkoff should be increased within the current structure.
The wheat checkoff applies to all CWB wheat across the Prairies. The barley checkoff is not collected in Alberta, which has its own Alberta Barley Commission checkoff.
Kuchenski said the foundation is aware that some farmers might not like more money being deducted from their grain cheques.
“It’s never easy to ask for more money from farmers, especially in a year like this,” she said.
But without an increase, she added, Canada is in danger of falling behind competitors such as Australia and Europe in developing new varieties with qualities wanted by increasingly demanding customers.
The board may put together a proposal on changing the checkoff and then take it to producers for feedback instead of making a final decision on a new rate.
Also, any decision to increase the checkoff may not be effective for two years because it requires an order-in-council from federal cabinet.
Both the wheat and barley review committees recommended the foundation look at ways to collect the checkoff on non-board deliveries to customers such as feed mills, feedlots and ethanol plants.
Collecting the checkoff through final payments is administratively efficient, they said, but it fails to capture the wheat and barley sold outside of the wheat board accounts.
Kuchenski said the foundation could fund more research into varieties specifically suited for non wheat board markets if the checkoff was expanded. However, she added that an expansion of the checkoff is not going to happen soon.
Among the other recommendations in the review committee reports:
- Check-off dollars should continue to be spent on plant breeding, although money could be directed to breeding teams that include other scientists.
- Funding should continue to be limited to public breeding institutions such as universities and government.
- Funding should continue to be provided on a long-term basis, based on 10-year agreements that have been in place since the WGRF was set up.
- Communication and input from producers and end-users should be a priority.
