A prairie farm group that always put its faith in the wisdom of market forces has accepted the verdict of the market and gone out of business.
The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association is suspending operations as of June 30, citing a lack of members and money.
The decision, announced in a June 3 letter to WCWGA members, came as surprise to those involved in farm policy and to the group’s members themselves.
“I’m shocked,” said Dan Hochhausen of Strome, Alta., a member since the mid-1980s, who attended the association’s annual convention in March. “I had no idea this would happen.”
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Like all voluntary farm organizations, the wheat growers have struggled with declining membership in recent years, falling from a peak of more than 10,000 in the early 1990s to fewer than 1,000 last year.
The association came out of its convention with a restructured policy framework, a commitment to broaden its appeal to farmers and a sense of optimism about the future.
But a disastrous membership drive in April, which saw fewer than 50 of 700 renewal forms returned, was the final straw.
“Quite frankly, that pushed us into insolvency,” said association chair Tim Harvie of Cochrane, Alta. “We were unable to pay the bills.”
The association was scheduled to hold its final board meeting June 19 in Regina.
“It’s a sad day,” said Harvie. “All of us on the board are disappointed that we had to be the ones to make the final decision.”
For 33 years, the wheat growers have been a fixture in the prairie farm policy debate, promoting less government involvement, deregulation and more commercial grain handling, transportation and marketing systems.
Founded as the Palliser Wheat Growers Association, the WCWGA has been a vocal and often harsh critic of the Canadian Wheat Board, to the point that it was at times accused of turning every issue into an attack on the board.
Officials insist the association has been involved in a wide range of issues from safety nets and international trade to transportation and grain grading. However, they acknowledge that such a perception existed and it may have played a role in the fall in membership.
Other factors suggested as possible causes for the membership decline include a lack of cash on the farm, less free time for farmers and a growing sense of apathy and weariness with farm politics.
But Harvie said the drop in numbers might reflect a more fundamental problem.
“You’d like to think that you’re on the right track, but I guess you have to second-guess,” said Harvie.
“Whether our policies were right or wrong, it would appear that maybe we’ve become irrelevant.”
Despite the declining membership, officials say they’re confident the association accurately reflected the views of tens of thousands of prairie farmers, pointing to the results of recent CWB director elections in which open market candidates garnered more than 40 percent of the vote.
While the association has laid off staff and given notice on its office lease, Harvie said it could be resurrected if enough farmers are willing to give time and money.
But it will take a new generation of leaders to do so.
“Anyone who criticizes this decision, we’d be glad to see them step up and take charge,” he said.
“If there is a way of reviving this group I’d like to hear it and I’d sure send my fees in.”
