The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association might not be around much longer, says the group’s president and executive director.
The organization might take on a new name soon, which two representatives think could be bigger and stronger.
“Organizations like ours have to redefine themselves periodically,” said executive director Denise Treslan.
“We’re facing that now. We’re not just about wheat.”
Treslan said some farmers are confused by the organization’s name.
“When our field guys go out to some farms they are told ‘I don’t want to deal with you because I don’t grow wheat,’ ” said Treslan.
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The wheat growers have never been simply a commodity group. They represent the interests of farmers who favor right-of-centre approaches to prairie farming issues, including an end to the Canadian Wheat Board’s export monopoly and deregulation and commercialization of the grain transportation system.
But Treslan said the group also wants a name that reveals that it isn’t just interested in the wheat board issue, but in a host of topics.
“I think we will be more relevant in the absence or the removal or the amendment of the Canadian Wheat Board than we are now, because we are more about what life is like after the Canadian Wheat Board.”
President Ted Menzies, who is completing his first year leading the organization, said he met a member of the Professional Farmers of Zimbabwe. The name of that organization has a nice ring.
“I was impressed by that, because that’s what I am,” said Menzies.
“I’m not just a farmer. I’m a professional. Farming is how I make my living,” said Menzies.
The organization’s annual convention is being held later this month.
Treslan said she doesn’t know when the organization’s members will come up with a new name, but “it’ll be started this year.”
