A new Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (SWDC) and Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission (SBDC) have been proposed in order to give the province’s wheat and barley producers a greater voice in their industry.
The SWDC and SBDC will be a producer elected and directed organization with a mandate to ensure farmers have resources, leadership as well as provincial, national and international representation to protect Saskatchewan wheat and barley producers’ interests.
A steering committee has been formed for each proposed commission under the direction of the provincial government to survey producers to determine their acceptance of the proposed commission’s views on market access, railroads, varieties research and agronomic practices.
Gerrid Gust, Davidson farmer and wheat steering committee member, said the commission is a response to the ending of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) monopoly last August. He said the end of the CWB provided “greater access to markets” for farmers and gave them a chance to make decisions based on their own cash flow and farms without having a centrally managed economy demanded by the board.
“A lot of this stuff farmers have been paying for for years,” said Gust. “We think as an industry that farmers would be interested to fill some of those gaps left over from the wheat board, roles that this had filled, and have a voice for Saskatchewan producers and farmers.”
Gust said the idea of the commissions was proposed at a June 22 meeting in Regina where the industry, including major commodity farm groups, as well as APAS (Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan) and SARM (Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities), sat down to decide the best future direction of wheat and barley producers.
The steering committees are now completing establishment plans for the proposed commissions and if approved by the provincial government will begin operating on Aug. 1, 2013, with an interim board of directors.
To read more please see the December 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.