The new Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission (SBDC) and Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (SWDC) may not hit the ground running with a recently elected board of directors, but according to one new member they at least would start out walking at a pretty good pace.
Cam Goff, a Hanley farmer elected to the SBDC board of directors, said the expectation is the new producer-elected board is going to have a busy year ahead of them as they try to get an idea about the best direction production check-off fees need to go in. He said they need to begin with talking to the decades old Alberta barley commission and recently formed Alberta wheat commission as well as the Manitoba barley and wheat commissions that are set to go online this year to find out how they are going to set up.
“The first year really is getting our feet on the ground and talking to the other groups,” said Goff, who was elected to a two-year term on the SBDC by barley growers last month. “We are going to be talking to the Alberta and Manitoba groups, trying to work together, and having as little duplication as possible in what we’re doing. Obviously I’m just starting, but I currently think it’s very much a joint proposition for all three provinces that we’re going to have to work very closely together to reduce the overhead fees and the duplication of efforts. There has to be constant communication between us or else we’re going to end up really not doing a very good job for producers.”
Goff was elected along with Jeff Mathieson of Regina and Foam Lake’s Zenneth Faye to a two-year term on the SBDC while Jason Skotheim of Spruce Home, Strasbourg’s Brent Johnson and Vanguard’s Allen Kuhlmann were elected to four-year terms through 549 mail-in ballots by barley producers. Over 2,000 Saskatchewan wheat growers elected Edenwold’s Rod Flaman, Ken Rosaasen of Saskatoon, Regina’s Bill Gehl and Glenn Tait of Meota to four-year terms on the SWDC along with Saskatoon’s Dan Danielson, Radisson’s Laura Reiter and William Rosher of Kindersley to two-year terms.
The two new commissions are entrusted with building the prospects for Saskatchewan-grown wheat and barley crops by administering check-off fees toward research and market development initiatives that improve wheat and barley varieties, build their marketability and provide greater value to producers. The new producer-elected directors replace an interim board that oversaw the affairs of each commission from their establishment this past August to the election.
Goff said he ran for a seat on the SBDC board of directors because he believes it is important for farmers to retain as much control as possible over the seed end of their business through using these check-off dollars to get producers the “best bang” for their buck.
“The job is to make sure the funds are collected,” Goff said when describing what his job as a director would entail, “and then to decide which project that researchers bring forward that has the best possibility of increasing the sales of barley, the use of barley and getting those traits in the barley that producers need whether it be disease, yield or other factors that may come along in the future.”
To read more please see the January 20 print edition of The Davidson Leader.