Alberta Barley is one step closer to amalgamating with Alberta Wheat following a vote in favour of the proposal at the barley growers’ annual general meeting early this month.
“At our AGM last week, the Alberta Barley delegates voted highly in favour of moving forward,” said chair Tara Sawyer. “Now the next step is the Alberta Wheat AGM that happens at the end of January. If they vote in favour of carrying on with the plebiscite, then we move to next steps.
“So we’re halfway there.”
The proposal to merge the two cereal commissions began as an AGM resolution nearly three years ago. Since then, a subcommittee of past and current directors and delegates from both groups has conducted consultations with cereal growers across the province, including an online survey that ran from July to September and town hall meetings in October.
“We were quite happy with the turnout there. There was really good feedback about people liking the idea,” said Sawyer.
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“When we got to the regional meetings, we had even more engagement, so we definitely had a lot of opportunity for producers to give feedback.
“We really wanted to hear from producers, and I think we’ve done that.”
And when it came time to vote on moving forward with the plebiscite, the Alberta Barley delegates were strongly in favour.
“There was certainly far more people in favour than not — in all those consultations and at the vote at our AGM,” said Sawyer.
“I think they see the value in it. Now we just have to wait and see what our Alberta Wheat counterparts want to do.”
Given the degree of overlap in membership in both groups, it looks like the merger proposal will be heading towards a plebiscite. The two groups are already closely linked — they merged their leadership and administrative teams in 2018, saving $400,000 annually.
That’s part of the reason the delegates were so strongly in favour, said Sawyer.
“Because we had that joint management structure already in place, to me it’s a natural fit to move to the next step,” said Sawyer. “We already are quite integrated, and I think a lot of our producers see the value and the cost savings we’ve had and can continue to have by having a formal amalgamation.”
Assuming Alberta Wheat delegates also vote in favour of a plebiscite at their AGM on Jan. 26, the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council will determine how the plebiscite will proceed.
“If it passes, the marketing council will give us some direction on the timing of the plebiscite, what the eligibility criteria of the plebiscite will be, and even what the format of the plebiscite will be,” she said.
“They’ve been in on all our calls on the subcommittee advising and being part of the process, so we’ll be having more conversations with them to figure all of that out.”
In the meantime, cereal growers who have questions about the amalgamation are encouraged to visit www.wheatbarleyconsultation.com.
“That’s still open for people to get up-to-date information as this process moves forward,” said Sawyer. “That’s a great resource for anyone who is still looking for more information.”
She said she is cautiously optimistic that the plebiscite vote will be going ahead.
“I think it would be a great step for both commissions, and I’m hopeful that we get to move forward,” said Sawyer. “I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in January.”
