Alberta may soon have another commodity checkoff, this time for oat producers. Currently, both Manitoba and Saskatchewan have an oat checkoff and those associations fall under the umbrella of the larger Prairie Oat Growers Association (POGA).
“Eventually, the three organizations will function as the arms of the Prairie Oat Growers Association,” said Bill Wilton, president of POGA.
In order to make the checkoff a reality, POGA must woo the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council.
“The bulk of the work is behind us, so we just really need to get the marketing council convinced that this is the right thing for them to do for Alberta producers,” said Wilton. “Their job is to protect their minister, and they don’t want their minister to announce that there’s going to be an oat growers’ commission in Alberta and the next day his phone is going to be ringing off the hook about this.”
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According to a survey commissioned by POGA, 57 per cent of oat producers said they were in favour of the levy. A further 27 per cent said they required more information on the issue, and 16 per cent would not support the idea. The proposed levy, 50 cents per tonne, will be refundable, as mandated by legislation.
“We think that 57 per cent is a very high figure for first blush,” said Wilton. “Our experience in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is that about five per cent of producers request their checkoff money back, which is practically nothing.
“So what we’re doing now is trying to get to that 27 per cent who said they needed more information or were unsure.”
The application has been submitted to the marketing council, but Wilton says it wants to see further support among oat growers before it places the application in the government’s lap to make the ultimate decision.
“They recommend to the minister of agriculture who then goes to cabinet,” he said. “But as you’re probably aware, when you’re dealing with governments, there’s a protocol that has to be followed and there’s no point in going to the premier and the minister of agriculture and bending their ear if you haven’t got your homework done at the marketing council level. Without the marketing council’s support, you’re going nowhere.”
Wilton said he hopes the levy will be in place by August 1 of this year, although he admits the process is taking a bit longer than he had anticipated.
“I’m not sure we’re going to make it – things get delayed and we’re all volunteer producers working on these boards,” he said, adding POGA is currently seeking to hire an executive director.
In the end though, Wilton said he believes the effort to be a worthwhile one.
“It will give them a provincial organization to represent their product, which they don’t have now. It will automatically, as the other provinces are, make them members in full standing of POGA.”
Much of the benefit from the checkoff will be in the research field.
“The Prairie Oat Growers levered approximately $350,000 of producer funds into over $2 million of government and industry funding for oat research in Western Canada,” said Wilton.
“The answer is this: If you’re not at the table with your money representing your constituents, in our case oat growers, people are very polite, but they don’t do anything for you. But when you’re there with your money and you can look the politicians and the Ag Canada people in the eye, it’s a whole different approach, the reception is just entirely different.”
One major issue facing oat producers is dramatically lower demand from the U.S. for Canadian-grown oats used in horse feed. Wilton says the market has decreased 70 per cent over the last five years, in part due to the availability of distiller dried grains and corn. POGA’s Equine Feed Oat Project is ongoing and officials will soon be meeting with major U.S. equine feeders in an attempt to learn why the market changed. Producers can learn more by visiting www.poga.ca.
