Ontario’s corn, wheat and soybean growers’ groups have signed a new memo of understanding toward forming one organization.
The MOU, announced Thursday, commits the boards of the Ontario Corn Producers’ Association, Ontario Soybean Growers and Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board to hold votes among their farmer members on their merger under a new name, “Grain Farmers of Ontario.”
“In signing the MOU today we’re saying we’re committed to seeing this process through, to allow producers of corn, soybeans, and wheat to decide whether we’ll have one organization for the three commodities,” said Leo Guilbeault, chairman of Ontario Soybean Growers, in a press release.
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The three groups had agreed in 2004 to pursue such a merger, but the process stalled in November 2007 when the soybean growers’ board voted to withdraw from the MOU talks.
However, the board said a few weeks later that it would go back to the table, after hearing from farmer members at a committee members’ meeting in London in December.
“Signing this MOU today allows us to recognize the progress that has already been made, while committing to specific objectives and structure that will take this process to a producer vote,” Dave Whaley, the new wheat growers’ chairman, said in Thursday’s release.
Where the previous MOU looked at a parallel process to take the three groups into a merger, involving one committee with elected representatives, and another with general managers and staff, the newly-appointed working group will involve chairs and general managers from all three organizations with Rod Stork serving as facilitator.
The results of a producer vote, to be conducted by the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission, will be used in the commission’s decision as to whether it recommends to the provincial agriculture minister that the groups’ merger should take place.
The groups said they are now finalizing information packages for farmers and timelines for conducting the producer vote.
Wheat producers
Alongside Dave Whaley of Wheatley as its new chairman, the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board also named Henry Van Ankum of Alma and Richard Blyleven of Fisherville as its first and second vice-presidents, respectively, at its recent annual meeting in Guelph.
Alan Kerkhof of Wallaceburg will also sit on the board’s executive as its past chair, while Allen Taylor of St. Thomas, the representative for District 4, will also sit as a member of the executive, the board said in a release Thursday.
