Cereal growers will have almost the entire month of October to say yay or nay to the proposed merger of Alberta Barley and Alberta Wheat.
Those who grow both crops and have paid a checkoff in the last two years will get to cast two votes because each crop commission is required to have its own plebiscite. The vote will be held online, starting Oct. 3 and ending Nov. 1.
However, the deadline for registering to vote is Sept. 16. Voting info packages should arrive in farm mailboxes in the first week of September and if they don’t, producers should contact the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council at 780-427-2164 or [email protected]. The council provides oversight of crop commissions and authorized the dual plebiscites.
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“The commissions strongly encourage barley and wheat farmers to participate in the plebiscites, which will determine our future,” Alberta Barley chair Tara Sawyer said in a release.
The proposed union of the two farm groups comes after a long courtship.
They first amalgamated their administrative teams and then their senior management, which cut costs by $400,000 annually. Their boards then put forward the idea of a merger, set up a committee to study the matter in depth, held producer consultations at regional meetings and finally put the idea to successful votes at their annual general meetings last winter.
“Since the two commissions have been operating with a joint management structure for five years, we are eager to hold the plebiscites in October so farmers can determine our future direction at this pivotal time,” said Alberta Wheat chair Greg Sears, who also encouraged every cereal producer to cast a ballot “even if it’s from the combine.”
The organizations have previously said a merged board would have 12 directors, two from each of six regions in the province. Each region would also elect four delegates apiece.
Here are some additional details on the vote:
— farmers who grow both barley and wheat crops will have two votes.
— farming corporations, cooperatives or partnerships will have one vote on behalf of their legal entity.
— after receiving a letter and voting info from the marketing council and MNP in early September, producers will receive a second letter that includes a voting PIN (personal identification number) that they will need to vote online.
— farmers who grow both wheat and barley crops will only receive one letter from marketing council and one voting PIN, but will be able to submit one vote for each crop.
