Called a “red tape” cutting measure in a July 31 provincial government news release, the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council — the supervisory public agency for Alberta’s 19 agriculture MBCs — is deleting 28.5 per cent of regulations pertaining to these MBCs.

This includes 20 foundational rules that overlapped with existing requirements.

“Alberta’s agriculture producers deserve to focus on what they do best, feeding our province and the world,” wrote Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation RJ Sigurdson in the release.

“By cutting unnecessary red tape, we’re giving them more time to grow their businesses and less time buried in paperwork.”

The move builds on changes made to Alberta’s Marketing of Agricultural Products Act (MAPA) in 2020 and enacted in 2022. These granted MBCs the right to develop their own bylaws.

Marketing groups give thumbs-up

Jake Kotowich, general manager of the Agricultural Products Marketing Council, explained the streamlining in an email.

“Before the amendments, MBCs’ regulation-making authorities were laid out in separate ‘authorization regulations’ — one for each MBC,” he wrote.

“Because of MAPA amendments in 2023, those authorities are prescribed directly in the MBCs’ plan regulations, which meant the authorization regulations were no longer relevant or needed.

“To clarify, repealing the 20 authorization regulations did not give MBCs new powers they didn’t already have. Instead, they change how those powers are granted,” continued Kotowich, adding the deletion of these 20 regulationss makes the regulatory process timelier and more efficient.

“The structure is more flexible, supporting decision-making while maintaining (provincial government) oversight. This is all part of a broader effort since 2020 to reduce regulatory burden and modernize the framework for agricultural governance in Alberta.”

Even though there are only 19 MBCs in the province, 20 authorization regulations were cut. The 20th belonged to Alberta Barley, which merged with Alberta Wheat to form Alberta Grains in 2023.

While admitting he still needed to work through the changes, Andre Harpe, chair of Alberta Canola Producers Commission, recognized the streamlining as a positive move set to help MBCs become more efficient.

The immediate benefit to Alberta’s canola producers, said Harpe, is that the changes allow the grower group more time to focus on member concerns.

“It’s going to give Alberta Canola more time on some of the needs that farmers are looking for right now.”

Shane Strydhorst, chair of the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission, praised the amendments.

“The streamlining of regulatory processes allows Alberta Pulse Growers Commission to work more efficiently on behalf of Alberta farmers toward our vision of pulses on every farm, on every plate,” he wrote in the Province’s news release.

Brad Dubeau, general manager of Alberta Beef Producers (ABP), said the changes “reflect a modern, responsive approach to agricultural governance.”

It also builds on what ABP has already been doing.

“In addition to aligning with the amendments made to MAPA in 2020, ABP took the opportunity to make administrative adjustments that enhance transparency and efficiency,” wrote Dubeau in an email.

“We’re proud to align with MAPA’s amendments and strengthen our administrative framework.”

Marketing council still involved

Janelle Hancock, a senior manager with the provincial marketing council, says this streamlining should not be misinterpreted as the government stepping away from oversight of these ag MBCs.

“There’s still oversight from the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council. That hasn’t been changed,” said Hancock.

“That oversight is still there to supervise activities … While they (the MBCs’) are bylaws, they still have to be approved by council as an oversight body. That structure is pretty common across Canada with other supervisory agencies.

“The only thing that shifted with these most recent changes is we got rid of 20 regulations that weren’t any longer necessary because we fixed the clauses that required those regulations.

“So there’s still lots oversight for the marketing council. The (agriculture) minister still has to approve plan regulations. The minister is still in charge of the marketing council as a public agency, and then there’s still marketing and commission regulations that these organizations have in addition to their bylaws.”

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Roger Chevraux of east-central Alberta was re-elected as director of Region 11 and to his third term as chair. Jeff Frost of Olds replaces Ian Chitwood of Airdrie in his capacity as Region 8 director. Charles Simoneau of Guy will replace Chitwood as vice-chair. 

“We’re confident (Frost) will contribute to the continued success of the commission as he steps into the role previously held by outgoing Region 8 director Ian Chitwood,” read a Feb. 6 Alberta Canola news release.

The election took place at the organization’s 34th annual general meeting.

Frost is a third-generation farmer who has canola, wheat and barley in his rotation.

His choice to run for the Region 8 director position was inspired by his participation in last year’s Alberta Canola Leaders event in Edmonton, a yearly function devoted to enhancing the leadership qualities of young farmers.

“The Leaders was a jumpstart to this whole thing. It’s what really pushed me to be on the board and be more involved in the agriculture community,” said Frost.

Not surprisingly, he identifies ongoing drought as his and the industry’s top concern going into the 2024 growing season.

“We’ve really dried out the last few years,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of reserves going into 2024 and lots of the irrigation reservoirs or whatnot are at an all-time low or even drained right now. The snow cover’s low; some areas have no snow whatsoever and that’s our big concern for 2024.”

The low price of canola compared to its heady highs of the past few years is also an ongoing concern.

“It’s not been a good ride,” he said. “It’s tough to say what the market’s going to do. There’s so many variables involved there, but I would hope to see it bounce back a little bit. I think the days of $20 canola are a long ways away but if we can get back into the mid-teens, then it will be a little bit more palatable to grow it.”

However, Frost is confident about the international appeal of Alberta canola and can hardly wait to get back in the field.

“As a farmer you’re always optimistic and looking for another better crop or a good crop year after year,” he said. “It’s always exciting going into spring and putting the crop in again and seeing what you can make this year.”

Long-time board member Chevraux almost sat this election out.

“It is a large time commitment so I had to really think about it for quite a while before the meeting whether or not to accept the nomination if it came,” said the third-generation producer from Killam, east of Camrose.

“I didn’t ask for it. I specifically stayed out of it to let other people decide whether or not they wanted to step forward.”

That said, he’s honoured the organization is again putting its faith in his abilities.

“I think any time your cohorts vote you as their leader is always an honour,” said Chevraux, who also serves as Region 11 director.

“Being that I’ve been elected for the third time suggests that they’re happy with the job that I’m doing and the direction that we’re taking the organization.”

The past few years have been challenging ones for the Alberta Canola organization. Roles previously filled by government are being “downloaded” onto the commissions, said Chevraux.

This approach carries both positive and negative aspects, he said. On one hand, producers get more of a voice in the direction of laws and policies affecting them.

“(Government is) looking to (farmers) for leadership, which is fantastic. And I’m glad that we’re having that voice,” said Chevraux.

On the other hand, the responsibility has come with extra expense. The cost of doing business came home to roost Dec. 19 as the board explained its $1.1 million budget shortfall, the commission’s fourth deficit budget in five years.

The board decided there were two ways to go: cut programs or increase producer levies for the first time in two decades. Discussion with farmer members since then trend toward the latter option.

“I think at the AGM we had incredible support from all those that were online and in the room. They felt that all of the things that we were doing was incredibly important and that we probably need to have a levy increase,” said Chevraux.

“So I think what’s going to happen is, we’re going to spend some time taking a look at what is going to be required. The last time a levy increase occurred was 21 years ago. I think that was perhaps too long to go without reviewing it.

“So we’re going to have to, as a board, try to decide how many years apart the levy review should occur.”

Although drought and markets are the biggest things on canola producers’ minds now, Chevraux said there is room for optimism.

For one thing, there’s the ongoing work of the National Canola Marketing Program, a partnership between Alberta Canola, SaskCanola and Manitoba Canola Growers that is geared toward advocacy initiatives and programs that support canola producers.

One of its prime goals is to spread word about the value of canola far and wide.

“It’s important to me that this campaign is successful because there’s an awful lot of people that aren’t familiar with canola,” said Chevraux.

He also hinted at some “interesting things” involving biofuels in the next couple of years.

“I think that’s going to have an opportunity to really increase our market share or our market demand for canola as a fuel, which I think is very, very exciting.” 

On the home front, Chevraux said his son Derek has decided to take up the farming life.

“He’s decided that he wants to come back to the farm, so he took two years at Lakeland (College) and now he’s a partner of mine.” 

Chevraux’s wife Heather, a retired English teacher, is blogging about the benefits of agriculture, “so she does a lot of work in that sphere as well.”

The complete board of directors includes:

• Christi Friesen, Brownvale (Region 1),
• Andre Harpe, Valhalla Centre (Region 2),
• Charles Simoneau, Guy (Region 3),
• Jeannette Andrashewski, Two Hills (Region 4),
• Justin Nanninga, Neerlandia (Region 5),
• Wayne Schneider, Nisku (Region 6),
• Paula Law, Lacombe (Region 7),
• Jeff Frost, Olds (Region 8),
• Christine McKee, Stirling (Region 9),
• Cheryl Westman, Vermilion (Region 10),
• Roger Chevraux, Killam (Region 11),
• Alan Hampton, Rowley (Region 12).

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The board — elected at the organization’s 34th annual general meeting — includes re-elected chair Roger Chevraux of Killam. Charles Simoneau of Guy will replace long-serving board member Ian Chitwood of Airdrie as vice-chair.

Jeff Frost of Olds — a newcomer to the board — will replace Chitwood in his capacity as Region Eight director.

“Frost is an alumni of Alberta Canola’s Leaders program,” read a Feb. 6 Alberta Canola news release. “We’re confident he will contribute to the continued success of the Commission as he steps into the role previously held by outgoing Region Eight director, Ian Chitwood.”

Chevraux expressed gratitude for Chitwood’s six years of dedicated service.

“Alberta Canola extends our appreciation to Ian Chitwood for his unwavering commitment and tireless efforts in representing the interests of Alberta’s canola growers and addressing the unique needs of his region,” he said.

“His perspective has played a crucial role in the board’s ability to exercise sound judgment and make informed decisions. We are truly thankful for his valuable contributions,” Chevraux added.

The complete board of directors includes:

• Christi Friesen, Brownvale (Region One),
• Andre Harpe, Valhalla Centre (Region Two),
• Charles Simoneau, Guy (Region Three),
• Jeannette Andrashewski, Two Hills (Region Four),
• Justin Nanninga, Neerlandia (Region Five),
• Wayne Schneider, Nisku (Region Six),
• Paula Law, Lacombe (Region Seven),
• Jeff Frost, Olds (Region Eight),
• Christine McKee, Stirling (Region Nine),
• Cheryl Westman, Vermilion (Region 10),
• Roger Chevraux, Killam (Region 11),
• Alan Hampton, Rowley (Region 12).

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The dilemma was brought up in a recorded message from Rick Taillieu, director of engagement and analytics with Alberta Canola, at the organization’s online grower engagement meeting Dec. 19.

“The challenge is getting back to a balanced budget and there’s only two ways back to a balanced budget and that is increasing revenue or decreasing expenditure,” said Taillieu.

“The only way that revenue increases for Alberta Canola is if production increases. The other way would be to look at a service charge increase for the first time since 2003. This is just the beginning of the conversation.”

If the commission increases its levies, it would be the second time in its 34-year history.

The 2003 increase was made when members voted to boost the rate to $1 per tonne from 50 cents per tonne, which is roughly two cents per bushel.

Producer feedback at the live grower engagement meetings held in November and December appeared to favour a service charge increase rather than program cuts, said Alberta Canola board chair Roger Chevraux.

“(Board directors) all made a point of making sure that we sat down with farmers at different tables and asked them what their impression was,” he said at the online meeting.

“And one of the things that most of them said to us was two cents isn’t a lot of money. ‘Why aren’t you just asking for three (cents per bushel) or asking for four? Because we do see the value in all of this.’”

The levy is the primary source of revenue for Alberta Canola and is based on tonnes sold, a number derived by multiplying acreage with yield.

That revenue is used for research, grower engagement and extension, public engagement and promotion, government and industry affairs, administrative and operational costs, and Canola Council of Canada funding.

Alberta Canola’s revenue peaked at nearly $7 million in 2017. after an explosive few years of industry advances, said Taillieu.

“During this time, acres and yield were both increasing, driven by innovations like herbicide-tolerant canola, improved weed control, improved variety performance including hybrid canola and a shift to more and more annual acres.

“Certainly more acres of canola (were produced) during this period,” he said.

However, production and revenue decreased in the following years to an annual average of $5.25 million. Revenue dropped to around $4.5 million due to the 2021 drought but has since rebounded to its $5.25 million norm.

The drop in producer revenue led to program cuts and fewer activities, said Taillieu.

“We’ve reduced our grower and public engagement activities, including reducing our footprint at the Calgary Stampede and reducing the number of regional meetings that we hold from 12 to four this year,” he said.

“All committees have examined projects to ensure return on investment. And then after that, staff has been asked to examine all activities to identify further cost-saving opportunities.”

Outside pressures have also affected the commission’s revenue and expenditure situation, among them inflation and declining government support for agriculture, Taillieu said.

“As everyone is fully aware, there’s been a decrease in government support for agriculture, both less government money spent on agriculture and there’s been less government and infrastructure including people to support farmers,” he said.

“This has resulted in a downloading of programs and people … to the crop commissions, including Alberta Canola, which is now expected to fund more projects and our share of those projects is continually increasing.”

Then there’s the effects of the broader agricultural industry, in which some crops have increased their profitability and reduced canola’s piece of the pie.

“Other commissions have come along, the spending power of other crops has increased and decreased the amount of money available to Alberta Canola as part of the matching funds that are often available,” said Taillieu.

The fallout has seen Alberta Canola run deficit budgets in four of the past five years for a total of $2.8 million in deficit spending.

“We’ve covered that through our cash and cash equivalents or essentially by using up the savings that we had built up between 2004 and 2017,” he said.

This year, research is earmarked for an increase of just under $188,000, for budget total of $1.4 million.

Grower engagement and extension and public engagement and promotion categories were, in Taillieu’s words, “flat,” with reductions of $16,710 and $25,254 respectively.

The commission’s Canola Council of Canada contribution was boosted by $188,000 to reflect a better crop following the 2021 drought.

Alberta Canola has an unrestricted members equity fund of $1.5 million as well as a crop failure contingency reserve and a market development research reserve, each valued at $1 million.

“So there is $3.5 million available to the board to cover a $1.1 million deficit in this fiscal year,” said Taillieu.

Ian Chitwood, vice-chair of Alberta Canola, said the process of increasing service charges would take at least a year. The first step would likely be a resolution at Alberta Canola’s annual general meeting in Grande Prairie Jan. 24-25.

“That would allow Alberta Canola an opportunity to put together a business case detailing the specific amount and justification,” said Chitwood in an email following the online meeting. 

“That could then be presented to growers at the fall grower engagement meetings and input could be gathered. From there, it would likely be presented as a vote at the following AGM for approval.”

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Roger Chevraux of Killam returns as chair and Ian Chitwood of Airdrie as vice-chair of Alberta Canola but the organization will have four new directors: Christi Friesen (Brownvale) in Region 1, Jeannette Andrashewski (Two Hills) in Region 4, Paula Law (Lacombe) in Region 7 and Cheryl Westman (Vermilion) in Region 10.

Greg Sears of Sexsmith returns as Alberta Wheat chair along with Jason Lenz (Bentley) as vice-chair, and Shawn Jacula (Vermilion) as second vice-chair.

New to the board is Stewart Oke, who was appointed at the AGM to represent Region 3.

Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley are in the midst of finalizing their amalgamation, which should take place this summer.

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The candidates in Region 4 (east of Edmonton) are Jeannette Andrashewski of Two Hills, Kyle Tarkowski of Myrnam, Mark Smook of Vegreville and Ralph Tessman of Okotoks (who farms in Region 4).

Ballots will go out this month and the four candidates will be given an opportunity to speak at the Grower Engagement Meeting in Fort Saskatchewan on Dec. 1.

Elected by acclamation were Christi Friesen from Brownvale in Region 1 (in the northwest corner of the province) and Paula Law from Lacombe in Region 7 (in west-central Alberta).

No one came forward in Region 10 (on the east side north and south of Lloydminster) so a special election will be held at the AGM on Jan. 17 in Lethbridge.

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The four regions are regions 1 (the northwest corner of the province), 4 (five counties east of Edmonton), 7 (five counties in the Red Deer area) and 10 (along eastern border from the MD of Wainwright north).

The board has 12 directors and terms are for three years. Nomination papers must be submitted by Oct. 31.

For more info, go to albertacanola.com. 

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No candidates in either region put their name forward during elections last fall and neither did anyone at the organization’s annual general meeting.

Appointing directors is relatively rare for the province’s farm groups, although many directors are acclaimed or elected at an AGM because there were no candidates during regular elections at regional meetings.

Alberta Canola represents about 14,000 growers in the province.

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But not because of what happened in the canola sector, but rather the earthquake that hit the cattle business when BSE was discovered in an Alberta cow.

In each of the two years prior to that, fewer than three million acres of canola were grown in Alberta (and less than 10 million in the entire country). After 2003, those sorts of low numbers would never be seen again — as acreage both provincially and nationally has more than doubled since then.

“A lot of the acreage growth that, in my view, happened in canola was because of feed grains being taken out of production because of the shrinking of the cattle herd,” said Toma. “The cattle in Canada shrank by a third. A lot of barley acres and summerfallow acres moved to canola.”

There have, of course, been a lot of other changes in the 23 years since Toma, who retires at the end of the month, began working for the farm group.

By the time he arrived in 1999 (after a decade working for Alberta Pork), the foundation for that explosive growth had been laid, with the 1995 introduction of herbicide-tolerant varieties being key. But adoption of these new varieties (starting with Roundup Ready and now including LibertyLink and InVigor) didn’t happen overnight.

“They weren’t really in a lot of use in the industry,” said Toma. “They were still very new, and they were being tested, trialled, and demonstrated. The number of acres was relatively small, but growing.”

Still, producers were watching and increasingly they saw not only a financial advantage in growing genetically modified canola but also the environmental benefit of being able to ditch summerfallow and control weeds without tillage.

“Where folks might have done a chemfallow pass and left it to fallow that way, they could still do the equivalent of a summerfallow and produce a crop,” said Toma. “So the benefits to the soil were huge (and) producers could still get a good return.

“It really led to the adoption of conservation tillage and helped with that transition.”

But BSE wasn’t the only major event in 2003 for the canola sector. It was also the year that clubroot was found in several fields near Edmonton.

“One (BSE) had an immediate impact on agriculture in Alberta and the other has had a long-term impact,” noted Toma.

But technology has advanced greatly since then, he added.

“As more scientific tools come forth, you’re able to move things that much better,” he said. “Even the work that has been done in clubroot now, at the breeding level, is so much more advanced than what we were able to achieve 20 years ago. They had transgenics and they had the old-fashioned approach. Now the breeders have so many different tools at their fingertips to try and do so many different things.

“Solutions come up so much easier. Challenges are overcome a lot faster and a lot better.”

Aside from clubroot, the biggest challenge for canola has always been the regulatory issues around biotechnology, particularly opposition to genetic modification which “became a political issue, and introduced a whole lot of costs and problems.”

However, advances in genomics and gene editing is altering the conversation, said Toma.

“Some of the governments that were so adamantly opposed to it 20 years ago are changing their view because of the new technologies that are coming along,” he said.

Moreover, biotechnology will be able to offer ways to grow canola more efficiently, which will lower greenhouse gas emissions from its production, he said.

And Canada’s solid regulatory oversight system is an important advantage.

“That’s one of our strengths,” he said. “We have a good handle on these things to make sure environmental damage isn’t done. I think that’s why the Canadian canola industry will go forward.”

Add it all up and the future of the canola sector looks as bright today as it did at the start of his career, said Toma.

“We have all this incredible natural resource,” he said. “It’s a real resource that’s there and it’s not diminishing. People need that food.”

Toma’s successor is Karla Bergstrom, the farm group’s longtime manager of government and industry affairs.

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Roger Chevraux of Killam is the new chair and his vice-chair role is now being filled by Ian Chitwood of Airdrie. As well, Charles Simoneau from Guy steps on to the board as the director for Region 3, replacing Denis Guindon.

However, the board still needs to fill the vacancies created by the departure of two other directors, former chair Kevin Serfas in Region 9 and Holly White in Region 12.

Information on how to become a director as well as how the board and committees work can be found at albertacanola.com.

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