The post-deregulation era of Prairie grain research and market development funding is cleared to begin, as the three Prairie provinces’ wheat and barley commissions have set new single checkoffs on Prairie wheat and barley, all starting Aug. 1. The Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association (MWBGA) on Wednesday announced that when the Western Canadian Deduction […] Read more
Prairie wheat, barley commissions’ single checkoffs set
Prairie wheat commissions, grain firms to fund Cigi
The technical institute for Canadian field crops will get its core funding from now on through the Prairies’ major grain export firms and its three provincial wheat grower commissions. Cigi, the Canadian International Grains Institute, on Tuesday announced the new funding model, plus a new governance model setting up a new 10-member board of directors […] Read more
Manitoba crop groups officially on merger track
Five Manitoba-based crop producer associations, nearly all of which already work out of the same building, have a memorandum of understanding to work toward forming a single merged grower group. The Manitoba Corn Growers Association (MCGA), Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers Association (MPSG), National Sunflower Association of Canada (NSAC) and the Manitoba Wheat and Barley […] Read more
Alberta Beef Producers applauds return of non-refundable checkoff option
The Alberta government will allow commodity commissions to hold a plebiscite on whether checkoffs should be refundable or not
Reading Time: 3 minutes The return of a non-refundable checkoff is welcome news for Alberta Beef Producers, which loses nearly one-quarter of its annual service fees to refunds. “We’ve always believed that decisions about funding a commission should be made by producers,” said executive director Rich Smith. “What (the provincial government’s) announcement does is really allow producers to make […] Read more
Alberta to restore non-refundable checkoff option
Alberta’s farmed-commodity commissions may soon be able to make their checkoffs non-refundable again if their producer members are willing. The provincial government on Tuesday tabled amendments to the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act (MAPA) which would grant each of the province’s 13 agricultural commissions the ability to determine whether their checkoffs should be refundable or […] Read more
Manitoba surveying farmers on KAP funding system
The Manitoba government wants “farmers’ and stakeholders'” feedback on potential changes to Keystone Agricultural Producers’ (KAP) funding model — and fast. The deadline to fill out an online survey or download and email it in is March 9, the government said in a release Thursday. “The current approach to funding our province’s general farm organization […] Read more
Wheat checkoff to drop in August 2017
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Wheat Commission is lowering the wheat levy by nine cents per tonne as part of a move to a single wheat checkoff. If approved by the province, the combined checkoff will drop to $1.09 in August. The single checkoff will combine the wheat commission’s current levy with the Western Canadian Deduction, which will end […] Read more
Canola checkoff tax credit available
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canola growers who didn’t ask for a checkoff refund last year can get a tax credit for the 2016 tax year. The Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit covers the portion of the checkoff used for qualifying research. For Alberta canola producers, the credit is 9.77 per cent. For example, for an individual grower […] Read more
Beef checkoff agency has (another) name change
Reading Time: < 1 minute The agency that handles beef checkoffs once again has a new name. “In the past, the handle for the organization managing the checkoff has bounced around a bit,” the newly rechristened Canadian Beef Check-Off Agency said in a release. Once known as the National Check-Off Agency, it’s also been known as Canada Beef and then […] Read more
Study points to payoff from cattle research, beef marketing
Economists use ‘econometric simulation model’ and find every $1 in checkoff investment generates a $14 return
Reading Time: 2 minutes A new study has found Canadian cattle producers receive a $14 benefit for every $1 in national checkoff fees invested in research and marketing activities. The study, by University of Alberta ag economists James Rude and Ellen Goddard, examined the period from 2011-12 to 2013-14. It updates a similar 2010 study (covering the period from […] Read more
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