The farmer organizations released the new moniker in the run-up to their merger, which will be effective with the start of the 2023-24 crop year. The merger aims to “…build on the strengths of both organizations to create a unified voice…” the groups said in a media release.

“Our new organization will be focused on delivering value to our farmers and other stakeholders while contributing to the growth and sustainability of the grain industry in Alberta,” said Greg Sears, AWC chair.

The commissions began the merger process in 2017 by implementing a shared management structure. 

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The interim board, which will take over regional governance duties in conjunction with the Aug. 1 amalgamation, features 12 directors: six for wheat and six for barley.

“I think the people that have been chosen to sit on that interim board are definitely committed to making the organization work and are willing to put in the work required to establish the organization,” said Greg Sears, chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission and a director for the interim board.

The members on the Alberta Wheat Commission side of the board include Dave Bishop (Region One), Dean Hubbard (Region One), Devin Hartzler (Region Two), Jason Lenz (Region Three), Shawn Jacula (Region Four) and Greg Sears (Region Five).

The Alberta Barley members include Sean Stanford (Region One), Tara Sawyer (Region Two), Roy Newman (Region Two), Connie Matson (Region Three), Clint Jacula (Region Four) and Scott Jesperson (Region Five).

The regions listed reflect the current boundaries for both organizations. Regions for the amalgamated group have not yet been defined.

Until Aug. 1, the current Alberta Barley and Alberta Wheat Commission boards will continue to act as official directors of their respective organizations but will work with the interim board to develop a direction for the new group.

“The existing board is still the board, absolutely,” said Tara Sawyer, a director at large for Alberta Barley. “We are still two separate entities so we are still running two separate boards making separate decisions.”

The interim board will see a reduction in number of directors, including the elimination of director at large positions.

The current AWC board includes five regions with one director at large for a total of 11 directors. The Alberta Barley board has six regions with three directors at large for a total of nine.

“The region map (for the interim board) will be very similar to the Alberta Barley map with two directors from each region to make up the 12,” said Sears.

“There will not be at this point any directors at large because we believe there will be sufficient representation with that number of directors at the table.”

The interim board will serve from Aug. 1 through the election of a new board in the fall and until the new organization’s AGM in December or January.

“The marketing council regulations that we function under require that a permanent and elected board be in place within a year of inception, so that means we’ll have the elections in roughly November, which will provide us with that permanent elected board effective the end of the year,” said Sears.

The marketing council supervises the governance and operations of marketing boards and commissions under the provincial Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, which provides the framework for organizations such as the Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Barley.

Rebranding the organization

Preventing confusion around rebranding is a major challenge for the interim board, said Sawyer.

Although the amalgamated commission has a new name that the board hopes to announce in May, it will need to make sure all stakeholders know it’s the organization taking over from the Alberta Wheat and Barley commissions.

“We need to make sure that government and everybody knows it’s still us. If nothing else, our stakeholders have to understand that there has been a name change and how that might impact them. Everybody needs to know, for their levy dollars, that this is the new name going forward.”

A more general challenge is to continue as a strong voice for both crops on national organizations while in the new, pared-down mode.

“In a lot of those instances we’ll be going down to just one representative for each commodity where often we have two reps for each commodity. We need to continue to be that strong voice and advocate for wheat and barley,” said Sawyer.

One of the primary reasons for amalgamating the two groups is the development of a “merit-based” funding philosophy for research. It will be the job of the interim board to figure out what “merit-based” means in this context and to make sure wheat and barley get equal time in the research department.

“We plan to do a strategic plan where those type of parameters will really be set up to make sure that even within that merit-based process, barley and wheat will each get their moment,” said Sawyer.

“A lot of Albertans grow both crops. We care about both of those commodities and expanding them and improving them so that our producers see that benefit.”

The formation of the amalgamated commission depends on approval by the Minister of Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. The commissions hope to get this approval by June, but Sawyer said a provincial election could result in some speed bumps.

There are three sets of regulations — plan, commission and bylaws — that must be presented to farmers for feedback, sent to the marketing council for approval and ultimately sent to the minister for sign-off.

The commissions presented their draft plan regulation in a virtual town hall March 15.

“Basically, we have to get all that official stuff done. That ministerial approval is what we really need in order to meet that Aug. 1 deadline,” said Sawyer.

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“August 1 would be the ideal launch date (as) July 31 is the end of our fiscal year,” said Tom Steve, general manager for both groups, which merged their leadership and administrative teams in 2018.

“It would be great if we could get everything done for Aug. 1.”

A total of 1,569 votes were cast, with close to 90 per cent of both barley and wheat growers in favour. Although that was just 6.1 per cent of eligible producers (there were 25,688 names on the voters’ list), many farms were likely eligible to vote many times because voter registration was tied to checkoffs.

“When you collect checkoff, we often have more than one producer who sells grain on a given farm,” said Steve.” Sometimes the farm is incorporated, and they sell grain through the corporate entity, and they (also) sell grain in their own individual names.”

“I feel like those who were engaged in the process and wanted to vote did vote,” added Alberta Barley chair Tara Sawyer. “I really feel like they had the opportunity.”

With results in the record book, work now begins on the nitty gritty of the merger.

“There are a lot of steps in the process and we’re working closely with the (Alberta Agricultural Products) Marketing Council, who administer our act and regulations to get to that stage,” said Steve. “There’s a lot of paperwork and heavy lifting to be done.”

That process includes rewriting bylaws and regulations, getting a new non-profit status for the new entity and merging the two boards.

“We have effectively decided on a 12-person board,” said Steve, adding that initially, there will be six representatives for wheat and six for barley.

“After that, the farmers will be elected with no specific requirement to be wheat or barley. The majority grow both anyway.”

The administrative amalgamation four years ago produced annual savings of more than $400,000. While further efficiencies are envisioned, a key reason given for the merger was the ability to implement ‘merit’ funding for research projects.

“The decision was made that we would look at funding based on merit, as opposed to the percentage of checkoff that we get from wheat versus barley,” said Steve. “So what it means is that we may have additional funds going into malt or feed varieties that wouldn’t be exactly in proportion to the amount of wheat or barley checkoff we collect.”

A merit-based approach gives more flexibility to the research committee and the board of directors to look for the biggest bang for farmers’ bucks, regardless of whether they grow wheat or barley, he said.

“That’s all that merit-based means,” he said. “It will just give the research committee and the board the flexibility to determine the research investment based on what we think the payoff would be for farmers.”

However, wheat research generally has a much bigger return on the checkoff money invested, he added.

Efficiencies generated by the full merger will also be considerable, although it is difficult to quantify at this stage, said Steve. The two groups now have two sets of financial statements, two audits, two annual general meetings and two sets of regional meetings.

“Board expenses will be reduced with one board instead of two. There would be a lot of time saving for staff. We’re running two committee meetings and two sets of board meetings.”

The merger process has been lengthy. A committee first studied the matter in depth. Producer consultations were then held at regional meetings, and the proposed merger debated and voted upon at annual general meetings last winter.

“I think everyone – directors, membership and staff – would just like us to get on with it, and get the job finished,” said Steve.

“It’s an exciting time moving forward,” added Sawyer.

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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 af.marketingcouncil@gov.ab.ca. The council provides oversight of crop commissions and authorized the dual plebiscites.

“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.

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All but a couple dozen of the new association’s nearly 720 members farm in Alberta, so joining forces will “ensure that seed growers in British Columbia have the same level of recognition and promotion for their pedigreed seed as growers across the country,” said Tracy Niemela, the organization’s president and a grower from the Sylvan Lake area.

The merged group is one of six associations that are part of the Canadian Seed Growers Association, which represents 3,500 seed growers and monitors and certifies seed for field crops in Canada (except potatoes).

The new website can be found at abcseedgrowers.ca.

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Delegates at Alberta Wheat’s recent annual general meeting supported a resolution to have a farmer plebiscite on amalgamating with Alberta Barley, whose members took the same step in December. 

The vote allows the two groups, which merged their leadership and administrative teams four years ago, “to pursue a farmer plebiscite to amalgamate.” (That means going to the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council, which will determine details of how the plebiscite will proceed.) 

“Research would remain the top priority for the proposed amalgamated organization and funding would be merit based,” the two groups say on their mostly merged website, adding checkoffs would remain at $1.09 per tonne for wheat and $1.20 per tonne for barley. 

“However, this is subject to review by the first board of the combined organization,” the website states. 

The merged board would have 12 directors, two from each of six regions in the province. Each region would also elect four delegates apiece. 

Meanwhile, Alberta Wheat delegates also elected a new chair and vice-chair — and both are familiar faces. Sexsmith producer Greg Sears, a former chair of Alberta Canola, has taken on the same role with Alberta Wheat. And former Alberta Barley chair Jason Lenz, from Bentley, is the new vice-chair while Vermilion’s Shawn Jacula takes over from Sears as second vice-chair. Also joining the board are Delburne’s Jason Craig; Dave Bishop, another former Alberta Barley chair who farms near Barons; and Devin Hartzler, who farms near Carstairs.

They replace departing directors Trevor Petersen, Janine Paly and Hannah Konschuh. Past chair Todd Hames will continue to serve on the board as well as chair of Cereals Canada.

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Members of both farm groups passed resolutions at their 2019 annual general meetings calling for a comprehensive review of a merger and consultations with farmers. In addition to the online survey, a series of town hall events will be held in October, with further review during regional meetings in November.

For more info and a link to the survey, go to wheatbarleyconsultation.com to learn more.

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“We’re just in the beginning stage of where it will go, and the timeline and how to communicate,” Dave Bishop, immediate past chair of the Alberta Barley Commission, said during a virtual Prairie Cereals Summit.

“We’re not going to let this drag out for a number of years to make a decision,” added Alberta Wheat chair Todd Hames. “Our goal is to move this along by one way or another. By this time next year, there should be a lot more clarity around the issue.”

The two cereal commissions moved to a combined management structure in 2018, with cost savings estimated at more than $400,000 a year. But both still have their own boards and governance structure.

Last year, members of both organizations passed motions at their annual general meetings to explore the idea of a formal merger. That prompted them to set up an amalgamation subcommittee in January, which met four times, including one this month to discuss a framework for determining what a combined organization might look like. That group has also looked at other farm groups that have amalgamated, including the Grain Farmers of Ontario, the Atlantic Grains Council and the BC Grain Producers Association. The subcommittee will be putting together a list of pros and cons of amalgamation that will go to members of both Alberta cereal groups in the coming year.

“We will be putting it forward to our delegates and our members to see what they think of it, because at the end of the day, that’s who will decide whether we amalgamate or not,” said Bishop. “It’s something we’ve been asked to look at. We had two resolutions come forward last year. We’re going to take a good look at this, and make an honest decision of what we can do in the future.”

In a joint presentation at the Prairie Cereals Summit, Bishop and Hames were quick to list off the positives of the amalgamation, while insisting it is not a “done deal.”

“It’s something that is a work in progress and we want to make sure we have looked at all the options and the cost-benefit ratio,” said Hames. “There’s got to be some benefit to doing this or there’s no sense to go ahead. We’re looking for the pros and cons so we can make sure we’re making a good decision based on facts and not emotion.”

In normal times, farmers would have had many opportunities to informally talk over the merits and drawbacks of a full merger as they gathered at regional meetings or met at conferences, farm shows or other events. Now the two farm groups are trying to figure ways to get information to their members and then get their feedback.

“COVID has thrown a bump in the road for us to do those face-to-face interactions,” said Hames.

“We’re maybe a little further back than we wanted to be at this time. We will move forward in some fashion of how we interact with the membership.

“I hope we can have some face-to-face time when we communicate with the memberships.”

He said the subcommittee hopes to soon develop a timeline for the proposed look at the possibility of amalgamation.

Under the provincial regulations that govern farm organizations, some sort of plebiscite would need to be held to approve an amalgamation, said Tom Steve, the general manager of both organizations. That could come in the form of a province-wide vote but might also be done “through our regional meetings process or our AGM process,” he said.

“We’re exploring all of those things with the (Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council) to make sure all the voices are heard,” Steve said.

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There were 751 votes by members of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association — with 414 voting against the merger and 337 voting in favour — even though the board of that organization as well as provincial boards strongly backed it.

“As a board, the Alberta Seed Growers thought that this was a good move forward for the seed industry,” said Renee Hoyme, president of Alberta Seed Growers. “We were in favour of amalgamation because we could see the benefits for the seed industry in the long run.

“We heard from a strong voice against, but we still thought the pros the new organization could bring outweighed the cons.”

The move to unite under one banner, to be called Seeds Canada, was supported by the four industry groups: the Canadian Plant Technology Agency, Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada, Canadian Seed Institute, and Canadian Seed Trade Association.

Advocates said having one organization would mean a stronger, more unified voice.

“Having one voice for the industry has more clout with government than five individual voices,” said Hoyme, a Thorhild-area seed grower.

“With the uncertainty of funding, having a stronger voice for the seed industry was a big plus for us.”

So too was the ‘one window’ system proposed in the merger, she added.

“On my personal farm, we’re basically a member of all of the five organizations, so it would have been nice to have a one-stop shop for that just to be more efficient.”

But opponents said the voice of farmers would be lost in the proposed organization.

“Frankly, from the moment I heard it, the ‘one voice, one organization’ aspect was a concern,” said Stettler-area seed grower Norman Lyster, who was president of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association from 2014 to 2016.

“I had always felt that a number of voices in harmony carried more weight while allowing some variance in thought process.”

Governance was another key concern — particularly around who would have a seat at the table. The ratification package put forward a board structure of 15 members, but only one of those members had to be a seed grower, sparking concerns among some seed growers.

“It felt like it was a pathway that had already been determined,” said Lyster. “There is a tendency in my mind to think that a lot of this had been decided somewhere well ahead of time. There were bigger agendas floating around. That’s part of life, but in this case, it was causing more friction.”

Moving forward

But the nature of the seed industry made it almost impossible to guarantee that more board seats would be filled by seed growers, said Hoyme.

“In theory, the way it would work is that a majority of the seats would be gained by seed growers, but that required involvement by seed growers — and typically it’s really hard to get board involvement from seed growers,” she said, adding that’s reflected in the low voter turnout for this issue. (The organization has about 3,500 members, so only one in five cast a vote.)

“So we couldn’t guarantee those spots without knowing what the interest in involvement would be. It couldn’t be put in the bylaws that it had to be a grower. Otherwise, the position might never be filled.”

For Lyster, seed growers simply didn’t have the full story about both the benefits and drawbacks of the amalgamation.

“We have to be sure we’re looking at the right problems — that we’ve identified the issues properly — to be able to come up with solutions that are appropriate,” he said. “Otherwise, we’re bound to make mistakes.”

But that doesn’t mean it will be business as usual, he added.

“There’s no going back to the status quo. While some may think that’s what this vote means, I don’t think it means that,” he said.

“Our membership in general has been quite open to change, but I think the change they saw there was not what they had thought it would be.”

At this point, it’s unclear how the seed industry will move forward. One option is a revision to the ratification package to make it more palatable ahead of a second vote. More likely, the four organizations that voted in favour of amalgamation will merge, with the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association repositioning itself as ‘CSGA 2.0,’ said Hoyme.

Either way, the industry will still need to find a way to work together, she said.

“I’d like to think that CSGA and the four other organizations can still have a good working relationship. It will just have to be ironed out what that relationship looks like,” she said. “There will still be change. It will just look different than we had envisioned with the amalgamation.”

Lyster agrees.

“Ultimately, we have to work together in many ways anyway,” he said.

“There is a risk of infighting or fracturing, but ultimately, if it gets into a food fight, it’s not good for anybody. I think it’s in everyone’s best interest to sit back and digest this a bit and go from there.

“There are so many different possibilities of how this could play out.”

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“This merger brings together two strong organizations with a common vision to serve our members and build value for the Canadian cereals industry,” said Cereals Canada board chair Jean-Marc Ruest. “Cereals Canada and Cigi have already established a close working relationship supporting the promotion of Canadian wheat and this merger will strengthen the benefits of this relationship.”

Cereals Canada was formed in 2013 and represents members of the cereal value chain while Cigi was created in 1972 to support domestic and international processors with independent technical services such as end-use quality evaluations, milling and end-use support.

The consolidated organization will operate under the Cereals Canada name, and Cigi will maintain its brand as a division within the organization.

“The next major step will be the appointment of a CEO for the amalgamated organization,” said Cigi chair Trent Rude.

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