The board of directors for the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission has voted in favour of joining Cereals Canada.
A resolution to join the national cereal crop industry association was passed at the group’s annual general meeting in January. The resolution was on the agenda for a Sask Wheat board meeting on Wednesday.
“Sask Wheat is looking forward to working with Cereals Canada and strengthening the collaborations with our industry partners across the Prairies and across Canada,” says Laura Reiter, Sask Wheat chair, in a news release published on Friday morning. “There are several key issues across the world that will be impacting wheat markets, from NAFTA, to CPTPP to the country of origin labelling requirements in Italy. We will combine our resources on these and other issues for Saskatchewan’s wheat farmers.”
While other provincial wheat grower organizations are already members in Cereals Canada, the group from Canada’s largest wheat-producing province was notably absent until now. Several directors were vocally opposed to joining the national industry group, which also includes life science and grain companies. To maintain representation, the Saskatchewan government appointed two farmers to the Cereals Canada board.
Sask Wheat members also passed a resolution in January 2016 to join Cereals Canada, but the board decided against joining.
The issue was brought up again at the Sask Wheat semi-annual meeting in Regina on Wednesday — the same day Cereals Canada met with Japanese officials to work on resolving the market access issue with genetically modified wheat.
“Canadian agriculture is facing a rise in protectionism around the world. Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission’s membership in Cereals Canada makes the value chain stronger and better able to manage the head winds we face today,” notes Cam Dahl, Cereals Canada president, in the news release.
More to come.
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