Same old story…
Once upon a time, Saskatchewan farmers were sick of selling their grain to unscrupulous grain buyers and profiteers. So they formed their own elevator company. It was called Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP). Eventually, the SWP became the biggest grain marketer in Western Canada. It even had its own export terminals on the West Coast and at Thunder Bay. And it gave farmers complete control of their own supply chain, from the field to the end market. The concept was called co-operative marketing. Farmers pooled their grain and sold it at competitive prices, based on volume, using their own elevator network. But alas. Over time, farmers fell asleep at the wheel and let a bunch of "executives" gain control of the Sask Wheat Pool. Under poor executive leadership, Sask Pool made a series of bad investments and managerial blunders, took on a mountain of debt and was eventually swallowed up by a private sector competitor for pennies on the dollar.
Moral of the story: Farmers had control of their own industry, but they gave it away through complacency.
Fast forward to today …
Like the SWP marketing story, the debate about seed royalties is a story about control.
Specifically, who has control of the seed industry? Who is trying to get it? And who's been asleep at the wheel?
To illustrate, consider this question:
What farmer in his right mind would invest in a plant breeding program (ie provide check-off levies and other forms of financial support) without demanding a share of the profits generated by new seed varieties?
Who in his right mind would agree to provide financial support for the development of an innovative product, without demanding a share of the profits that it generates? This is basic stuff. But somehow, it's happening right before our eyes.
To be clear:
a) farmers today are providing front-end financial support for seed research, development and the commercialization of new seed varieties;
b) they're demanding no return on their investment;
c) they're negotiating no ownership stake in the products that their investments help to develop;
d) they're paying up-front royalties for the right to use the products that they have already paid to develop, and;
e) and they're now facing the possibility of additional back-end or trailing royalities for the use of farm saved seed.
This is absolute lunancy.
But it will happen … unless someone takes the bull by the horns and organizes an opposition.
Here's the solution, IMHO …
• Stand up for your interests.
•*Get organized.
•*Demand respect from your elected parliamentarians
•*Use your monetary investments as a bargaining chip.
•*Demand to become an owner or shareholder of the products that you pay to develop.
•*And if you can't negotiate a deal that satisfies the interests and needs of grassroots farmers, then withdraw your financial support, en masse
•*Use your checkoff dollars to start your own farmer-owned plant breeding program.
•*Hire your own group of plant breeders.
•*Develop your own seed products that can be used by shareholders on a royalty-free basis.
•*And perhaps most importantly, put aside your petty ideological differences and work for a solution that benefits all farmers, whether they vote Conservative, Liberal, NDP or otherwise.
Once upon a time, Saskatchewan farmers were sick of selling their grain to unscrupulous grain buyers and profiteers. So they formed their own elevator company. It was called Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP). Eventually, the SWP became the biggest grain marketer in Western Canada. It even had its own export terminals on the West Coast and at Thunder Bay. And it gave farmers complete control of their own supply chain, from the field to the end market. The concept was called co-operative marketing. Farmers pooled their grain and sold it at competitive prices, based on volume, using their own elevator network. But alas. Over time, farmers fell asleep at the wheel and let a bunch of "executives" gain control of the Sask Wheat Pool. Under poor executive leadership, Sask Pool made a series of bad investments and managerial blunders, took on a mountain of debt and was eventually swallowed up by a private sector competitor for pennies on the dollar.
Moral of the story: Farmers had control of their own industry, but they gave it away through complacency.
Fast forward to today …
Like the SWP marketing story, the debate about seed royalties is a story about control.
Specifically, who has control of the seed industry? Who is trying to get it? And who's been asleep at the wheel?
To illustrate, consider this question:
What farmer in his right mind would invest in a plant breeding program (ie provide check-off levies and other forms of financial support) without demanding a share of the profits generated by new seed varieties?
Who in his right mind would agree to provide financial support for the development of an innovative product, without demanding a share of the profits that it generates? This is basic stuff. But somehow, it's happening right before our eyes.
To be clear:
a) farmers today are providing front-end financial support for seed research, development and the commercialization of new seed varieties;
b) they're demanding no return on their investment;
c) they're negotiating no ownership stake in the products that their investments help to develop;
d) they're paying up-front royalties for the right to use the products that they have already paid to develop, and;
e) and they're now facing the possibility of additional back-end or trailing royalities for the use of farm saved seed.
This is absolute lunancy.
But it will happen … unless someone takes the bull by the horns and organizes an opposition.
Here's the solution, IMHO …
• Stand up for your interests.
•*Get organized.
•*Demand respect from your elected parliamentarians
•*Use your monetary investments as a bargaining chip.
•*Demand to become an owner or shareholder of the products that you pay to develop.
•*And if you can't negotiate a deal that satisfies the interests and needs of grassroots farmers, then withdraw your financial support, en masse
•*Use your checkoff dollars to start your own farmer-owned plant breeding program.
•*Hire your own group of plant breeders.
•*Develop your own seed products that can be used by shareholders on a royalty-free basis.
•*And perhaps most importantly, put aside your petty ideological differences and work for a solution that benefits all farmers, whether they vote Conservative, Liberal, NDP or otherwise.
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