Check off redunds on the rise

[BreadWinner]

Canola council might have to scale back the winter holiday a bit if people keep asking for accountability. Wtf…. There is a big article in the Leftist Producer about how levies are not a tax and producers should not be asking for refunds.

[SASKFARMER]

till these organizations start working for the farmers who fund them i’m asking for mine back. vote with our wallets.

the pulse organization is the worst and hasn’t even acknowledged we should be almost 8 years apart on seeding peas.

[BreadWinner]

Its kind of stupid that if you have asked for a refund you are not part of their canola club anymore. But they figure they speak for all canola producers. Richardsons has also pulled its 1 million in funding and the council is hoping producers complain to them to put pressure on To reinstate it. They will probably start lobbying government for a non refundable checkoff, that will really piss producers off.

[blackpowder]

I know what I'll tell them if they ask why. But they haven't.

[kANOLA]

Check offs ,CWB ,NFU, have all been far removed from what farmers really wanted.

[bucket]

Its group of elitists in those groups.

While I understand the need for R&D , it doesn't seem to be making much difference.

As far as representing farmers , well that is just a phucking joke.

[wmoebis]

What I could never understand for the R&D was farmers pay for it then when it is finished and new varieties comes out they pay through the nose again for the seed. Just kinda seems like double dipping to me.

[fjlip]

What I could never understand for the R&D was farmers pay for it then when it is finished and new varieties comes out they pay through the nose again for the seed. Just kinda seems like double dipping to me.

I said years ago, the biggest benefit is to those that EATor drink! they should pay.

[goalieguy847]

Well.. full disclosure i used to be on the wheat commission and j saw the best and worst of both worlds..
Not sure i want to get into it but there was alot of good done with our checkoff dollars ( breeding program that didnt force us to pay a trailing royalty...which..get ready folks its gonna be on every cereal variety within 7 years) and what they do at CIGI in winnipeg...absolutely amazing work there. BUT on the other hand..wow what alot of waste. Why would a regular Joe farmer who becomes a director go on a trade mission ( and wife) to south america...asia..etc..and neet with flour mill execs...bakers...
You know what the average joe farmer knows about how to extract more flour? How many of us know how they actually check for gluten strength?
And why do they host these extravagant events at places like the banff fairmont.... the most expensive hotel at the most expensive time of year ( xmas) and its heavily funded by our checkoff dollars?

[goalieguy847]

Well.. full disclosure i used to be on the wheat commission and j saw the best and worst of both worlds..
Not sure i want to get into it but there was alot of good done with our checkoff dollars ( breeding program that didnt force us to pay a trailing royalty...which..get ready folks its gonna be on every cereal variety within 7 years) and what they do at CIGI in winnipeg...absolutely amazing work there. BUT on the other hand..wow what alot of waste. Why would a regular Joe farmer who becomes a director go on a trade mission ( and wife) to south america...asia..etc..and neet with flour mill execs...bakers...
You know what the average joe farmer knows about how to extract more flour? How many of us know how they actually check for gluten strength?
And why do they host these extravagant events at places like the banff fairmont.... the most expensive hotel at the most expensive time of year ( xmas) and its heavily funded by our checkoff dollars?

Or when you recommend that maybe we push for some sort of govt lobbying to push through a law that requires elevators to have their scales/protein/moisture testers to be verified by independent consultants...only to be brushed off?

[Stormin]

My first crop of canola I grew all by myself no help from family, friends, just internet research and it was an outstanding success and I thought this was the best crop to grow ever and what luck canola went to $14/ bu that year and I got top price marketing all on my own no help from anyone. Imagine my surprise when canola growers council took some of that money. I told the grain buyer that I didn’t want to contribute to this and they informed me that it was an automatic deduction and but could ask for my money to be returned to me. Not one iota had they assisted in my success so I got my money back… eventually. Then without requesting they started sending me the canola publication and I realized there was not one thing I couldn’t research on my own and haven’t supported this group or any others.

[blackpowder]

I guess I could educate myself more.
Last time I did I started with the WGRF. How much money they had, where it came from and where it went. Some big issues for me right there.
The same for our Commission and Council. Not so much but...
Then I looked at N.A.W.G and US Wheat Ass. comparitively.
Then I revisited the responses to our federal government these last 3 years. Believing by saying yes we'll be listened to. That was the last straw.
Varietal research one thing.
Agronomics another.
Then industry efficiency another by itself.
And finally govt relations yet another.
We're gazing at the first two, ignoring the third and kissing the emperor's feet on the fourth. Blaming anyone but ourselves. Voluntary eunuchs. As most in history were.
I am certain that compared to any other industry with our GDP we are the class clowns hands down in govt/industry liaison. Ask around, see how other's do it.
Years ago I too went on a international industry junket, my dime. Looking back, we should've been called tourists instead for sure.
If you want leading industry reps to speak and network at your AGM, you can't have it in Podunk. What's $500 a night to a billion dollar outfit? I've learned just as much listening to an international VP over drinks as anybody.
Maybe we should seperate responsibilities into the three mentioned above.
Agronomy. Industry. Gov't. Or at least seperation of the first from the latter two. Hire some sharks, act professional.
PET was right when he asked "why should I sell your wheat".
Stop acting/thinking like farmers.

Anyway, think I'll continue to recall my money. Hope someone on a commission reads this. Hoping further they understand it.

[TOM4CWB]

Went to the Crossroads Crop Conference.

They gave us plenty to think about!!!

Our Commissions and Canola Council did a bang up job of working through the maize of mines that the federal government has laid for us… they have a plan and are representing us in a reasonable manner.

It is difficult to work through the new communication pathways… the Pandemic has radically altered how policies are developed… not a fun time to influence the political policies in Ottawa…

Walk a mile in the shoes of those working against the rising tide of wokism, climate change, and sustainable environmental ism… what a challenge for any farmer to even mentally prepare themselves for the radical future we are challenged with…leadership is a overwhelming mission… the urban 95% of population… ‘Against’ rural (5%)…

policies and political pressures/leadership in this split very lopsided environment……is daunting… rural politics is totally lost on the vast majority of the urban population that votes…

Reality is a …… don’t shoot the very few left that put their necks on the line for your farm… do something your self if you believe that you are a leader that has the answers to lead us out of this rural wasteland of political purgatory… urbanization and immigration are driving 90% of political policies.

Spend your political power wisely… rural people have important perspectives… but reality sucks… we don’t rate anywhere near the importance politically…that was accepted as normal…50 years ago.

Blessings and Cheers!

A brave new reality… for those willing to do a reality check on the political landscape!

We will be very fortunate… if many of us in western Canada escape a major drought this summer… it could be heart wrenching for many farmers!!!

[TOM4CWB]

Could be a wild summer for weather!!!

[TOM4CWB]

Blackpowder,

We all need to do a reality check...

Have been active in AB Commissions since 1989... many many thousands of volunteer hours... passionate effective leadership is a trek though endless challenges... it is so very easy to shoot missiles at those brave souls [farmers] willing to put themselves on the front lines of leadership and representing our agricultural communities.

It is costly and requires real self discipline... to challenge urban political perceptions... few farmers actually have done a SWAT accounting of farmer's new political and social economic reality in an urbanized post pandemic world.

It is very easy to get 'lost' in our own....'small' but important farming realities... it is a no brainer that people starve without food to eat... yet...humans are creatures of habit...

Farmers easily forget... that our farm worlds are radically detached from 90% of urban civilization... we are left with a very diminished power base politically to leverage.

Cheers