The Merger Question — Input Wanted From Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers

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Following preliminary discussions provincial crop associations about collaborating or merging, the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers Association is asking producers whether they see value in merging with another farm group.

MPSG is currently surveying its membership, asking for views on the group’s agronomy research, market development work, and how it can maximize the value it provides to growers.

“We’re getting fewer farms, and bigger farms, and a lot of production issues to deal with, so what’s the best way to make our farms more profitable? If that includes merging with other associations, we just need to know what people think so we can work along those lines,” explains executive director Francois Labelle in the conversation below.

The merger question in the survey specifically refers to the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association and the Manitoba Flax Growers Association.

“They are two of the groups we’ve had some discussion with,” he notes.

Soybean acres in Manitoba have grown exponentially since 2013, the last time MPSG surveyed its membership. The board wants to make sure its priorities reflect the changing crop mix and demographics, says Labelle.

The survey is being distributed to members by mail. It can also be completed here.

Francois Labelle explains MPSG’s approach to the merger discussion, as well as the potential for soybean processing in Western Canada, with StatsCan projecting almost 3 million acres of beans in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2017:

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