Wheat and barley growers in Alberta only have a few days left to vote on whether they want to see Alberta Barley and the Alberta Wheat Commission amalgamate into a single organization.
Farmers who paid a levy on wheat or barley sales between January 2020 and April 2022 should have received a voting PIN in the mail, which they can use to vote online or over the phone prior to noon November 1 when the month-long voting period ends, explains Greg Sears, board chair for Alberta Wheat in the interview below.
“Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley have been functioning with a shared management team since about 2017, and we’ve seen significant cost savings and organizational synergies as a result of that. In a lot of ways this is kind of a natural next step…,” he says. “But of course, this is a decision that the farmer members of the organizations need to make.”
There are approximately 15,658 eligible wheat voters and 9,655 barley voters. The Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council (Marketing Council) is running the plebiscites in collaboration with third-party election advisor MNP and the two commissions. It’s expected the results will be announced shortly after the November 1 voting deadline.
Greg Sears shares more info on the vote, the prep work that has gone into addressing potential issues with a merger, and a few other topics, speaking with RealAgriculture’s Kelvin Heppner, here:
Related:
Alberta barley and wheat growers to vote on amalgamating commissions in October
Alberta wheat and barley groups moving ahead under shared management
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