G & O Working Group: Organizational Committee Update

Following the annual general meetings of the Ontario Soybean Growers and the Ontario Corn Producers' Association, and the annual delegates' conference of the Ontario Wheat Producers' Marketing Board in London, Ontario during the first full week of March, 2006, the organizational working group met to consider its next steps.

Following producer direction given by a majority vote of all three organizations, the working group is proceeding with developing a single, specific option by which the three organizations could be brought together as one. Producers have expressed their opinion that they would like to see the Farm Products Marketing Commission conduct a vote on this option once it has been developed and provided to producers across the Province.

Accordingly, the working group is proceeding to develop such an option for the consideration of producers. To provide a broader range of producer input, the working group has struck a grassroots producer committee, with equal numbers of participants from all three commodities. This committee would give advice and recommendations on the committee structure that would best serve Ontario's grains and oilseeds producer interests. It is very important to ensure that the proposed organization is designed to remain in close touch with grassroots producers and to ensure that policy is developed in close consultation with them. The best way to achieve this design is to engage grassroots producers directly in the process. That is the step the working group has taken.

Our time-line is that we expect to receive the report from the grassroots producer advisory committee by late August and to take this report to the delegates from the three organizations at their conferences in the late summer.

We welcome and encourage written submissions from county/region/district producer committees. These submissions, providing your input, should be received no later than June 30, 2006. Please send them to:

Jayeff Partners, P. O. Box 175, Grimsby, Ontario, UM 4G3 or by email to: james@jayeffpartners.ca

All submissions received will be acknowledged.