By Alice McFarlane

Levy increase proposed by Saskatchewan canary seed commission

Nov 2, 2022 | 3:43 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – The Canary Seed Development Commission of Saskatchewan (CSDC) will be requesting an increase in the check-off levy paid by producers.

A resolution will be introduced at the CSDC annual meeting next month asking canary seed farmers to approve a 75 cent per tonne increase in the levy.

It would go from the current $1.75 a tonne up to $2.50 a tonne starting Aug. 1, 2023.

Assuming an average yield of 1,300 pound per acre, the levy cost would work out to $1.47 per acre. That would be similar to the per acre levy for barley and flax, but much less than the per acre cost for pulse crops and mustard.

CSDC chair Darren Yungman said the per acre cost of levy for wheat, durum, canola, and oats would be less than the increased canary seed levy and those crops benefit from a much larger acreage base.

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“When you compare it to other commodities it’s not a crazy amount,” Yungman said. “We are a small commission with a small amount of tonnes that levy is applied on so we don’t have a huge resource base to begin with. It will help us do a bit more.”

The canary seed levy has remained the same since the commission began operations in 2006. Yungman said farm input costs have been increasing dramatically.

“The CSDCS board has been hesitant to ask for a levy increase, but this seems to be a more viable approach than cutting back on the commission’s work on behalf of canary seed growers,” he said.

De-hulled canary seed or alpiste, as it is also known, has been approved for human consumption. Yungman said more work needs to be done and that costs a lot of money.

“Since then, a bunch of other barriers and red tape have come about. We’ve been continuing our research in agronomy, varieties, and other practices for canary seed, but we been diverting some funds into getting the barriers taken down for the food use side,” he said. “We believe there is huge potential as a food use product.”

Yungman said meant drawing down some reserves.

“We are still in a comfortable position, but we feel to keep the work going this was a good time to ask for a little extra from the producers,” he said.

In the past, CSDC held its annual meeting in Saskatoon in January during the same week as the Western Canadian Crop Production Show.

Yungman said there is a significant amount of canary seed grown in southeast Saskatchewan and in order to accommodate those producers the annual meeting will move to Dec. 14 in Regina at the Ramada Plaza.

Producers unable to attend in person can sign up for the online feed through Zoom.

All the registration information is available on the CSDC website. The registration deadline is Dec. 9.

Saskatchewan is the world’s leading producer of canary seed. Exports are valued at roughly $100 million each year.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW