Wheat and corn organizations review Soybean Growers' proposal

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

by MARY BAXTER

The proposal details what growers would like to see included in the merger agreement, says John Stafford, Huron County’s outgoing district director. Details won’t be released until after the other boards and soybean committeemen have reviewed them, he said.

The move comes as district elections experience the after effects of the board’s controversial decision last November to withdraw from merger talks. After facing pressure from its membership regarding the decision, the board subsequently voted in December to resume talks.

Two districts have opted to part ways with directors who identified themselves as supporters of the merger withdrawal. In Huron County, which makes up the board’s District 9, Stafford’s nomination to become one of nine delegates was defeated. Under the organization’s structure, district delegates elect its board director from their number.

Stafford, Huron County’s director for 14 years, wasn’t surprised by the cold shoulder, noting his stance on the merger issue had generated some personal attacks. “I wasn’t one of the favoured guys at the meeting,” he said. However, Stafford also pointed out that he had announced his intention to retire as a director last year.

Veteran delegate Keith Black, who has stated his support for the merger of the three organizations in principle, is the district’s new director.

Meanwhile, in eastern Ontario’s District 13, the board’s second vice-chair, Arden Schneckenburger, also saw his delegate nomination defeated. The district is divided into three regions, and each elects its own delegates. The selection of a new district director will have to wait until the last regional group meets to elect delegates later this month. Schneckenburger had been the district director for three years and previously served as a delegate for two years.

He also attributed the defeat to his support of the decision to pull out of merger talks in November.

At the time, Schneckenburger’s concerns revolved around market development, budget issues and strategic vision. “There were a lot of issues,” he said, noting that the proposal on its way to the other boards today deals with these.

Stafford said there was concern about the contents of an information package intended to brief growers on the merger vote and suggested that the decision to withdraw was intended to slow the process down.

He said he was in favour of the merger, “but let’s get it right.”

But Dwight Foster, who farms near North Gore and is the district’s president, describes the decision to pull out, even though it has been reversed, as “a costly error."

“It’s going to take an extra year to get (the merger) through,” he predicted, explaining key meetings with provincial authorities were missed while the merger was being debated. BF