Sasskatchewan’s canola and flax development commissions are consolidating their management, staff and office space under one roof.
SaskCanola and SaskFlax said Wednesday their new “management collaboration” will translate to efficiencies for both commissions with “a full staff complement to support both boards.”
Both organizations will now operate out of the current SaskCanola office at Innovation Place, a research and technology park next to the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon.
SaskCanola’s current executive director Tracy Broughton will manage both organizations as their new exec.
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The two organizations emphasized they maintain their separate boards of directors and governance structures under the new collaboration, and canola and flax levies will still be collected separately.
“Finding administrative and operational efficiencies within our industry ensures that growers’ levy dollars are put to the best use,” SaskFlax board chair Greg Sundquist of Watrous said in a joint release.
“Our commissions were created with similar mandates and key focus areas — research, extension and market development. We are excited about the opportunities this arrangement brings to oilseed growers.”
“A lot of flax growers in our province are also going to have canola in their rotation, so it makes sense,” SaskCanola board chair Charlene Bradley of Stranraer added in the same release.
The new arrangement removes a question mark over the management of SaskFlax, which in late August put out a call with the Flax Council of Canada seeking a joint executive director for SaskFlax and president for the council, with a deadline of Oct. 21.
A SaskCanola representative said Thursday the Flax Council of Canada is not involved in the SaskCanola/SaskFlax arrangement.
SaskCanola, set up in 1991, is a farmer-led, levy-supported organization backing research, advocacy and market development work, while SaskFlax, operating since 1996, supports research and market development through checkoffs on flaxseed and flax straw. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
