Important changes to the formal rules of operation of the SFSDC

Several sections of the Commission's formal rules of operation have been amended as recommended by the government oversight body, the Agri-Food Council. Changes align the Commission’s rules with other producer organizations operating under the Agri-Food Act. The most recent version, 60/2021 of Chapter A-15.21 Reg 3 (effective June 29, 2005) approved by the government of Saskatchewan is available on-line https://www.canlii.org.

Major changes were made to the rules of eligibility for a registered forage seed producer to vote and to hold office as a director of the commission. A brief summary is available by following the link below, refer to the full text of the Regulations for details.

Changes affect the definition of a forage seed producer, the scope of the Commission's activities; grower voice, vote and representation; the processes of nominations; the conduct of elections; returning officer and scrutineers; election results and retention of ballots.

The Board of Directors discussed, revised, and finally approved of several sections of the Commission’s Regulations recommended by the Agri-Food Council. The government of Saskatchewan approved the changes and the most recent version, 60/2021 of Chapter A-15.21 Reg 3 (effective June 29, 2005) is available on-line https://www.canlii.org.

There are important issues related to grower representation. We provide a summary for use as a quick reference. For details, please refer to the formal Regulations in the link below, provided for direct viewing or downloading as a pdf.

1. MEMBERS: The definition of a “forage seed producer” is,

“(i) any person engaged in the production, marketing or production and marketing of forage seed and includes the employer of that person; (ii) a person who, under any lease or agreement, is entitled to a share of the forage seed produced or the proceeds of its sale; and (iii) a person who takes possession of any forage seed under any form of security or legal proceeding for a debt;”

2. SCOPE:

We amend one purpose of the Commission as follows, “advise governments on matters pertaining to forage seed research, production, and development.” The powers of the Commission now include the authority to set the number of directors elected or appointed to the board, the terms of office of those directors; and “the power to develop, deliver or develop and deliver traceability, animal welfare and food safety strategies, programs and initiatives.”

3. GROWER VOICE:

Voting by a show of hands is no longer required. Now the rules read that, “at an annual or special general meeting, registered forage seed producers may debate and take a vote on any questions or resolutions respecting the purposes of the forage seed plan.” The changes reflect the holding of virtual meetings. We updated the forum for annual or special meetings to include meetings held by “means of a telephonic, electronic, or other communication facility that permits all participants to communicate adequately with each other during the meeting.” An example is use of an electronic voting system during an AGM.

4. GROWER VOTE and REPRESENTATION

We made major changes to the rules of eligibility for a registered forage seed producer to vote and to hold office as a director of the commission. The Commission recognizes that decision-making and the way we do day-to-day work on farms today is evolving. The intent of the change in grower vote and representation is to make it easier for the registered forage seed producer and/or the farm operation to be represented. For example, we hope the changes support a farm’ succession planning as the next generation of growers transition into farming.

In the previous rules, “if a registered forage seed producer is a corporation, partnership or other organization, it must appoint as its representative to put forward resolutions at meetings, vote or hold office on behalf of the registered forage seed producer an individual who is a director, partner, shareholder, member, officer or employee of the corporation, partnership or other organization.”

In the new rules, the individual, as a representative of a registered forage seed producer, also includes “a family member of any of those individuals, and who is involved in the farming operation of the forage seed producer.” A family member means an individual who is: “(a) the spouse or person with whom the individual is cohabiting as a spouse; (b) a son or daughter; (c) a parent or legal guardian; (d) a brother or sister; (e) a grandparent; (f) a grandchild; (g) an uncle or aunt; (h) a nephew or niece; (i) a cousin; (j) a mother‑in‑law, father‑in‑law, sister‑in‑law or brother‑in‑law; (k) a person who is related by legal adoption.”

We have also changed the process of nominations for a registered producer to hold office on the Board of Directors. They must prepare a candidate profile and the candidate endorsed of the candidate by two registered forage seed producers (the forms are available on-line). The profile should briefly describe the candidate’s experience growing forage seed crops under conventional or organic management approaches, positions and term(s) serving on a board of directors, and other areas of expertise relevant to the Commission such as: research, communications including using social media for sharing information, and forage seed product usage or market development.

The conduct of elections has a few minor amendments as are changes to returning officer and scrutineers, election results and retention of ballots.