Group’s research funding has shrunk from a peak of $1.4 million to $200,000
Cuts to research funding by federal and provincial governments have hit the Manitoba Forage Council hard.
The group’s research funding has shrunk from a peak of $1.4 million to just around $200,000, said Brent McCannell, executive director of the 400-member non-profit group that has advocated on behalf of the forage industry since 1989.
Much of the council’s budget was coming from a 10 per cent fee charged for administering research programs, and that will now shrink to about $20,000 to $30,000 annually.
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“That doesn’t cover our annual operating costs and we’re eating into our net worth,” said McCannell.
The organization, which provides forage- and hay-marketing assistance, and helps organize grazing clubs and groups marketing grass-fed beef, has three part-time staff and operates out of McCannell’s home.
“We’re not top heavy in management,” he said.
Unlike the livestock or grain sectors, most forage is sold on a farm-to-farm basis and there is no centralized marketing channel providing records of sale. That makes it almost impossible to levy a checkoff to fund research.
“We’re not ruling it out, but it would be extremely difficult to make a levy work,” said McCannell.
The council does get some funding from a voluntary checkoff, based on acres, on international sales via the Manitoba Forage Marketer’s Group committee.
A sustainability committee looking at possibilities for funding the group’s continuing work has been struck with Jim Lintott as chair. It will look at ways of expanding membership, broadening the group’s scope to include “friends of forages,” and growing the sponsor base.
