History

The Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission (SWCDC) is the provincially designated representative organization for producers of Winter Cereals in the province of Saskatchewan.

Winter Cereals include Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L), Fall Rye (Secale cereale L) and Winter Triticale (Triticale x Triticosecale Wittmack). These crops fit into an ecologically sound rotation plan and can be used as a product for milling, feed and ethanol production.

In 2005, Winter Cereals Canada Inc. surveyed producers throughout Saskatchewan, with 93.1 per cent of those surveyed and growing at least one winter cereal supporting the formation of a Winter Cereals Commission. SWCDC officially began in 2006 with the publication of Orders 01/06 to 05/06 in The Saskatchewan Gazette, September 8, 2006 and operates under the provisions of “The Winter Cereals Development Plan” (effective August 16, 2006) and The Agri-Food Act, 2004. The organization held its inaugural meeting in August 2006 in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Resolutions passed at the 2022 Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of the SWCDC and Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat) called for the organizations to “explore options for amalgamation, which would have the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission assume the mandate of the Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission for winter wheat, fall rye, and winter triticale, including research, advocacy, market development, grower relations, and communications activities for these additional crops.” After an extensive consultation period, resolutions were passed at the SWCDC and Sask Wheat 2023 AGMs calling for the amalgamation of the organizations:

WHEREAS the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and the Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission are focused on maximizing value for levy-payers (i.e. producers of spring wheat, durum and winter cereals in Saskatchewan);

AND WHEREAS levy-payer value would be increased through efficiencies and benefits that would be gained through closer coordination between our organizations;

AND WHEREAS amalgamation will provide the greatest efficiencies and benefits to the levy-payers of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and the Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and the Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission amalgamate under the name Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, with the amalgamated Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission to assume the mandate of the Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission for winter wheat, fall rye, and winter triticale, including research, advocacy, market development, grower relations, and communications activities in addition to the current mandate of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission for spring wheat and durum.

Sask Wheat officially assumed the mandate of SWCDC, including collecting the levies for winter wheat, fall rye, and winter triticale and performing the research, advocacy, market development, grower relations, and communications activities of the organization.