All About Levies

As a producer, you are paying a levy on the commodities you sell. Do you know what they are and how they are used?

About Development Commissions and Boards

All producers in Saskatchewan pay a levy on the sale of their crops – wheat, oats, rye
barley, flax, and pulses – to fund a development commission or board. Most levies are mandatory but refundable, with the exception of SaskPulse which has a non-refundable levy.

Development commissions are created through provincial legislation and must use the levy to fund research and market development. Market development includes promoting the use of that commodity and the quality of Saskatchewan grown products to consumers at home and abroad.

Levies and Organic Products

Currently, development commissions do not track the amount that they collect from organic certified producers, and are not mandated to support research and development into organic research or marketing. Some commissions do fund research projects that are organic specific or relevant to organics, and the levies are important to ensure research continues. We support levy collection and the research and marketing efforts these levies make possible.

SaskOrganics believes that a levy on organic producers should be used for research and marketing that fully supports organics. Levies on organics should not be used for research that runs counter to organic standards, including into gene editing or genetic engineering.

We want to hear from members about this topic! If you have an opinion about levies and how they should be managed on behalf of organic producers, let us know.

There is a short survey that you can complete. CLICK HERE to let us know your thoughts!

Voluntary Organic Levy

Since SaskOrganics does not currently receive organic levy funds collected by development commissions, we established a voluntary organic checkoff and have worked with organic grain buyers that generously administer on our behalf. The checkoff helps fund our work, including knowledge exchange, reviewing research proposals, and participating in the organic standards review process. Your participation in the voluntary checkoff with participating buyers is important to our success.

If you are interested in supporting our work through the checkoff program, please let your grain buyer know to get in touch with us for more information. If you have any questions about the levy, please contact us at admin@saskorganic.com.

The following companies participate in our voluntary program: