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Significant announcements, including the creation of a new entity and an increase to grower levies, were made at the March 2016 annual general meeting of the Raspberry Industry Development Council and BC Raspberry Growers Association held in Abbotsford.
The council’s chair, Arvin Neger announced the establishment of a new cultivar company.
“The B.C. berry cultivar entity is now set up,” he said at the meeting. “We’re still in the process of finalizing the shareholders agreement.”
The new company is a combined effort of raspberry, strawberry and blueberry grower associations. Any money that comes in from selling cultivars through the company will be invested back into the berry breeding program, according to Neger.
A portion of the money to create the new company came from the council’s operating budget which is funded by levies collected from growers.
“There are significant costs associated in setting this [company] up,” Neger noted when explaining the excess in expenditure over what was budgeted for the cultivar company. “We want to make sure this is set up right, so that it can be self-sufficient.”
While there was a deficit in the 2015 finances, this should not be a problem in the future due to an increase in levies going forward.
“Our plebiscite has been approved. In 2016, growers will be paying a $0.01 levy,” Neger explained.
This is an increase from the half-cent levy growers had previously paid to the council but the money will continue to be collected in the same way.
In addition to the announcement about the new cultivar company and the increase to levies, the 2016 field trial day was discussed which is expected to occur in mid-July. Neger noted growers will be notified of the date when it is set.
The 2015 growing season was challenging for raspberry growers, but there are efforts to continue to advance the industry