Vern Baron Lacombe Research Station Lacombe, AB Role Of The Canadian Forage And Grassland Association In Advancing The Forage And Grassland Sector Vern Baron Lacombe Research Station Lacombe, AB

Strategic Road Map Start Here

Have A Good Look At Yourself

Scales Are The Moving Target We are here. We talk like we are here. Kyoto is here. Plot Field Farm Landscape Region Ecological scales connecting research to policy. Pasture National Feed yard Feed lot Animal Field Farm Landscape The landscape is made up of farm units; the farm has field units.

Scales Are The Moving Target Research, Extension Gov’t and Industry experts We are here. We talk like we are here. CFGA Your Farm Kyoto is here. Plot Field Farm Landscape Region Ecological scales connecting research to policy. Pasture Local Farm organization National Community Feed yard Feed lot Animal Field Farm Landscape The landscape is made up of farm units; the farm has field units.

A Good National Organization Has To: Work with commercial entities which may not be their own. Value the component parts Work with government and government resources to it’s advantage (public good). Share information, even financial information

Trends in Farm Organizations: Consolidation Too many meetings --- Time constraints Lack of resources (volunteers) and cash Larger voice Grain Farmers of Ontario is an amalgamation of corn, soybean and wheat farmers. The process took 10 years. The grass roots wanted more from the cost of a membership.

Examples of Good Farm Organizations: (in common strong leadership) Manitoba Farm Business Groups – Prairie Provinces Farm Account Book - Development of leadership skills - Shared financial information and farm business analyses (why? – Good for business!) Ontario Corn Producers Association (leadership, knowledge-based and innovative) – Now amalgamated into Grain Farmers of Ontario Canola Council of Canada – (started small, valued and mixed government and industry expertise and resources)

Focus The hardest thing about a forage organization is to focus on forage, work on forage and improve forage.

Prioritization: A Problem for Forages in a “Winner - Loser” Environment

Roles Of A National Organization Advocate Educator Leader Voice Consensus Builder Broker Futurist Representative Image Builder

Urgency vs. Importance Decision-Maker for Your Role Advocate Broker Voice Consensus Builder Urgency Leader Futurist Image Builder Educator Importance

When you come to a stop:

Summary Define, understand and respect the roles along the local to national scale for CFGA and important stakeholders Are there good models or examples to follow? Focus on forage: How do you handle prioritization in CFGA and for forages within stakeholder organizations? What is the role of CFGA? – Advocate, broker, consensus builder and futurist?

Road Map to Success Start Here