The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) would like to thank the Government of Canada for continuing the voluntary producer wheat and barley check-offs for variety research. Presently the check-offs are collected on behalf of WGRF by the CWB. Effective August 1, 2012 the Marketing Freedom legislation will allow the check-offs to be collected by licensed buyers at the point of sale.

"The new collection system allows WGRF to continue to use check-off funds to support wheat and barley breeding programs to put new and improved varieties into farmers' fields" said Dave Sefton, Chair of WGRF. "Producer investments into breeding research have and will continue to provide a solid return with new varieties for western Canadian wheat and barley growers. WGRF is committed to working with the established and emerging provincial wheat and barley commissions to synchronize check-off collection and regional research investments," noted Sefton.

"Since 1995 WGRF has been investing almost $5 million dollars annually into breeding research on behalf of producers and the results speak for themselves," said Garth Patterson, Executive Director WGRF. "WGRF has assisted in the development and release of more than 110 new wheat and barley varieties, many of which are today seeded to large portions of the cropland in Western Canada. The benefits of these check-offs are clearly recognized and valued by producers and the Federal government."

"I would like to express WGRF's appreciation to Minister Ritz for his ongoing support of the wheat and barley research check-offs," said Patterson. "These check-offs will allow producers to leverage additional public and private investment to increase our overall breeding research efforts and remain competitive with other exporters."