The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association (SSGA), recently held their Semi-Annual Meeting in Regina in conjunction with the annual Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference.
“Our industry continues to enjoy strong optimism and record prices but that is just the start. Our goal for 2015 is to grow. We want to grow the profitability of the cattle industry, grow our membership, grow our programming and services and grow our capacity as an organization,” said SSGA president Doug Gillespie.
Gillespie announced that the SSGA is currently conducting a producer survey to receive input from grassroots producers on the SSGA’s future advocacy and programming efforts. At the meeting it was announced that the SSGA has recently signed a contract to become the first Saskatchewan based third party provider of the Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS), the largest beef marketing database in Canada. “We are wanting to add value to becoming an SSGA member and as such we will be offering free BIXS registration to all SSGA members,” Gillespie said.
At the Semi-Annual Meeting, SSGA members also considered resolutions on a wide range of topics, including Species at Risk, land ownership, cattle research and two on pipelines (see attached backgrounder.)
“We are not opposed to oil and gas development. We are not opposed to pipelines. Our members understand very well how important pipelines are to Saskatchewan’s economy. Our concern is that our members’ interests be taken into account in pipeline development,” said SSGA president Doug Gillespie.
“Pipelines can permanently interfere with the landowners use of their land yet in many cases resource companies make only a single lump sum payment when they build the pipeline. We believe that all landowners should be compensated for the ongoing nuisance and inconvenience caused by these structures,” Gillespie said.
SSGA is a province-wide member driven advocacy organization representing independent self-reliant cattle producers’ interests for 101 years. The SSGA advocates through education, communication, and research for an economically and environmentally sustainable cattle industry where cattlemen are free to do business–within a free and open market place, free from industry limiting laws and regulation.