The Canadian Grain Commission is proposing a 24% reduction in user fees effective August 1, 2017 for grain inspection and grain weighing services.

Rosetown area farmer Jim Wickett Chairs the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association and says it’s a good first step but didn’t go far enough:

"Great to see a first step," he said. "Reality is they're reducing fees by $10 million and they've been piling it up in excess of $30 million a year. I do think they're still out of line with what they're charging. I think they're a little short with what they should have reduced it by.

"I don't think it went far enough, and like I said, we want to go back and get that money back into producer's hands. It's spring time, everyone could use $3000 for inputs right now," he said.

Stakeholders have until May 22, 2017 to comment on the proposed changes to the CGC.

The Grain Commission is also accepting input until May 1st on what to do with the $107 million-plus user fee surplus from the past few years, and how user fees should be calculated starting in 2018.