The Saskatchewan Cattle Association (SCA) has begun a strategic review of itself, to ensure the work it does is aligned with the needs and priorities of cattle producers in the province.
Board Chair Chad Ross says the organization felt now is the time to do the review.
"Change is never easy, and change can offer some challenging decisions. But in that, we are excited that we're going to go ahead and do a review of the organization so that we're doing the best job we can for our producers." Ross said.
The review will examine, among other things, governance structure, communication with producers, and how levy dollars are utilized, he said.
One change already occurred with Janice Bruynooghe and Sandy Russell of Spring Creek Land & Cattle Consulting as Interim CEOs, as of February 1.
"(At) the beginning of February, the Board made a decision to bring on Spring Creek Land & Cattle Consulting as our Interim CEOs, who have been tasked with performing this review and looking at our organization." Ross said.
Bruynooghe and Russell replace Christina Betker, who was the previous CEO.
Ross didn't provide any details when asked if the change was due to Betker not being a fit within the Saskatchewan Cattle Association.
In a news release, SCA says moving forward, they will "maintain a disciplined approach to how levy dollars are invested, with a renewed emphasis on research, communicating the outcomes of advocacy and policy work and ensuring the relevance of these efforts for Saskatchewan cattle producers."
"This is an opportunity to refocus the SCA on its core purpose, which is supporting levy-paying producers," said Russell in the release.
"Our priority is making sure every decision and investment of producers' resources provides value, and that producers are given ample opportunity to share feedback," noted Bruynooghe.
Ross confirmed producers will have an opportunity to be involved in the process.
"One thing we're committed to is delivering on those priorities for them and being able to communicate back to us. We've already hired a stakeholder engagement employee who will be answering phones. She's a university grad, grew up in the industry, can talk the jargon, and I'm sure producers are going to enjoy talking to her." he said.
He said they don't have a set timeline for when the strategic review will be complete, but hope to have everything done heading into the fall, when the search for a new CEO will begin.
In the meantime, he said SCA will continue to advocate on behalf of producers.
"We're already starting to work on our district meetings that will be happening this fall. We'll have some engaging topics that we would hope that we could get producers out to, to give their feedback and give us direction through resolution at these district meetings coming in the fall."
