Producers
A producer is considered registered with the Commission when:
a registered buyer, processor or assembler deducts the levy from proceeds payable to the producer;
the producer sells forage seed directly to a buyer who is not registered with the Commission, including another producer, and remits the levy directly to the Commission; or
the producer provides the Commission with acceptable proof that they have sold forage seed within the previous two years.
A producer’s registration remains in effect until no levy has been paid on the producer’s behalf for two consecutive fiscal years.
The SFSDC fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
Producer Forms
Producer check-off (levy) collection
The check-off or levy is collected in the same manner as all other producer check-offs, at the first point of sale. All grades and crops listed are eligible to the levy.
Under the federal Agricultural Products Marketing Act, and the Saskatchewan Forage Seed Order SOR/2013-240, the Commission is authorized to collect levy on interprovincial forage seed deliveries made by a registered buyer or a producer who sells out of province.
Seed buyers, who are often the processors as well, are responsible to check-off the appropriate levy, and submit the funds to the Commission. Seed buyers of Saskatchewan produced seed have the appropriate information regarding registration and submission requirements (refer to section for Registered Buyers)
Direct producer sales and producer remittance
If producers market their own production to other producers, or market outside of Canada, it is their responsibility to submit the levy on their production. (Producer Levy Remittance, form below).
Over the past 20 years, since the Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission began collecting producer levy and delivery information, approximately 175 Saskatchewan seed growers have produced pedigreed and common forage and turf seed for domestic and export markets.
Crops well suited to northern Prairie growing conditions include:
red, alsike and sweet clovers
timothy
several wheatgrass and fescue species
native grass and legume varieties and ecovars.
Governance reports include audited financial statements, production volumes, the value of seed deliveries and descriptions of Commission activities.
Inspected acres information in Canadian Seed Growers Association annual reports provide information on pedigreed seed acres by crop and province.
Levy rate and crops covered
The levy is 0.75% of the sale value—equivalent to $0.75 per $100.
The levy applies to all eligible grades of forage seed and potential seed mixtures, Saskatchewan-grown:
forage grasses;
forage legumes, excluding alfalfa seed; and
species used for turf, amenity, reclamation or regeneration purposes, including commercial varieties of native forage grasses and legumes.
This is a refundable check-off, so producers may contact the SFSDC office to request a refund application, or download the form below and submit to the office within the time periods for deliveries made during Term 1 (July 01 to December 31 of the current crop year) and Term 2 (January 01 to June 30 of the following year).