COVER STORY
CCGA: 35 YEARS OF
HELPING FARMERS SUCCEED
here have been many developments
in Canadian agriculture over the
last three and a half decades,
but one thing has never changed:
Canadian Canola Growers Association’s
(CCGA) vision of Helping Farmers Succeed.
The CCGA story started in 1984, when a group
of canola farmers from Western Canada came
together to give farmers access to the same
financing program that had been available
on cereal grains for many years.
35 years later, more than 10,000 farmers
across Western Canada look to CCGA to
support their grain marketing and farm
financing plans with a cash advance
through the Advance Payments Program.
The Advance Payments program is a
federal program delivered and administered
by CCGA. Under the program, the Government
of Canada provides the loan guarantee,
funds the interest-free portion of advances,
and helps to make low interest rates on the
remainder for Canadian producers.
“Our devoted team is constantly striving to
deliver better customer service to our cash
advance customers, including improving
our phone and online services, as well
as streamlining the application process
and making the program more accessible
for those who use it,” says Rick White,
President and CEO of CCGA.
The experience that CCGA has cultivated
over the last 35 years, coupled with a
grassroots farmer voice at the CCGA board,
helps the organization affect policy changes
for the benefit of canola farmers.
Winnipeg Office
T: 204.788.0090 TF: 1.866.745.2256
F: 204.788.0039 ccga.ca
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family farm and farming alongside their parents, only to real-ize
that after doing their farm’s financials for a year, the farm
was not financially strong enough to have them join and make
a living off of it.” Although this was discouraging for many stu-dents,
he said it was “fantastic” to see students develop busi-ness
plans that restored their farm’s profitability while making
room for themselves.
Pouteau found it most inspiring to witness his students
transform over two years: starting out as farm hands (if they
were even involved in a farm at all), into skilled farm managers
making significant and positive changes to their operations.
“It was a tremendous learning experience,” Pouteau said.
“This was the same process that I went through when I was a
student, where I realized I could add much more value to our
farm by improving and growing the cattle enterprise.”
The financial knowledge Pouteau gained from both the
online and university courses he took (and later taught) tied
seamlessly into his subsequent job. Last fall, Pouteau began
Manitoba Farmers’ Voice § Summer 2020 § 7
/ccga.ca
