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| APG Overview | | Fast Facts - There are 4,700 pulse producers in Alberta
- We are a non-profit organization, established in 1989
- Incorporated as a Comission under the Societies Act in 1998
- Run by a producer-elected board of directors comprised of 12 pulse producers
- -Funded by refundable levy, calculated as 1 per cent of the value of the pulses sold by producers
- Pulse primary production contributed approximately $200 million to the Alberta economy in 2008
-Vision and Mission •Vision: Have Alberta pulses recognized by consumers as environmentally friendly, healthy, and nutritional and by all producers as being an essential element in a sustainable cropping system. •Mission: To provide leadership, increasing the competitiveness, profitability, and sustainability of pulse production as well as promoting the health and environment benefits of pulses. | | | |
| APG's Goals (approved by APG Board March 2011) Goal 1: Organizational Effectiveness & Governance Renewal Strengthen relationships and collaborate with other organizations for the benefit of advancing APG initiatives. Improve APG’s governance, structure, and policy to carry out strategic blueprint. - Communicate effectively between and within board, committees, zones, and staff.
- Provide leadership training for current board effectiveness and succession planning.
- Build enthusiasm to attract producer involvement and support APG.
ACTIONS: - Focus on a strategic alliance with Pulse Canada
- Make independent decisions and carve out an APG niche by championing projects that are solely APG priorities (for example, fractionation)
- Build stronger alliances with the trade
- Develop a measurable system to benchmark APG performance and re-assess yearly
- Board assessment and professional development training
- Develop Terms of Reference for APG zones and zone members
Assess APG insurance policies to ensure adequate coverage
Goal 2: Create and Maintain Market Demand - Develop the pulse brand as a healthy food option and promote it to dieticians/other health professionals and youth.
- Support research to:
- improve understanding of fractions and their functionality in food products.
- identify pulse health benefits.
- Support Pulse Canada to create and expand international and domestic markets (includes ensuring market access).
- Enhance non-traditional value added markets in Alberta (AB niche markets, processing).
- Position APG as an innovative leader in the Canadian pulse industry.
- Promote quality of Canadian/Alberta pulses to domestic and international buyers.
ACTIONS: - Participate in international trade missions
- Lobby for Free Trade Agreements Low Level Presence Polices and realistic MRLs in relevant markets
- Collect quantitative data on the attribute analysis of Canadian pulses (for example, nutrient attributes, consistency)
- Use data for promotional activities to brand Canadian pulses as more than commodity pulses
Financially support Pulse Canada’s Pulse Health, Innovation and Commercialization; Environment Work; and Transportation work - Educate producers on their rights in contracts
Goal 3: Increase Producer Profitability - Fund research to support new varieties (breeding), disease resistance, rotational benefits, improved quality.
- Ensure research capacity exists to conduct pulse production research in the next 5, 10, 20 years.
- Develop risk management tools that are equitable with those of other crops.
- Communicate research results to producers on agronomic and varietal information.
ACTIONS: | | | |
| APG Values Optimism - Both board and staff are passionate about the pulse industry and the organization’s vision
- The organization has a positive outlook; we’re positive thinkers with big picture perspective
Integrity and Professionalism - APG is an organization that is decisive and delivers on results
- Board and staff must be objective, truthful, and knowledgeable
- We conduct business in a respectful and careful manner; decisions made by the organization are consistently presented; we speak with one voice
- We make fact-based decisions, and when internal knowledge is not sufficient, we will do our due diligence and seek expert advice from the necessary sources (for instance, legal advice)
- APG board and staff present themselves in business formal attire at all meetings where we interact with the public and government
Focused - Our business activities are focused on APG’s vision, mission, and goals
- Our focus is on pulses, though we recognize that we are part of a multi-commodity industry and also speak for the good of agriculture
Build and Maintain Relationships - Being a small organization, it is essential for APG to work with other groups, including industry and government. Our experience with this has shown that the profile of the organization and future opportunities for APG grow at an exponential rate by working effectively with key organizations
- To most effectively work with other organizations and individuals, APG is committed to being flexible and adaptable to others' needs
Innovative Industry Leaders - APG innovation is being proactive and forward thinking to develop workable solutions and discover new opportunities. We are committed to trying new practices and processes that improve efficiencies. We want to adopt new technologies to better serve our members, including everything from current information delivery tools (for instance, webinars and social media) to promoting new production technologies (such as new seeding technologies)
- To make innovative ideas a reality, APG is an industry leader. For example, in the area of market development, we are leaders in funding pulse ingredient (flours and fractions) research, promoting pulse ingredients to companies, and adapting our market development strategy as new information becomes available
Free Enterprising - APG believes in partnerships where everyone is profitable. A sustainable future will involve private-public partnerships to fund and commercialize research
- As an industry with a long history of working with government, we believe in government partnerships that benefit all parties, not one-sided government handouts.
- APG believes in independent decision making
- As a small organization, we realize our best opportunity to serve the industry and flourish as an organization is to find a niche and complement others' efforts rather than duplicate efforts
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