The following highlights some of the many ways BMBRI enables its members to receive value and to have an important influence on Canada’s malting barley, malt and brewing industries – from research activities to policy direction to increased visibility and recognition within the industry.
Technical and Scientific Value
- Influence in BMBRI Technical Committee discussions and decisions on malting barley, malt and brewing research and development priorities and activities
- Direct interaction with key Canadian malting barley breeders and researchers at BMBRI member meetings and at related forums where BMBRI participates
- Control in deciding the portion of membership contributions that will be directly spent on research and development projects
- Influence in BMBRI Technical Committee discussions and decisions on new research and development projects to be solicited, and what projects submitted to BMBRI should be funded
- Through BMBRI, help provide industry funding and direction of malting barley breeding and research projects under the new five-year Barley Research Cluster which is leveraging $8 million from government and $3 million from growers/industry (including BMBRI funding)
- Access to breeding, malting and brewing research and development results from those studies funded by BMBRI grants
- Discovery of new opportunities for innovative products and services that could be developed and used on a proprietary basis in the competitive marketplace. This can emanate from the detailed examination and discussion within BMBRI’s Technical Committee of funded research projects or from early access to results from pre-registration variety trials
- Significant influence in BMBRI’s decisions and direction to breeders and researchers as to the desirable traits needed in malting barley varieties of the future. Ability to ensure members’ priority or unique malting and brewing attributes required for their process, or for their customers, are encompassed within the desirable quality ranges and parameters set by BMBRI for breeding and for variety registration
New Variety Development Value
- Through the BMBRI Technical Committee, participation in decisions about which breeding program lines will get advanced to pre-registration Collaborative field and pilot malting testing among BMBRI members and related government laboratories
- Ability for members to use their own pilot or micro-malting facilities on samples from one of the BMBRI Collaborative Field Test Sites, enabling first hand pre-registration experience with quality attributes of advanced breeding lines
- Participation in BMBRI-coordinated plant-scale testing of new varieties and in sharing of non-commercially sensitive results among members, while at the same time ensuring that competitive commercial technical processes or customer information remains confidential
- Influence in BMBRI messaging to seed companies and growers on which newly-registered varieties should be propagated and made available for plant-scale testing
Input into direction of government policy and programs in Canada
- Through BMBRI, influence federal and provincial governments and related agencies to protect and promote the importance of public funding of malting barley research and development and to maintain barley as a major crop in Canada
- Through BMBRI, provide advice on pre-competitive research and development issues on behalf of the malting and brewing industry to important agencies such as the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), the National Forum on Seeds (NFS), the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), the Alberta Barley Commission (ABC), government/industry Round Tables, and various other bodies
- Through BMBRI, provide input into the Barley Council of Canada in its strategic direction for Canada’s barley industry and its related working groups
Knowledge and Training Value
- BMBRI can be used as a resource to gather technical information for members and their customers. BMBRI has a member-only section on its website where a scientific and technical information database is maintained
- Members can use involvement in BMBRI as an opportunity for career development and training for their staff and future management
- Increased awareness of BMBRI members of ongoing or imminent developments in the malting barley industry
Commercial Value
- Members can communicate with barley growers, through BMBRI’s website, media releases and attendance at meetings on topics including malting barley quality factors and related production practices
- High visibility and public recognition for BMBRI members for associated development of the Canadian malting barley, malt and brewing industries. Such visibility and recognition occurs though appearance on BMBRI’s website, BMBRI official documentation, BMBRI events, BMBRI oral and written presentations to various forums, and in reports and presentations from researchers being funded by BMBRI.
- BMBRI attends major domestic and international barley, malting and brewing conventions promoting and showcasing Canada as a world leader in quality malting barley, malt and brewing research and development
- High impact use of membership contributions for member-driven research projects. In recent years close to 40% of membership contributions have been directly paid out as grants to specific breeders and researchers for targeted projects. A list of such projects is available on BMBRI’s website or can be provided separately from BMBRI. Members receive formal scientific progress and final reports of all funded research projects
- Over the past five years close over $400,000 of BMBRI grants have been allocated to research projects at various institutions across Canada. During that time these BMBRI grants have leveraged over $3 from other federal and provincial agencies for every $1 from BMBRI
- Availability of tax credits on the portion of membership contributions to BMBRI that are used in R&D. BMBRI provides official receipts to members to enable this tax credit
- Opportunities for members to undertake follow-up confidential proprietary research and commercial development work using results and knowledge gained from such pre-competitive research projects
- Maintenance of Canada’s production and supply of quality malting barley and malt to meet the future supply and quality needs of members and their end-users
Influence BMBRI’s Strategic Direction
- Members have direct influence in BMBRI Board of Director decisions on future strategic plans for the organization and the industry. This includes how BMBRI will continue to evolve in response to changes in industry structure and changing grower, malting company, brewer and customer needs
- Annual membership contributions are related to malting or brewing capacity. However, each member’s vote has the same weighting and each member has an equal voice at the Board of Directors or at the committee level
How each member ranks the value of these membership benefits will vary depending on their needs and priorities. BMBRI offers members the means to have their voice heard on issues and opportunities facing the industry today and in the future. BMBRI will continue to change and evolve in response to new challenges, member needs and changes in the structure and requirements of industry.
To find out more about BMBRI membership, contact us.
