Farmers at the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool's new Producer Information Day - which replaces the company's traditional annual meeting with a day's worth of workshops - said they liked the change in format, Monday at the Elks Hall.

Around 80 producers took in the four speakers at the day-long event, who talked about the future outlook of board and non-board crops, grain research, marketing and specialty crops.

It's a big change from the regular annual meeting, which normally included the reading of financial statements for the Wheat Pool as a whole and Weyburn's Soo Line Terminal, a delegates report, a speech by SWP's president and a question period, following a supper banquet.

Frank Van De Weyer of Halbrite said he's been to the Pool's local annual meeting in the past, and prefers the new approach, which has practical applications for his farm.

"This is a good deal. Hearing the (financial) numbers and having supper doesn't mean anything to me," Van De Weyer said. "It seems like this draws a bigger crowd."

Weyburn producer Raymond Pretty, a farmer for 40 years and a veteran of the Wheat Pool's annual meetings, says the workshops are "more interesting to people in general."

Pretty owns Class A and B shares in the Pool, and says if he wanted detailed financial results, he would go to the shareholder meeting in Regina in November. "It isn't a co-op like it used to be - it's owned by shareholders now."

Copies of the Wheat Pool's annual report for 2000 were available at the Producer Information Day, and delegates were on hand to talk about the direction of the Pool.

The Pool's first quarter results for the new fiscal year were released Dec. 19. They showed earnings of 29.6 million from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31 of 2000, four times the amount earned in the same quarter last year. The increase was due largely to the closure of the Pool's wooden elevators and massive lay offs, as well as a 16 per cent boost in sales. Despite the improved first quarter earnings, the Pool still recorded a deficit of $6.7 million for the quarter, and will continue to struggle to overcome $90 million in total losses from fiscal 2000.

David Pattyson, an SWP delegate from Tribune, says he's been talking to producers about that kind of financial information on an ongoing basis throughout the year. He agreed with the change in format for the meeting.

"I think it goes over fairly well; producers are looking for information that shows a direct return to their farms. The producers see the value in that, and it meets their needs better," he said.

Pattyson also spent some time on Monday answering questions about the new delegate structure for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, which includes Alberta and Manitoba for the first time. The Wheat Pool currently has six terminals in Alberta and four in Manitoba.

The map has been revamped to 12 new districts, and the number of delegates has been reduced from 16 to 12. The district that encompasses Weyburn, District 2, has not changed much; it has expanded a bit further north and east.

"We updated the map to reflect the changing number of members throughout the province, and to reflect membership in Alberta and Manitoba," said Pattyson. "Our membership base is decreasing primarily because of decreasing farm numbers."

The change will prompt delegate elections in some subdistricts. The subdistricts that are affected will not be confirmed until nominations close tomorrow, Jan. 18.

Weyburn delegate Alf Robinson said the new electoral district structure was a long time in the making.

"It's been a good move because of the fact that the number of farmers in this province is decreasing, and (the change) brings back into line the more traditional balance between delegates and the number of farmers represented," he said.

"The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool is going through changes, and the way we do business in a subdistrict has to change along with it," Robinson continued. "That's part of the reason we've gone to a different style of annual meeting."