AgLink Canada, a new voice for Western Canadian Independent Agricultural Input Suppliers was launched Friday in Saskatoon.

Dennis Belani from the Rack at Bigger is the group’s Chairman.

He says with the consolidation in retail and ag chem manufacturing they felt coming together with one voice as independents were important for the industry.

"They can come to one desk and get a message out very quickly to 180-200 retailers," he said. "When they have a new product to launch, we believe we can streamline that launch and assist them with positioning it in the market. If it's new technology, we're excited about it and our growers will want to be excited about it." 

Saskatchewan companies involved in AgLink Canada are The Rack Petroleum Ltd at Biggar, Aylsham Agro at Aylsham, Emerge Ag Solutions Inc at Eston, Agri Team Services Inc at Glaslyn, Orchard Transport Ltd at Delisle, Veikle Agro Ltd at Cut Knife, and Clearview Agro Ltd at Foam Lake.

Manitoba companies include Ag Advantage at Marquette, Redfern Farm Services Ltd at Brandon, Jackson Seeds Ltd at Inglis and Jonair Ltd at Portage La Prairie.

Alberta retailer’s to date include Agro Plus Inc at Lethbridge, Agro Plus Solutions Ltd at Dunmore, and McEwens Fuels and Fertilizers at Fort Saskatchewan.

He notes that about 30% of the market is purchasing the product from small independent operators:

"One of the most recent surveys done by STRATA showed that growers still appreciate having full service retails close to where they're farming," Belani said. 

A similar concept, AgLink Au, has been operating in Australia for over 30 years.