Wichita ? After nearly 50 years of working apart, the Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers asked growers Monday to decide whether the groups should combine resources to increase efficiency and save money.

The proposed cooperative agreement calls for a single chief executive officer to run both organizations, a shared staff and a common facility. Committees would include members from both groups and would include some joint meetings.

But the deal falls short of an outright merger or consolidation since each organization would keep its separate board of directors and bylaws.

Ray Crumbaker, a Brewster farmer who serves on the boards of directors for both groups, said it was uncertain how much money the joint operations would save.

“There will be some savings, but I do not anticipate it will be substantial. … The primary purpose is to make the organizations more effective and more efficient,” Crumbaker said.

Both organizations are asking wheat growers to submit written comments to either group by May 1. A tentative voting date has been set for May 26 at a joint meeting in Hays.

If growers agree to the cooperative agreement, the main focus of the Wheat Growers will be wheat policy and lobbying while the Wheat Commission would focus on marketing wheat and continuing wheat research, Crumbaker said.

The groups would then immediately search for a single chief executive officer — a choice not limited to the current top officials of either group, Crumbaker said.

It was uncertain how many, if any, staff reductions would be made — it could range from none to two, Crumbaker said.

The Wheat Growers, a voluntary farm organization, has three full-time workers, a $400,000 annual budget and 2,000 members. The group, headed by executive vice president Brett Myers, marked its 50th anniversary last year.

In the 1950s, the Wheat Growers petitioned the state Legislature to enact a checkoff on wheat to support market development.

The Kansas Wheat Commission was then created by the Legislature to administer the 1-cent per bushel wheat checkoff. It now has a staff of seven full-time workers and an annual budget of nearly $3.3 million. Its administrator is David Frey.

Frey said it would be “inappropriate” for him to give an opinion on the proposed arrangement between the two groups.

“We are soliciting comments from wheat producers in the state — that is who I work for,” Frey said. “The main thing is we want to make sure we are trying to serve the wheat producers.”

Myers said he has personally pushed for some kind of a cooperative agreement between the two Kansas wheat groups for the past four years because he thought such a deal would be good for producers.

“This is the best thing for them,” Myers said. “Our motto has always been one voice for Kansas wheat, and this is what is one voice for Kansas wheat.”