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JANUARY 16, 2017 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA
New rules limit livestock travel time The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations: Part XII which deals with humane transportation. The most significant change would limit travel time to 36 hours (from 48 hours previously) and also increase the rest time (to eight hours). The agency says it has also included new language (such as definitions for compromised and unfit animals) to “establish clear end results for industry and transporters to better understand what is required.” Comments can be made until Feb. 15. The proposed changes can be found at www.gazette.gc.ca (search for ‘health of animals’). — Staff
Drilling down on dairy costs Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is once again offering the Dairy Cost Study program to Alberta producers. The study is similar to the Agri-Profits program but offers business analysis for just the dairying aspect of the farm. This includes total costs, costs per cow, and costs per hectolitre sold. Data is used to create provincial averages, or benchmarks.“Producers participating in the program tell us that they have become more effective at analyzing, budgeting and planning, and that they are making better management decisions,” said research analyst Pauline Van Biert. To enrol, contact Van Biert at 780-415-2153 or pauline.vanbiert@gov.ab.ca. — AAF
Bid to raise beef checkoff ‘on hold’ Alberta Beef Producers supports raising national levy to $2.50 a head, but wants to sort out provincial checkoff first BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AND GLENN CHEATER AF STAFF
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he national cattle checkoff is set to rise in most parts of the country this year — but a hike in Alberta is “on hold” for now. The $1 mandatory checkoff, applied to every head of cattle that goes to market, generates about $7.5 million annually. The funds are used to support marketing and promotion (through Canada Beef) and research (through the Beef Cattle Research Council). But the levy hasn’t gone up since its introduction 17 years ago, which means it has declined about 30 per cent because of inflation. Members of eight of nine provincial beef organizations, including Alberta, have backed a proposal to raise the levy. “In order to do what needs to be done for the industry, the national checkoff needs to be at $2.50,” said Bob Lowe, chair of Alberta Beef Producers (ABP). “In Alberta, the delegate body has voted in favour of raising it to $2.50. When we actually do that is another story. There are a whole lot of issues going on, and that’s probably not No. 1 right now. “In Alberta, it’s kind of on hold. We have voted for it and that was passed overwhelmingly. But as far as it being implemented really soon, we haven’t even discussed that yet.” The challenge for his organization is the $2 provincial levy, said Lowe. The provincial checkoff raised $10.4 million in the last fiscal year (ending March 31, 2016). But because it’s refundable, ABP ended up handing back $2.4 million — mostly to big feedlots. “We have to sort our provincial levy out first, I think, if we can,” said Lowe. “And if that proves to be an impossibility, well then, we take other steps beyond that. First things first, we sort out our provincial.” The former Conservative government made the provincial checkoff refundable in 2010. While the current NDP regime has said it would consider reversing that move, it has asked ABP to get the agreement of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association. But negotiations so far have not been successful.
The national beef checkoff hasn’t gone up in nearly two decades, which means less money for marketing and research. PHOTO: CANADA BEEF Talking to consumers
“In Alberta, the delegate body has voted in favour of raising it to $2.50. When we actually do that is another story.”
Bob Lowe
“As you know, we’ve been talking to cattle feeders pretty regularly — we’ve put a proposal before government,” said Lowe, owner of Bear Trap Feeders in Nanton. “All government has to do is change the legislation to allow the non-refundable checkoff. If it can do that, then let us as an industry sort out how to get that done.” Lowe said he’s hoping for a resolution soon. “We’ve got to do something,” he said. “There’s been too much time talking about it.”
He said he would also like to move on the national checkoff, which he called “100 per cent justified.” “I would have no trouble speaking and trying to promote that, whether or not we have a refundable checkoff. But it would sure be nice to know which way we are going to go before we go to bat for the national one. We will be trying to get the national levy through, whether or not we end up with a refundable or non-refundable checkoff. But right now, we’re concentrating on the provincial issue first.”
Provincial organizations determine how the national checkoff is allotted. In 201516, ABP directed $9.8 million of the national checkoff collected in this province to marketing and promotion, and $1.3 million to the research council. When the national levy is raised, provincial organizations will have a third allotment avenue, which has been dubbed ‘issues management,’ said the general manager of the Canadian Beef CheckOff Agency (the parent agency of Canada Beef and the beef research council). “There (is) a need to support the consumer and the public, in terms of beef and why beef is a healthy protein option, but also being able to tell our story about things like hormone-free beef or antibiotic resistance,” Melinda German said in an interview earlier this winter. “This area of issues management is all about ensuring we are out in front of things, telling our story to the consumer, to the public about really what is happening in the industry
and making that connection. We have really lost that connection and that is why this issues management came up as a component of one of the pillars in the national strategy that we felt was very important to support.” Every five years, the checkoff agency conducts a review of the economics benefits from the levy. The latest one, completed in June, concluded that every dollar of checkoff money results in $14 worth of value to the beef industry. “That is very significant and if we compare that to our trading partners in Australia and the U.S., we find that our return on investment is higher and we are doing a very good job,” said German. Her agency is currently working with provincial organizations to get through the paperwork of enacting the increase. She expects that process will be largely complete in most provinces by the end of this month. For more information visit, www.canadabeef.ca/nationalcheck-off/. — With staff files akienlen@fbcpublishing.com