Latest News

Now Open for Applications!

Growing Opportunities – Wage subsidy program for student placements

Agriculture-focused Student Work Placement program is available now!

CAHRC has partnered to deliver a Government of Canada funded Student Work Placement Program  (SWPP) to match post-secondary students with Work Integrated Learning placements in the agriculture field.
 
By hiring students, employers benefit from new perspectives and ideas and qualify for a subsidy of up to $7500 or 75% of wages. In addition, the expanded pool of candidates pulling from outside of traditional agriculture fields will draw in underrepresented groups such as women, Indigenous students, disabled students, and newcomers to Canada, encouraging them to look towards careers in our exciting industry.

Visit www.cahrc-ccrha.ca/agritalent to find out more.

Sheep Supply for month ending May 2021

Sheep Supply for month ending June 2021

CALFA (AgriRecovery) first payment can now be applied for through AFSC!
Just login into your AFSC Connect account, click on the program and then enter your Premise ID, animal type and number of breeding females and click send!

Read the press release
Apply now!
 
How to prepare for your CALFA Application
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) has finalized CALFA details and applications are now open to producers.

Producers should be prepared for a smooth application process by:

• Ensuring you have an AFSC Connect account, and direct deposit.
  (For those who aren’t currently AFSC clients, AFSC asks that you sign up for an AFSC Connect account, and stay tuned for directions to sign up for direct deposit to receive program payments.)
   
• Preparing an inventory of breeding females on hand as of August 6, 2021.
   
• Keeping records of any expenses incurred for drought-related costs, including feeding livestock, up to December 31, 2021.
   
• Checking AFSC and ALP’s website for updates and following AFSC and Alberta Lamb Producers on social media.

Your Health
Farming and ranching can be hard at any time. If you notice signs that you are struggling, reach out to your primary caregiver, or call 2-1-1 (where available) or look at the Do More Agriculture Foundation.

Need to talk? Here are some resources from across Canada

If you notice signs that a friend or family member is struggling, reach out to them.
Supporting each other – Moving beyond the “how are you?” reflex

Signs to watch for:

• Changes in appetite.
• Changes in sleeping patterns – having trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping far longer than usual.
• Increased substance use.
• Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, or being trapped.
• Anxiety, agitation, uncontrolled anger, and/or dramatic mood changes.
• Withdrawal from friends, family, community.
• Acting recklessly or engaging in risky activities.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call Canada Suicide Prevention Service at 1-833-456-4566. If someone is in immediate danger, call 9-1-1. You can also find additional resources on The Do More Agriculture Foundation website.
 

AFIN is excited to be announcing the new and improved farmingtheweb.ca site!! 

Available to list for FREE, for producers by producers.   Have a look and start posting your items on the farmers marketplace today.

www.farmingtheweb.ca

Project title: Investigating the efficacy of sheep respiratory vaccines in pre-weaned and weaned lambs

The Alberta Lamb Producers recently received $150,000 in funding from RDAR to evaluate the efficacy of a UK sheep respiratory vaccine from Merck called Ovipast Plus, and to evaluate an experimental sheep respiratory vaccine from VIDO, which was built a few years ago with ALMA funding and support of others in the sheep industry, including ALP and OSF.  Lead researchers for this vaccine study are Dr. Joyce Van Donkersgoed from Alberta, Dr. Cathy Bauman from Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), and Dr. Jose Perez-Casal from VIDO. 

The RDAR funding is matched with industry funding from Alberta Lamb Producers (ALP), Ontario Sheep Farmers (OSF), Merck Animal Health, and the North American Lamb Corporation (NALC). 

The research will evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccines in ewes in boosting colostral immunity to reduce preweaning mortality and in weaned lambs to reduce post-weaning mortality.  Additional outcomes that will be measured include growth performance and carcass quality.  The research requires large numbers of ewes and feeder lambs with the ability to follow the animals through slaughter; therefore, the research will be conducted at the NALC ewe barns and feedlot in Iron Springs, Alberta and the feeder lambs will be followed through at slaughter at Canada Lamb Processors in Innisfail, Alberta. 

This research will also provide training of a Master’s student in epidemiology at OVC.  The research will start this fall and hopefully be completed by December 2022.  Results will be communicated to sheep producers. 

We thank RDAR for supporting this important industry applied vaccine research and stayed tuned for more project updates to come!

Following this past year’s AGM, the ALP Board of Directors decided to create a Producer Consultation Committee, as we recognized that we as an organization can do better to engage and connect with our eligible producers between AGMs. The Producer Consultation Committee’s first step was to create and distribute a producer survey, which was sent out following the 2020 AGM. Through the feedback we received, we followed up by hosting a townhall meeting for our eligible Alberta Lamb Producers, that took place in mid-July 2021.

ALP would like to thank those eligible Producers who were able to attend and for the dialogue that took place on the call. With the success and positive feedback from the July town hall meeting, ALP is moving ahead with a fall session as discussed at the town hall. It will be hosted in October, as requested by producers on the call, where we will be discussing important topics such as CAPP, Insurance, BRM, other services etc.  that we were unable to cover during the summer meeting.

Please find below the ALP Fall Town Hall Meeting details. We encourage you to mark your calendars and register to attend. As a reminder, in order to be an eligible producer able to register, you need to have purchased tags within the last 2 years of ALP’s fiscal year end (August 31).

ALP Fall Town Hall Meeting

When: Thursday October 21^st, 2021

Time: 7:30pm to 9:00pm

Producers will need to register in advance for this meeting:

 https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pdu6vpjkrH9wyTcbBIrHmrQK8G_yY_X9y

*After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. ALP will also be distributing the town hall agenda prior to the meeting with all eligible registrants to help producers be prepared for the discussion. 

We hope all eligible Alberta lamb producers will engage in this fall town hall meeting. Attendance and engagement will signal a need to continue with them and your feedback on content and format will shape them to make the most of the time together. If you have any questions, please contact Ashley Scott, ALP Executive Director at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Drought-affected producers can start preparing for CALFA applications

Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) is currently finalizing the details on the rollout of government support for drought-affected farms and ranches. The program is being called the 2021 Canada-Alberta Livestock Feed Assistance Initiative (CALFA). Producers can expect to apply in early September.

Background

On August 6, 2021, the Government of Alberta announced an AgriRecovery response, the 2021 Canada-Alberta Livestock Feed Assistance Initiative, to help address the extraordinary costs being incurred by Alberta’s livestock producers because of reduced grazing capacity caused by prolonged dry weather and extreme high temperatures.

The response provides support and cash flow for Alberta’s livestock producers and beekeepers to cover extraordinary expenses incurred to feed livestock. The federal government is currently evaluating the response.

AgriRecovery responses are cost-shared 60-40 between federal and provincial governments and are designed to cover extraordinary costs not covered by existing business risk management programs, such as those incurred due to extreme drought conditions or other natural disasters.

The Government of Alberta has:

• announced a $136 million commitment under the AgriRecovery framework; and
• asked the federal government to provide $204 million for a total relief package of $340 million.

The Alberta Lamb Producers has and continues to:

• Advocate on behalf of our industry for the inclusion of sheep, as we know it is extremely important for our producers to have access to these program support to maintain their operations during the extreme weather conditions.

2021 Canada-Alberta Livestock Feed Assistance Initiative

The 2021 Canada-Alberta Livestock Feed Assistance Initiative (CALFA) will be offered in two stages.

1. A proposed initial payment of $19 per head for sheep (conversions for other livestock can be found on AFSC website), pending federal funding and final approval.
2. A proposed secondary payment of $21 per head, pending federal funding and final approval.

*Although the Provincial share is approved ($136 million), these numbers are subject to the federal $204 million contribution (60% share).

How to prepare for CALFA

Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) is finalizing CALFA details and will share them as soon as possible.

In the meantime, producers should prepare for a smooth application process by:

• Ensuring you have an AFSC Connect account, and direct deposit.
  (For those who aren’t currently AFSC clients, AFSC asks that you sign up for an AFSC Connect account, and stay tuned for directions to sign up for direct deposit to receive program payments.)
• Preparing an inventory of breeding females on hand as of August 6, 2021.
• Keeping records of any expenses incurred for drought-related costs, including feeding livestock, up to December 31, 2021.
• Checking AFSC and ALP’s website for updates and following AFSC and Alberta Lamb Producers on social media.

AFSC expects to have an application form available for producers in early September.

Your Health

Farming and ranching can be hard at any time. If you notice signs that you are struggling, reach out to your primary caregiver, or call 2-1-1 (where available) or look at the Do More Agriculture Foundation.

Need to talk? Here are some resources from across Canada

If you notice signs that a friend or family member is struggling, reach out to them.

Supporting each other – Moving beyond the “how are you?” reflex

Signs to watch for:

• Changes in appetite.
• Changes in sleeping patterns – having trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping far longer than usual.
• Increased substance use.
• Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, or being trapped.
• Anxiety, agitation, uncontrolled anger, and/or dramatic mood changes.
• Withdrawal from friends, family, community.
• Acting recklessly or engaging in risky activities.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call Canada Suicide Prevention Service at 1-833-456-4566. If someone is in immediate danger, call 9-1-1. You can also find additional resources on The Do More Agriculture Foundation website.

Sheep Supply for month ending April 2021

Our provincial government continues to work with the federal government on the 2021 Livestock Feed Assistance and AgriRecovery program approvals. AgriRecovery is a framework by which federal and provincial governments work collaboratively to assess the impact of natural disasters and deploy support programs, accordingly.

The 2021 Livestock Feed Assistance program is intended to go beyond beef. Subject to final approval, the program is looking at including sheep. ALP continues to advocate on behalf of our industry for the inclusion of sheep, as we know it is extremely important for our producers to have access to these program supports to be able to maintain their operations during the extreme weather conditions.

As you may have noticed in the federal announcement last Friday (https://www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2021/08/government-of-canada-announces-100-million-in-agrirecovery-funding-to-further-support-farmers-facing-continued-extreme-weather.html), if approved, the total amount would be $340 million split 60-40 between the federal and provincial governments. The program will provide an immediate per head payment to help cover feed and water access costs for breeding females. Following, a second payment later in the year will be receipt-based. This approach is intended to be applied to all the eligible livestock (although the amount will vary as extraordinary costs also does vary by livestock).  

ALP has been in constant communication with our provincial government and has verified that if Alberta’s requested amount ($204 million) for the 60% federal share is approved by the Federal Government, we would be looking at an initial payment of $19 per head and a secondary payment of $21 per head, totaling $40 per head for sheep.

 Continue reading the full update here.

Recognizing that farmers in western Canada and northwestern Ontario are facing devastating drought conditions, ALP and the National Sheep Network (NSN) welcomed the news today from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada that they are investing $100 million to support farmers. This funding will match provincial AgriRecovery submissions and so we encourage you to be working with your provincial organizations to ensure access to support.

 We continue to advocate to be sure the needs and concerns of our members are heard. We are also working to ensure sheep farmers are included and covered by assistance programs.

And, if you – or someone you know – need support to cope with this crisis, please visit Do More Ag for a list of resources near you.

Read Friday's announcement of additional funding to further support farmers facing continued extreme weather.