Alberta Lamb Producers Check-Off
Your Investment In Your Industry
As the voice of Alberta’s lamb industry, Alberta Lamb Producers is committed to strengthening an already robust sector.
Alberta Lamb Producers operates under the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, overseen by the Agricultural Products Marketing Council which has responsibility for facilitating the establishment and supervising the operations of agricultural boards and commissions in Alberta. For a copy of the Alberta Lamb Producers Plan and Regulation, please visit the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act and Regulations webpage or visit the ALP Regulations page.
In Alberta, producers pay a mandatory service charge (check-off) of $1.50 when purchasing Canadian Sheep Identification Program tags. This fee is not a tag cost but a simple and efficient way to collect the legislated check-off. Additionally, a mandatory check-off of one cent per pound of wool marketed is deducted and remitted to Alberta Lamb Producers.
Check-off dollars are vital to the future success of Alberta’s sheep industry. ALP’s core operations and services rely entirely on producer check-off funds, while industry support for external projects and research significantly enhances funding and drives greater success.
Industry service charges are essential to producer groups, especially in a relatively small but growing livestock sector like Alberta’s sheep industry. Check-off dollars support the infrastructure of Alberta Lamb Producers and help leverage significant external funding to advance the industry.
Under the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, commissions must offer members the option to claim check-off refunds. While payment of the check-off is mandatory when purchasing CSIP tags, producers may request a full or partial refund (details below).
ALP operates with a lean budget, and check-off refunds reduce the resources available to serve all producers. For the long-term sustainability of Alberta’s lamb industry, support for ALP is vital. It’s important that producers understand the impact of claiming refunds—reduced check-off revenue may lead to cuts or elimination of key services, opportunities, and benefits.
- Advocacy
- Quarterly N’ewsletters
- Extensive producer knowledge resources
- Updated website
- Information source
- External project funding
- Delivery of programs
- Media features
- Annual meeting and Director elections
- Advocating for sheep producers to be included in government programs
- Opportunity to shape the future of your industry by speaking to your representatives and volunteering as a Director to represent your fellow producers
Government projects and advancements need to be industry-driven; ALP serves as that driver and represents you in these initiatives. Without a strong infrastructure and a solid business plan, ALP would not be able to participate at this level or leverage this type of funding.
Refund requests of check-off payments:
- A refund request must be received by Alberta Lamb Producers by the 25th of the month following purchase. For example, if tags are purchased in January, the refund request must be received by Alberta Lamb Producers postmarked or dated no later than February 25th. No extenuating circumstances will be considered.
- All refund requests must be submitted on the form provided by Alberta Lamb Producers. The refund request must be in the same name or names as the service charge was paid. If the purchase was recorded in two names, those same two people must sign the request for a refund and the refund cheque must be made payable to those two people.
- Alberta Lamb Producers will refund the service charge to the producer annually within 30 days of the Alberta Lamb Producers fiscal year end (August 31).
- Each producer will have the option of requesting a refund of the entire service charge or a portion thereof.