Latest News

Young Agrarians is excited to announce that our Business Mentorship Network Program is expanding across the Prairies! 

Do you know any young (or young at heart) animal or vegetable producers in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba that are operating a new farm (1 - 5 years in business) and looking for guidance to grow their business?

Then this is may be just the opportunity to get the support they need!

The Young Agrarians Business Mentorship Network pairs new and seasoned farmers together to cultivate the skills for running ecologically sustainable and financially viable businesses. It is a match designed to grow a new farmer's knowledge and business skills to build a thriving farm business. The program has been operating in B.C. since 2015 and is now expanding to the Prairies Provinces.

Since the program began we have seen impressive results for our Mentee participants! We have worked with 126 farmers on 86 farms supported by 50 Mentors! Immediate post program results have include a 48% increase in land under production, 64% more farm revenue and 72% increase in production.

Find more information about the program on our website here. 

We are now accepting applications for Mentees and Mentors for the 2023 season.

The deadline to apply is February 13th, 2023! 

Mentee application here: https://youngagrarians.org/2023-prairies-business-mentorship-network-apply/ 

We are also looking for Farm Business Mentors ( a paid position) who are able to connect, listen and offer guidance and support to new farmers. We offer an online self-paced Mentor Training program and other tools to support the Mentorship process.

If you know of a seasoned farmer that may make a good Mentor please forward this message.
Mentor application here: https://youngagrarians.org/business-mentor-application/

Please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you  have any  questions.

As you may have heard, Alberta and Saskatchewan, in collaboration with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce, are launching a food trade pilot in the city of Lloydminster. The goal of the pilot is to allow Alberta and Saskatchewan businesses to freely trade food into and within the City of Lloydminster as if it was located in one province and not divided by a provincial border.  For more information, please see the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Notice of Intent/Avis d’intention and the attached news release.

Read the News Release here

ALP is currently looking for a producer to feature in our Spring N’ewesletter!

ALP introduced a new producer spotlight section this past month in our quarterly N’ewesletters, to let our producers get to know one and other and learn about the vast amount of sheep operations we have here in Alberta.

With that being said, we want to hear from “ewe.” Would you like to write a small (or big) article for us explaining about your business and what you do? Some ideas could include:

• Your farming operation: for example, number of animals, time in the industry, breeds, system (intensive vs extensive). Boast about what you do best. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 sheep or 10,000.
• Choose your own personal angle. What are you passionate about within the sheep industry? Why did you join the industry and what interests you about it? Talk about it; it can be anything—innovation, wool, breeding, feed, medication vs holistic, machinery, tips and tricks, whatever tweaks your interest.
• What are your plans for the future in the sheep industry? Is there something you want to see happen in the industry? Have you got personal goals you want to achieve on your farm?

These articles are all about you and your operations. We want to use them as a way to encourage producer networking, asking questions, and learning from each other about what we all do best—sheep farming. The more we can share as an industry, the stronger we can become!

The deadline to submit intent to write for each N’ewesletter edition is*:

Spring Edition:  February 15^th 2023

Summer Edition: May 20^th 2023

Fall Edition: July 23^rd 2023

Winter Edition: November 2^nd 2023

Please express your interest to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 403-948-8533.

*If there are multiple submissions for each edition, we will put names into a draw and let the winner know. You can apply for as many editions as you like. Please note, from the submission date above, you will have one month to write and submit your article back to ALP for proofreading and formatting.

WITH Wool: The Art of the Possible

A Collaboration between Emily Carr University of Art + Design and Providence Lane Homestead

January 5, 2023

Biodegradable wool burial urns? How about 3-D printed felt acoustic panels? Wool tents?

Why not? . . . No, really. Why not??

Despite being entirely biodegradable, its abundance and its superior thermal qualities, wool continues to be largely under-used or even wasted in Canada, an undesirable by-product of the lamb industry.

WITH Wool: The Art of the Possible, a collaboration between Providence Lane Homestead and Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, is looking to uncover the potential of wool and inspire a new generation of designers, artists, engineers and forward-thinking problem solvers. By providing the basic building block – raw, untreated fleeces – and as much access and support as possible, Associate Professor and co-founder of the Material Matters Research Centre, Hélène Day Fraser and Tara Klager, shepherd and farmer at Providence Lane Homestead in Alberta, aim to spur research and innovation, recovery of past techniques and “future-steading” processes to reinvigorate the design community’s - as well as the public’s - perception of wool. With an eye on what can be achieved and the policy and governmental support needed to bring wool into the future of a progressive, regenerative, ethical and economically viable framework, WITH Wool: The Art of the Possible will be a community and a conversation. It will be equal parts laboratory and exhibit, weaving together art, agriculture, industry and craft.

With the saturation of synthetic, petro-based textiles refusing to decompose now filling landfills across the globe, the return to full-circle fibres grown out of and returning to their landscapes, seems inevitable. So what’s stopping Canada from taking its place in this cycle of growth, use and regeneration? For this initiative, participants will receive fleeces sourced in Western Canada and subjected to all the usual conditions of Canadian wool – nothing fancy, nothing exceptional. Under the instruction and with the support of Day Fraser, they will begin their own fibre journey, understanding the unique capacities, conditions and potential in the material they’re working with. With further hands-on, in-the-field expertise provided by Klager, participants will be given enriched opportunities to understand the impact of place on wool – the role sheep play in regenerative land management, animal welfare, the Western Canadian context and more. During the course of the project, this humble fibre will become the web and the foundation participants will use to connect past, present and future as they build out their vision of the art of possibility.

For more information or to speak to Hélène Day Fraser or Tara Klager about this exciting collaboration, please contact:

Tara Klager
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Here is the Sheep supply for the month of September 2022

Alberta Lamb Producers (ALP) is committed to funding research. Partnering with other organizations—whenever possible—to work on projects provides better value, as expertise can be shared and resources and funding can be leveraged. 

Back in 2020, we changed the way ALP accepts research proposals. Creating structure for this process allows ALP to properly budget for research projects each fiscal year and ensures the projects we support align with ALP’s strategic plan.

As a reminder, ALP’s Research Proposal Structure is as follows:

• ALP will be placing a call out to researchers to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) for upcoming research projects for which they will be seeking a monetary or in-kind investment from ALP. This call out will happen once a year, beginning in January of each fiscal year, and will have a submission deadline provided.
• The LOIs that are submitted by the deadline will then be reviewed by the ALP Board of Directors by the end of April each fiscal year. The Board will then select the projects for which ALP would like to see full proposals. The researchers who have been selected to submit full proposals for further consideration will have until the end of June, each fiscal year, to do so.
• The ALP Board of Directors will then review the full proposals and decide by mid-end of August which projects to fund.
• Lastly, ALP will then reach out to all proposal applicants by the end of September of each fiscal year, to let them know if their projects have been approved or declined.

Alberta Lamb Producers invites you to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) for your research projects. We invite researchers with project proposals to complete the Letter of Intent Form and submit it no later than March 31, 2023. Full proposals will be solicited in April with the target of having proposals approved by September 2024.

It is important to note that projects will be ranked accordingly on the following criteria:

• Ability to fall within current ALP priorities. If your project addresses more than one priority this will be noted. Priority areas are listed on the ALP website.
• Ability to leverage funds. Projects with other funding partners will ranked higher than projects asking ALP for the full amount of funds. The more leveraged dollars you can achieve the better. 
• Ability to communicate your research results and conclusions. Knowledge transfer to producers is of utmost importance. Mandatory activities include articles in the ALP quarterly N’ewesletters, factsheets, a report for producers and a report for the ALP Board. Other communication activities include presentations at producer events, articles in agricultural press, etc. Please note: if you fail to provide communication material you might be at risk of losing funding or not receiving funding in the future.

If you have any questions, please contact Ashley Scott at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 403.948.8533.

We’ve decided it’s time for ALP to hold another photo contest. There will only be one general category and all photos showing any aspect of life on a sheep farm will be considered. This would include flock shots, scenes from around the sheep farm, sheep farmers, anything about the wool, and possible fan favourites, just to name a few examples.

To submit your digital photos, please email them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in a jpeg format with the subject line: 2023 photo contest.  Picture resolution of your photos must be at least 1MB. You must include your name (first and last) along with the location the picture was taken (must be in Alberta).

By submitting photos, you are agreeing to their use at the discretion of ALP; however, efforts will be made to notify you regarding their use, and credit will always be given to the photographer.  There’s no limit to the number you can submit—so get snapping!

The deadline for entries is September 1, 2023 and prizes will be awarded for the top three placing photos. The winners will be announced at ALP’s 2023 AGM.

View the sheep supply report for August 2022

Alberta Lamb Producers Service Charge Model Plebiscite – Official Results
As required in section 10 of the Alberta Lamb Producers Plebiscite Directive (2022) made under section 5.1 of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, this letter is to provide you with the official results of the Alberta Lamb Producers (ALP) plebiscite on the question of service charge model of ALP held between October 18, 2022 and November 16, 2022 (at noon). The formal time period for eligible producers to contest the plebiscite ended on December 9, 2022 and no contests were reported to the Returning Officer. Due to the nature of the plebiscite question, the results of the Alberta Lamb Producers plebiscite are also provided for your information. Below are the official results of the plebiscite:

• Number of votes cast electronically = 118
• Number of votes submitted by mail-in ballot = 137
• Total number of votes submitted = 255
• Number of votes for a non-refundable service charge model = 105 (41.7%)
• Number of votes for status quo (refundable service charge model) = 147 (58.3%)
• Mail-in ballots rejected = 3
• Participation Rate = 15.38%

The directive also required a report from the Deputy Returning Officer of any potential anomalies or errors that may have arisen during the electronic voting process and given that there were none, the tabulation is final.
 
These results are also available on Agriculture and Irrigation’s website at: https://open.alberta.ca/publications/alberta-lamb-producers-plebiscite-reporting-results and have been provided to the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation for his information.

A new report has been released on the Ernst & Young Inc. website, who is the appointed Monitor for NALCO: www.ey.com/ca/NALCO

Once on their website, select Monitor’s Reports and then you will see the report that is called: 02.Second Report of Ernst & Young Inc. in its Capacity as Monitor f the NALCO Group – 29 Nov 2022-1168KB

Please note that there has been no communication between Ernst & Young Inc., NALCO and ALP. We did come across this update and wanted to share it with our Producers. From our understanding of the document, the sale is still tentative and appears to be dependent on the environmental study phase 2.