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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.

Elections for the ALP executive and committee positions were held on November 20, 2022 during the first Board meeting following the 2022 AGM.   Elections results were:

Chair: Emilie Wilson
Vice-Chair: Jordan Allen
Finance Chair: Judy Buck
Finance Vice-Chair: Jolene Airth

Emilie Wilson, Jordan Allen and Richard Boscher will be representing ALP on the National Sheep Network (NSN). 

We are providing our producers with the preliminary results of the Alberta Lamb Producers (ALP) service charge model plebiscite.  Final results of the plebiscite will be official once the last day to contest the plebiscite has passed - 15 business days after the announcement of preliminary results. ALP announced the results during their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday November 19, 2022.  The last day to contest the plebiscite is December 9, 2022, in accordance with the ALP Plebiscite Directive. 

The ALP plebiscite was held between October 18, 2022 and November 16, 2022 (at noon) on the question of service charge model of the ALP.   

There was no set voting criteria established for this plebiscite, therefore, the criteria is set at 50% + 1 of votes cast.

Results:

The results of the plebiscites show most producers that voted, were in favour of the status quo, a refundable service charge model for ALP.  The numerical results are highlighted below.

• 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 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.

Next steps:

• Formal letters will be sent to key officials (Minister and the ALP Chair) following the date to contest the plebiscite (December 9^th).
• The preliminary results of the plebiscite will be posted to Marketing Council’s website (by November 28^th ).
• Official results will be shared once the date to contest the plebiscite has passed (December 9^th).
• Given the results of the vote are for the status quo, refundable service charge model, there will be no change to the current service charge structure or regulations.    

Alberta Lamb Producers is proud to announce their new partnership with The Campaign for Wool Canada and The Canadian Wool Council. This partnership provides the opportunity to align our goals in order to bolster the Alberta sheep industry.

ALP’s support, which will be matched several times over, will assist The Campaign’s research and branding programs including:

• Developing a value-chain/export plan for producing 100% Canadian wool upholstery and other textiles.
• A Shearing Plan that investigates Alberta/Canada’s shearing needs and proposes how the industry can increase access to high-quality, affordable shearing for the entire sheep industry. It also looks into recruiting new shearers and ensuring the highest standards of performance.
• Representation for Alberta as part of the Canadian Delegation to the International Wool Textile Organization, as well as identifying business opportunities and partners to develop Alberta wool while sharing our stories with the world.
• Supporting Alberta producers who sell their own wool and wool products with our national branding and marketing efforts and point-of-sale materials to sell the benefits of wool to consumers and position Alberta/Canadian wool as a premium fibre.
• Celebrating our wool and the Albertans/Canadians who transform it.
• The two organizations will be looking at future research and commercial projects that will benefit producers in Alberta.
  

The ALP office will be closed from Thursday, December 22, 2022 until Monday, January 2, 2023, resuming regular business hours on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. If you require immediate assistance during this time, please visit our website: https://ablamb.ca/index.php/about-alp/contact  for Director contact information.

From everyone at ALP, we would like to wish our producers and other industry stakeholders a wonderful holiday season!