News

For more information, pelase view the Growing Opportunites Info Sheet

The ALP Board held an in-person board meeting September 16-17, 2022, where the upcoming AGM & Conference was discussed. Unfortunately, due to the extremely low registration numbers for our AGM and Conference, the board has made the difficult decision to cancel the conference component being hosted at Olds College, as it is not financially feasible or financially responsible of ALP to host with only 16 confirmed participants at this point in time.

ALP has decided to pivot and host a hybrid model for the Annual General Meeting only (no conference). Producers can choose to attend the AGM in-person at the Agriculture Centre in Airdrie OR producers have the option to join us virtually on Zoom.

Date and time:
Saturday, November 19, 2022, at 7:00pm Mountain

Location: In person
Agriculture Centre
97 East Lake Ramp N.E.
Airdrie, AB T4A 0C3

Hotel Bookings:
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Airdrie - North Calgary
64 East Lake Ave N.E  | Airdrie, AB T4A-2G8  | Canada TEL 403-912-1952 | FAX  403-945-0253 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   | www.hiexpress.com/airdrie
* Hotel rooms need to be booked by November 11, 2022, to receive the corporate rate of $99.00 plus taxes.

Location: Virtual
Secure Zoom Link provided at time of registration, along with a training video to help you learn the platform prior to the AGM.
While we are disappointed in the low engagement, we are hoping we will be able to try to incorporate a conference model in future years. 

There is no charge to attend the in-person or virtual ALP AGM, however registration is required.

If you would like more information or would like to register to attend the ALP AGM either in-person or virtually, please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call the office at 403-948-8533.

View the Sheep Supply for month ending May 2022 here.

To provide assurance for producers as they make difficult herd management decisions, Agriculture Canada has announced an initial list of designated regions in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba where Livestock Tax Deferral has been authorized for 2022 due to extreme weather conditions.

Read more

Find a list of designated regions

• 15 min East of Irricana  
• Hasn’t been grazed for 3 years 
• 30 acres  
• Adequate water source May-Sept 
• Allow livestock guardian 
• Perimeter Barbed Wire and Electric Fencing – can negotiate additional electric fencing   

For more information contact Grant at 403-829-5857.

 Sheep Supply for month ending April 2022.

Unfortunately the wool market continues to struggle in 2022 due to several factors. The industry is still dealing with the after effects of Covid-19 and global trade disruptions. For wool it has meant a significant drop in demand and lower prices with a new crop always on the way.
 
China in particular is still trying to maintain a zero Covid policy which is having a dramatic impact on their manufacturing and retail business. It is far from business as usual in China as the government restricts the movement of people, services and business operations in an attempt to eliminate Covid. It makes everyday life quite difficult for the Chinese people and will have a negative affect on their incomes. Clothing purchases will likely be a low priority. As an example, today there were two positive Covid cases recorded in the city of Tianjin which has a population of nine million people. Tomorrow it is mandated that all nine million residents will be Covid tested without exception. Nation wide Covid testing every seventy two hours is still being implemented. The Chinese economy has suffered greatly as a result with consumer confidence now at an all time low. 
Read the full article

On August 8, 2022, the NALCO Group sought and obtained protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, R.S.C. 1985, C-36, as amended (the “CCAA”) pursuant to an Order of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta (the “Court”), or (the “Initial Order”). As part of the Initial Order, Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed as Monitor of the NALCO Group.

Please find below correspondence from Ernst & Young Inc., acting in its capacity as the court-appointed Monitor of North American Lamb Company Ltd., Canada Sheep and Lamb Farms Ltd., Canada Sheep Holdings Ltd., Lamb Club Marketing Limited., Canada Lamb Growers Ltd., Canada Lamb Processors Ltd., and Canine Fare Ltd..  (the “NALCO Group”).

They will continue to be operational at CLP on a business as usual basis. Updates will be posted to the website (website link is in the below attachments).

Read the NALCO Notice to Creditors

Read NALCO Ernst and Young Inc CCAA FAQ's

Western Canadian Offer for Breeding Stock:

Western Canadian Offer for Breeding Stock: Offer for producers intending to keep breeding ewes in Western Canada – this will help the processing plant value if more ewes stay in this region. NALC has a group of producers called the Growth Group consisting of approximately 30 producers in Western Canada that supply the Innisfail plant with contracted finished lambs focused on off-seasonal supply. Approximately 6000 breeding ewes are available for this offer, more could be made available in the next week or two.

List pricing:

- $150 for open breeding ewes

- $175 for bred ewes expected to lamb November & December but not pregnancy scanned yet

- $200 for bred ewes expected to lamb November and scanned pregnant

- $250/ram for commercial Rideau breeding rams, max of 1 ram per 25 ewes sold

- $350/ram for commercial breeding rams, not tied to ewe sales

Terms:

- Offer closes August 25, 2022 at noon. First come-first-served basis. Higher bids also given priority. Strong preference for full load quantities at this pricing.

- Must be moved by September 9, 2022, except for weaned critical stage ewes which will take 13 weeks to clear.

- Pricing based on FOB NALC Farms in Manitoba or Alberta. Buyers pay and arrange freight. NALC chooses farm of origin for the packages to streamline logistics while accommodating buyer preference as much as practical.

- Please submit bids to Cathy via email only This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with full contact details, including destination address.

Market Pricing

Market Pricing Contracted Growth Group finished lamb contracts will be honored through the restructure process for contracted volumes. The Innisfail plant will require more supply this fall as we restructure. Producers are requesting space at the plant and asking for pricing. To facilitate this process we are offering two options, subject to revision if needed:

Rail Pricing – Identical grid and market formula as our contracts, but no floor price. Base price on pay-weight to 30.0 kg as recently rolled out. The weekly average Ontario finished lamb revenue ($/head) published Wednesday is divided by 27 kg and rounded to the nearest $0.25 to set the pricing for Thursday through following Wednesday harvests. Based on comparisons reviewed in May 2022, this will outperform the Ontario auction returns by $14-$20/head, depending on feed pricing. As of August 17, 2022, this is estimated at $/lamb benefit with feed pricing trending downward.

Live pricing – Similar to the above, but the Ontario revenue is reduced by $15/head and divided by 125lb (56.7kg). Load maximum average weight is 125lb. Discounts on super heavy carcasses as done in prior years. Rail pricing is intentionally stronger to encourage producers to deliver required carcass quality to support plant operations moving forward. Rail priced deliveries have shackle space priority.

RDAR announced it will be open to receiving applications for the On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) program starting August 4, 2022.

The OFCAF is a cost-share funding program that supports farmers in adopting best management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon, specifically for in-field nitrogen management, expanding cover cropping, and implementing rotational grazing practices.

This program helps producers adopt different practices by offsetting 85% of the cost. Alberta farmers and ranchers can apply for up to $75,000 in funding to implement practices related to nitrogen management, rotational grazing, and cover cropping.

Read more

Want to learn more about the program? RDAR is hosting a series of one-hour webinar sessions to help producers prepare to apply for funding.

Register for an OFCAF webinar session

ALBERTA LAMB PRODUCERS AWARDED $399,000 FROM RESEARCH DRIVEN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH (RDAR) TO SUPPORT THE ADAPTATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ANESTHETIC RELEASING ELASTRATOR BAND FOR USE IN THE CANADIAN LAMB INDUSTRY

Alberta Lamb Producers (ALP) has recently been awarded $399,000 from Research Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) to investigate the adaptation of a novel anesthetic delivering elastration ligation band, for castration and tail docking, in the Canadian Lamb Industry.  CCR has partnered with Alberta Veterinary Laboratories/Solvet (AVL/Solvet) of Calgary Alberta to manufacture the device in Alberta.  Studies are in progress to register this device for sale in Canada with a local anesthesia label claim for use in cattle and lambs. 

This project will require several on farm studies involving Alberta sheep producers. Typically, the studies are relatively straight forward with the producer allowing access to their facilities and a small number of their male lambs for castration, tail docking and data collection (including some or all of weights, blood and tissue samples, pain assessment) once a week for several weeks, with very little time required on the producer’s part.  If you would like to participate or have questions about participating, please contact Nick Allan (CCR) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.