March 1 is the deadline for Alberta lamb producers to apply for funding through the Sheep RFID Technology Assistance Program.

Producers who want to use radio identification technologies in their flocks can be reimbursed for 70 percent of costs of eligible hand-held readers, RFID software and training costs, to a maximum of $5,000 per sheep operation.

Alberta Lamb Producers obtained $300,000 in funding last fall through the federal Growing Forward program to help producers offset the costs of adopting RFID technology, said an ALP news release.

Over half of the funding has already been allocated.

The tags and software can make record-keeping more accurate and help producers identify superior breeding stock, pinpoint poor performers and help producers with more efficient labour use, the ALP said.

This program is the successor to a previous one in which producers were partially reimbursed for RFID tag purchases. That funding came through Alberta Agriculture.

More information on the technology assistance program is available at www.sheepcentral.ca.