Success in collecting the mandatory producer checkoff from Albertans seems to be hit and miss.
Alberta Lamb collects its $1.50 per head when producers buy the mandatory ear tags. Before the checkoff was tied to the tags, the provincial lamb association had difficulty collecting the non-refundable fee, said Noreen Moore, chair of Alberta Lamb.
Mike Leslie, chief executive officer of the Alberta Barley Commission, estimates it collects about 56 percent of the eligible checkoff, or about $600,000 less than what is due.
Leslie said there’s no problem collecting the checkoff from the large grain companies, feedlots or the Canadian Wheat Board when it ships barley for export. The gap is from the small and medium sized feedlots.
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In July, the checkoff will increase to $1 a tonne from 50 cents to compensate for the missing money.
A campaign to work with the feedlots to point out how increased barley research would benefit the entire industry seems to have increased the amount of money sent in.
“There’s no real advantage going out and whacking someone with a stick because they’ll just ask for it back,” Leslie said.
The Potato Growers of Alberta collects 80 percent of its checkoff through the five major processing plants in province. It’s a little harder to collect from the seed and fresh pack potato growers, said Edzo Kok.
Todd Smith, president of the Peace Region Forage Seed Association, said one of the keys to the success of its producer checkoff has been good buy-in from the seed companies that collect the money used for research.
Sheri Strydhorst, executive director of the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission, said check-off collection isn’t a big problem because not a lot of peas are going into the feed market.
“When it is sold through larger grain companies, it’s not a problem to get the money.”
With only four percent of producers asking for a refund on their checkoff, Strydhorst takes it as an indication the commission is doing a good job.
Dave Burdek, general manager of the Agriculture Products Marketing Council, which is in charge of Alberta’s 20 marketing boards and commissions, said while the legislation allows for the different groups to get tough with producers who don’t submit the checkoff, improved communication is usually a better tactic.
In a recent producer survey of more than 600 producers, 25 percent of producers felt levies should be refundable, 24 percent said partially refundable, 22 percent said non-refundable and 30 percent were undecided.
