Alberta agriculture minister Jack Hayden is pleased two of the province’s largest cattle organizations agreed to resume the $1 beef checkoff to fund national cattle research and marketing efforts.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Hayden said. The willingness of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association and Alberta Beef Producers to work together is important, he added.
“It makes my job easier when industry gets together with one voice and gives me direction,” he said.
Under the new memorandum of understanding, the two groups recommend that the government reinstate the $1 levy used to fund national cattle marketing and promotion programs from Oct. 31 to March 31, 2013.
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The $2 beef checkoff will still be refundable.
Under the agreement, the $1 levy could be extended beyond the three-year term.
The levy will be used only for Canadian beef research, market development and promotion. It will not be used for industry lobbying without the consent of the cattle feeders.
One seat on the national agency will be set aside for a member of the cattle feeders group, which Hayden called one of the most important parts of the agreement.
“Everyone is at the table,” he said.
ABP chair Chuck MacLean said the two groups got together to do what was best for the cattle industry.
“(There was) no win for either organization or cattle industry if we didn’t get together,” he said.
