EDMONTON — A proposal for a non-refundable beef checkoff has been submitted to the Alberta government.
Alberta Beef Producers has been meeting with other producer groups in the province and wants to set aside a portion of the money from the $3 service charge collected on every animal sold to support research and marketing efforts.
More than $11 million was collected last year, and about $10.3 million will be submitted this year.
Cattle marketings have been declining as the herd size shrinks, so less money has been collected.
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ABP receives $2, and another dollar is sent to the national checkoff agency.
However, 800 requests totalling $2.3 million, or 35 percent of the service charge revenue, was refunded, said ABP finance chair Charlie Christie at the organization’s spring meeting in Edmonton June 14. Most of the requests came from Alberta feedlot operators.
He said reduced funding means lost opportunities to multiply the money with other funders to support research and marketing of beef.
“That speaks to the importance of getting this thing turned around,” said Christie.
The proposal before Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier suggests a non-refundable levy and depositing money that was formerly rebated into a separate account.
A board comprising ABP, the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association and other funders would control the money and direct it toward marketing and research projects, said ABP chair Bob Lowe.
“We thought that was very fair.”
ABP would like the concept in place by the end of its fiscal year, which ends April 2017.
Alberta has also agreed to in-crease the national checkoff, which increases the amount submitted to $2.50 for every animal sold. It wants the increase settled at the same time.
Alberta now directs 80 cents to Canada Beef for marketing and 20 cents to the Beef Cattle Research Council.
Canada Beef received $2.7 million, and the Beef Cattle Research Council received $686,000 from Alberta.
The province contributes 51 percent of the national checkoff, said Melinda German, head of the national checkoff agency.
Seven provinces have now agreed to an increase to the national program, said German.
Marketing receives 65 percent of the money nationally, research receives 16 percent and the provincial share is 19 percent. Provinces such as Ontario hold back a portion of the national levy to support their own programs.
“Provinces do have the ability to have a provincial allocation. It is also called the claw back,” she said.
These provinces have to report on how the money was spent and the results.
The national funds can then be multiplied with grants from other sources.
“For every one dollar remitted to the agency, there was a return back to producers of $9,” German said.
The University of Alberta is re-viewing the current return on investment and will report back later in the year.
