The Alberta government has announced two new traceability programs to cover the cost of tagging lambs and cervids.
The sheep industry will receive $900,000 over two years, while payment programs for cervids, which include elk and deer, total $90,000 over three years.
About 1,900 sheep farms and 344 cervid operations are involved.
Funding for both programs will come from the province’s $15 million age verification incentive program.
Sheep producers are switching from pink curl lock tags to radio frequency ear tags.
The electronic tags cost $1.80 to $3.
Read Also
Going beyond “Resistant” on crop seed labels
Variety resistance is getting more specific on crop disease pathogens, but that information must be conveyed in a way that actually helps producers make rotation decisions.
Producers can apply for refunds once the lambs are tagged. The program does not cover readers or software packages used in the sheep traceability programs.
“We would like to get money for equipment,” said Alberta Lamb Producers chair Phil Kolodychuk.
“We are happy Alberta Agriculture is investing in our industry,” he said.
The Alberta lamb traceability pilot program has tested equipment and software packages for three years and recommended one system: Farm- Works by Shearwell Data.
A national pilot project is also underway testing software packages to identify and trace sheep.
Alberta has the third largest flock behind Ontario and Quebec with 100,000 ewes. Elk producers have registered their animals with Alberta Agriculture for the last 15 years using a double plastic tag system with unique numbers recording history from birth to death, said Alberta Elk Commission chair Glenda Elkow.
Antlers are also identified at the time of harvest.
The grant helps producers with the cost of tagging, which costs $7 for a set of tags.
The elk industry is not using electronic radio frequency tags.
The national cervid industry is also working with the federal government on an ISO numbering system that is likely to correlate with the program in Alberta.
