EDMONTON – Auction owners and cattle exporters may soon have a representative on Alberta’s cattle organization.
Alberta Beef Producer delegates voted in principle to amend their regulations to allow two cattle industry representatives to be included on the board of directors.
Tony Saretsky, a feedlot operator and cattle exporter, said the addition gives all parts of the industry a voice in the province’s main cattle organization.
“We have people who derive 100 percent of their living from the livestock business and they have no representation to have input into this organization,” he said.
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“We’ve sat out in the wilderness. We’ve come to the forefront of the industry during the BSE crisis and are an integral part of the industry, with no representation, with no vote at the voting table.”
The changes would boost the board to 19 members.
Similar changes were made a year ago to increase representation from the feeding industry. Cattle Feeder Council delegates were elected last fall from each of the association’s districts and three board members were chosen from the elected group.
The industry council would not run separate delegates in the local fall elections, but would be chosen from existing industry associations.
Saretsky said access to funding is the key to solving issues in the cattle industry. The Alberta Beef Producers’ checkoff raises more than $10 million for industry work.
A final draft of the changes will be reviewed by the provincial government this summer, discussed at the ABP’s fall meetings and voted on by delegates at the annual meeting in the fall.
