Alberta Beef Producers extends plebiscite deadline
By Collin Gallant on November 10, 2018.
Medicine Hat News A vote by cattle producers on whether checkoff dues should be non-refundable has been extended by two weeks to Nov. 27. The Alberta Beef Producers is holding the vote in hopes of securing more stable funding for industry initiatives and promotion. That was to conclude on Nov. 13, with voting to taking place at any AFSC office or by mail. However, the producer group says poor weather in September extended harvest, and postal disruption has also caused problems with votes being received. “The Marketing Council wantsto give producers as much opportunity as possible to participate in plebiscite voting,” a release sent Friday reads. Such dues are currently refundable and since 2010, about $20 million has been. Last spring, the Alberta government added plebiscite options for agricultural producers groups to change funding models. This summer a proposed Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund garnered support and an agreement between Alberta Beef Producers and the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association. Both groups are supporting “yes” on the question that could provide $1.4 million per year to the fund. Under the proposed structure, the $2 per head checkoff would be divided $1.35 for the Beef Producers (as it is at present) and 40-cents to the new fund. The remaining 25-cents would be allocated to the feeders, for operational costs and their support of the Canadian Cattlemen, though individual producers could allocate their own share to the fund instead. 9-8
