The Bison Producers of Alberta are caught between a familiar rock and a hard place as the organization wrestles with the always-contentious issue of a checkoff levy.
“We had proposed changing the levy from $3 to $5 per head,” said Linda Sautner, the association’s office manager.
That proposal was voted down at the group’s AGM by producers unwilling to bear more of the marketing burden for the industry.
Producers currently pay a refundable $3 checkoff, but some processing facilities don’t deduct the levy automatically, and not all producers send in the money. Sautner said producers initially supported marketing efforts and rarely requested levy refunds, but that changed when economic times became difficult as a result of BSE, and as a result, funding decreased and hasn’t rebounded.
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“When you have a sale slaughter levy that is refundable, and it’s up to the producer or the owner of the animal to send it in, there’s a logical question: Why would I send it in and ask for it back?” said Sautner.
Part of the problem is some of the bison industry’s biggest players don’t remit the levy. Recently, it sent letters to all of the processors reminding them that as with cattle, the checkoff levy must be deducted and sent to the association. However, Sautner said Bouvry Exports, one of the largest exporters, indicated that if required to submit the levy, it would request a refund at the same time.
A Bouvry representative was not available for comment.
Others resist increase
The situation has ripple effects.
“There are major players that do several hundred animals in a year,” said Sautner. “They’re not the big boys, but they are major. And their first comment to us when we contact them is, ‘Is Bouvry paying you guys anything yet?’ So it (the proposal) was vetoed for fairly logical reasons. They felt the people who are already paying us are the ones that are going to get dinged for the $5.”
After defeating the checkoff increase at the AGM, producers expressed a desire for increased lobbying on behalf of the industry, but Sautner said that’s unlikely to happen.
“We were just scrambling for some way to increase our ability to function at a higher value to our industry,” said Sautner. “We don’t have the ability to do things in a more proactive way.”
Another issue facing Alberta bison producers is the fee for national marketing. The Canadian Bison Association adds a $4 marketing fee when RFID tags are ordered, which brings the total checkoff to $7. In contrast, cattle producers only have to pay a non-refundable $1 fee for national marketing efforts and a refundable $2 checkoff to the Alberta Beef Producers because the larger volume of cattle sales generates a higher amount despite the lower levy.
The Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council oversees the regulations pertaining to marketing commissions of the cattle and bison organizations, but does not enforce checkoff collection. Maryann Urbanowski, the council’s regulatory corporate affairs officer, says the Bison Producers of Alberta can enforce checkoff collection through legal action, but it’s a method of last resort.
Sautner says hiring a lawyer would be costly, especially since producers could request a refund of the newly collected checkoff money anyway.
“We had always taken the stance, ‘Well, if this is a marketing council regulation, shouldn’t the marketing council have legal teeth?’ And they just say they provide the legal means, but not the method,” said Sautner.
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“Whenyouhaveasaleslaughterlevythatisrefundable,andit’suptotheproducerortheowneroftheanimaltosenditin,there’salogicalquestion:whywouldIsenditinandaskforitback?”
LINDA SAUTNER
BISON PRODUCERS OF ALBERTA
