New Tag Incentive Program for Alberta, Canada Sheep Producers

The 1,900 sheep producers in Alberta, Canada will be eligible for a total of $900,000 in incentive payments over the next two years for tagging their lambs with Canadian Sheep Identification Program (CSIP)-approved radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. The program provides for a $3 per tag reimbursement for lambs born and tagged between December 2010 and November 2012.

The program is funded by Alberta’s $15 million Age-Verification Incentive Program to encourage the use of RFID tags in the province’s sheep industry.

The CSIP is a mandatory program that began in January of 2004. It currently only requires a CSIP-approved visual tag be applied to the animal before it leaves its flock of origin. However, the Canadian sheep industry appears committed to developing a national traceability system with value-added benefits for the producer.

Significant value-added benefits can only be realized through a modern electronics based identification system that allows for the full real-time utilization of information a good identification system can provide. This latest announcement is continuing verification that the Canadian sheep industry is committed to making this a reality for the Canada’s agriculture producers.

Sources for this post:

Zaccagna, Remo. “New traceability program for sheep, elk producers introduced.” Daily Herald Tribune. Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada. Article ID#2993124. Accessed at http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2993124 on March 10, 2011.