ALP recognises the support the PRLA provides for sheep producers in your area, thank you.
As I am sure you are aware, we have been moving the ALP board meetings around the province and inviting local producers to come and meet the board to talk about their industry and provide input and direction to their representatives. We have also provided a speaker on the Saturday afternoon on a topic of interest to producers in that area. The first board meeting of 2012 will be January 6 & 7 in Grande Prairie. You are invited to "Meet the Board" at 1pm on Sat 7th and we are looking for your suggestions for a topic to be presented that afternoon.
I understand that you have arranged a number of seminars in your area and have also surveyed producers on topics they want to hear about. We would like to take advantage of your local knowledge to arrange something worthwhile and beneficial. Topics so far have been "Keeping your lambs alive", grazing management and August will be marketing options and ram selection. We would be glad to hear of your suggestions by mid August, so the board can discuss the options at their August meeting.
At the Fall Round Up meetings, we will be providing an introduction to Precision Flock Management and guidance on using the Flock Snapshot to help with knowing your cost of production and identifying profit leakages, more about that in the August newsletter. We also have plans in 2012 to introduce SheepBytes, a web-based ration balancing program and provide courses on FarmWorks, which uses RFID technology for flock management. We continue to negotiate with ARD for a grant program to support producers that choose to buy and use RFID readers and software.
Lamb Production 101 is being created particularly for new producers, a one-day course initially available in conjunction with Olds College in September. It will also be available as a "workshop in a box" for suitable instructors and we hope to offer it by video-conference and also on-line in the coming months. We are creating a funding application for other topics and course levels.
As soon as we have a confirmed schedule for these events, it will be published in the N'ewesletter. We hope to collaborate closely with your group on all events held in zone 7.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Margaret Cook
Alberta Lamb Producers
Agriculture Centre
97 East Lake Ramp
Airdrie
Alberta T4A 0C3
Tel: 403 948 8533
Fax: 403 912 1455