From the government relations desk

Throughout 2022, our producers’ interests remained at the forefront of our government relations efforts. The year was filled with unique challenges, new focus areas, and some milestone wins.

As the new year begins, we’re bringing important lessons into 2023. The 2021 drought and the burden of high input costs has led to a focus on upgrading the business risk management suite. With the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) up for renewal, we’ll continue discussions to promote equality and a level playing field for calf-cow producers. We see an opportunity for producers to stabilize their costs. This will be a major priority in 2023. Other sectors benefit from utilizing these programs – it’s time cow-calf producers had similar access.

2023 will be big for Alberta politics! We have a new set of mandate letters that provide opportunities for the beef industry to address major concerns. We’ll also navigate producers’ policy priorities leading up to the spring election. We’re dedicated to ensuring that governments acknowledge our producers’ environmental stewardship and facilitate balanced discussions and policies around producer benefits.

As the election draws closer, we’ll share our policy priorities with all parties to foster open dialogue and create the best possible outcomes for our producers. Our objectives are to always represent producers’ economic and environmental benefits and to effectively communicate major difficulties.

At ABP, we work to serve you. Our priorities come from the grassroots up. We encourage you to take forward resolutions to our March AGM. If there are policy priorities that need attention, especially going into this election cycle, please consider attending the AGM or submitting your resolutions through our website.

Wishing you all a wonderful start to this new year ahead. And, don’t forget to vote in the spring!

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This article was first published in Volume 3 Issue 1 of ABP Magazine (February 2023). Watch for more digital content from the magazine on ABP Daily.