A new bill introduced in the Alberta Legislature will allow for changes to the grazing lease rental rate framework, where producers will see increased rates for the use of public lands.

However, the Government says it will help protect them from future trade issues with United States.

Proposed changes through the The Public Lands Modernization Act (Grazing Lease and Obsolete Provisions) Amendment Act, also known as Bill 16, would see rental rates be largely-based on the cattle markets, following 25 years of frozen rates.

Alberta Beef Producers is welcoming the move by the Alberta Government, as Executive Director, Rich Smith, says it's something they've been pushing to see for over ten years.

Smith says previous countervail actions from the U.S. identified these fees producers pay as a potential subsidy.

"The current administration in the United States has certainly proven to be quite volatile with respect to trade...and so our concern was that we could potentially end up in a trade action," he said. "We wanted a Framework we could defend."

Rich says rental rates will go up if the legislation is passed, as they're responsive to market conditions.

"Market prices have been fairly good for the last few years, so producers will see some increase," he said, explaining it will be vice-versa if market prices drop.

He says they also wanted rates which would ensure the people of Alberta were getting a fair return from grazing lease holders for their use of crown land.

The Province says, if the Bill is passed, a portion of revenues would be reinvested in rangeland sustainability initiatives.

Smith adds, they haven't hashed out the details of the project, but they welcome the 30 per cent of additional revenue being devoted to this fund.

"One of the things farmers and ranchers have always cared about is the environment, and that [fund] just helps them to do that and to ensure the land is maintained well."

The Government is also proposing a flate-rate feed for the transfer of a lease, which they say would remove red tape for ranchers and reduce barriers to enter into the industry.

Rich says the new framework could be in place in a matter of a couple months after legislation is passed, but changes would be phased in over five years to help ranchers adjust.

 

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