Ontario Sheep Farmers to increase licensing fees by 40 cents per animal

Licencing fee will go to new OSF outreach programs and research initiatives

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Published: August 1, 2023

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A new strategic plan has meant shifting priorities for Ontario Sheep Farmers.

Ontario Sheep Farmers (OSF) are increasing their licensing fee to $2.20 per live animal. The 40 cent raise is the first such increase in 13 years.

OSF says rising costs is a component in the decision. It says that it will be “committed to using the valuable license fees to support programs and services that help our farmers.”

Why it matters: Farm organizations are having to deal with increasing costs and many of them haven’t raised fees for years.

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OSF Executive Director Erin Morgan said that the inflation of the past few years is partly responsible for an increase in costs.

“Thirteen years is a long time to go without raising your rates,” said Morgan. “The last few years of inflation, greater inflationary pressure, definitely played a role.”

OSF launched a five-year strategic plan in 2021 which aimed to create new programs and initiatives, many of which require funding. Morgan said that much of the money gained from the increased licensing fees will be going toward supporting them.

“A lot of that work requires an investment in market research, just investing in the data collected through the data chain, making sure that it works for everyone.”

“There’s a bunch of things that we’re working on,” she said, “we have a couple of new key research projects.”

She mentioned the recently announced living lab, in which OSF wanted to be include.

“Our participation in the program is included in the license fees,” she said.

“We’re also going to be working more closely with our processors and our auctions over the next little while to address some system upgrades needs that are required across the entire value chain.”

She said OSF also plans to invest in a new part-time staff member, to increase communications to grassroots.

She added that the strategic plan called for educational programming, something else which the fee increase will help fund.

“As of the strategic plan, we’ve created an educational component, it’s called the Sheep Institute. It’s a separate educational arm of the organization.”

Another educational endeavour is a course for producers interested in grazing for hire.

“Grazing solar fields, grazing hydro corridors, grazing other farmers’ land after crops, offering that as a service.”

OSF chair John Hemsted said in a release announcing the increase that the “new strategic plan prioritizes the relationship between the board, the districts and the members,” and that “the budget increase will increase our engagement with our members and improve our market knowledge to prepare for future initiatives to grow the sector for all producers.”

About the author

Jonah Grignon

Jonah Grignon

Reporter

Jonah Grignon is a reporter with GFM based in Ottawa, where he covers federal politics in agriculture. Jonah graduated from Carleton University’s school of journalism in 2024 and started working full-time with GFM in Fall 2024, after starting as an intern in 2023. Jonah has written for publications like The Hill Times, Maisonneuve and Canada’s History. He has also created podcasts for Carleton’s student newspaper The Charlatan, Canada’s History and Farm Radio International in Ghana.

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