American Lamb Checkoff: Boosting Quality and Demand
The American Lamb Checkoff, overseen by the American Lamb Board (ALB), was established in 2002 to consolidate industry resources, increase awareness, expand demand, and enhance industry profitability.
Checkoff funds are used to:
1) Promote American Lamb
ALB offers a variety of promotional programs that provide consumers with opportunities to sample or cook with American Lamb. These programs include:
Seasonal Promotions like Lamb Lover’s Month, Lamb Jam and various seasonal promotions with recipes and tips for preparing American Lamb.
The Lambassador Network, where talented chefs, influencers and recipe developers showcase American Lamb on their websites and social media channels.
Restaurant Promotions, such as the ongoing partnership with Taziki’s Mediterranean Café, serve American Lamb on their menu.
Online Cooking Classes, like Homemade and Kittch where home chefs can prepare delicious American Lamb meals alongside professional chefs.
Consumer Events, including markets, festivals and dining events, where consumers can sample American Lamb at local venues and events.
Foodservice Promotions & Conferences, where American Lamb is presented to chefs looking to expand their menus and add new flavors.
2) Conduct Research
The American Lamb Board works with universities and industry partners to conduct research related to greenhouse gas emissions, solar grazing, lamb quality and much more.
3) Provide Information to Producers
ALB provides services and educational opportunities to producers in the form of:
Cooperative Funding Programs, where ALB collaborates with industry partners and stakeholders to grow, promote, improve and support American Lamb, creating greater demand and profitability for the industry.
Promotional Materials that are available free of charge to producers and direct marketers to promote American Lamb at local events.
Producer Resources, including educational resources like fact sheets.
Educational Events and Workshops, like the American Lamb Summit and Targeted Grazing Workshops, where producers can learn new strategies to improve production practices.
“Thanks to these industry contributions, the ALB can increase awareness and provide producers with an array of tools and resources to promote American Lamb in markets all across the country,” says ALB Chairman Jeff Ebert.
How are Funds Collected?
The Lamb Checkoff is funded by the mandatory assessments paid by all segments of the sheep industry. By federal law, all sheep or lambs of any age, including ewes, rams, feeder and market lambs, breeding stock and cull animals, are subject to the national lamb checkoff assessment at the time of sale.
Producers and feeders pay the live weight assessment of $.007 per pound, and the first handler assessment is $.42 per head. A first handler is the owner of the animal at the time of slaughter, such as a packer, processor or direct marketer.
Direct marketers are both the producer and the first handler and are responsible for paying both the weight and per-head assessment. Direct marketers are producers who maintain ownership of some or all of their lambs and sheep through production, feeding and harvest, and sell their products directly to consumers, retailers and/ or chefs. Direct marketers have their lambs or sheep custom-harvested at a local processor or butcher. In some cases, primarily for ethnic sales and holidays, direct marketers sell their lambs and sheep directly off the farm.
WHERE CAN I FIND ONLINE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAMB CHECKOFF? Go to LambBoard.com to find more details about how the checkoff works and to download monthly remittance forms.
The site also offers free promotional materials, reports, and resources, as well as information about educational events hosted by the ALB.
The American Lamb Board is also happy to answer your questions about the Lamb Checkoff, provide industry information, and help with local promotional resources. Call 303-759-3001 or send an email to info@ AmericanLamb.com.