Livestock brand registration

A buyer of a ranch or cattle operation meets the brand as a registry entry that is separate from the herd, the land and the equipment. Section 10 of the Act says a brand transfer does not affect the ownership of livestock branded before the transfer was registered. This entry covers Alberta only; check the rules where the ranch is. See selling a farm business in Canada.

How a transfer works in Alberta

Under section 7 of the Livestock Identification and Commerce Act, the registered owner or the owner’s personal representative may apply to the Minister to transfer a brand. The Minister transfers it on an application accompanied by the prescribed fee and signed by all of the owners and all of the transferees (an agent who signs must submit proof of authority), and the transfer is not effective until the Minister registers it. Livestock Identification Services Ltd. says its Transfer of Brand by Owner form does not transfer the ownership of livestock and cannot be used to transfer the brand after the brand owner’s death.

What to check or ask

• Who the registry records as owner of each brand, since section 5 lets any person have the registry searched on payment of the prescribed fee.
• Whether every registered owner will sign the transfer application.
• Whether an owner has died: section 9 requires the personal representative to notify the Minister of the death at the earliest practicable time and, within two years of the death, to apply to transfer or surrender the brand; after that period the Minister may cancel the registration.
• Whether the purchase agreement names the brand as an asset of its own.