Sheep News in Brief

• October 2014
  • President’s Notes
  • ASI Team Represents Industry in Nanjing
  • Belt Buckle Commemorates ASI’s 150th Anniversary
  • Colorado Youngster Constructs Lego Camp in Honor of Family Heritage
  • Commentary: Recent Headlines Are Example of Public’s Misunderstanding of Protection Dogs
  • Dan Wilson: The Best Lamb Marketer is Usually the Person Who Raised the Lamb
  • Grazing Allotments, Bighorns Take the Stage at Public Lands Council Meeting
  • Market Report
  • Nomination Deadline for Annual ASI Awards: Nov. 15
  • Opening Brief Focused on Forest Service Payette Errors
  • Sheep Budgets for 2014 Approved by Board
  • Sheep News in Brief
  • Working Together to Make Sheep Better

ASI, the Public Lands Council, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Association of National Grasslands, along with multiple state affiliate sheep, cattle and grassland associations, submitted comments regarding the Forest Service’s troubling proposed directive on groundwater resource management.  The core of the comments support the withdrawal of the Forest Service Groundwater Directive (FSM 2500) because the directive is fundamentally flawed, both legally and as a matter of policy.  The livestock organizations stated that many of the policies found in the directive were deeply concerning, as they would result in substantial harm to the ranching families across the west. Therefore, the livestock associations strongly urged the Forest Service to withdraw its proposed directive on groundwater management. 

Authority over the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center has been redesignated from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency to its Agricultural Marketing Service. A notice in the Federal Register also amended the regulations by increasing the administrative cap from 3 percent to 10 percent. USDA received no comments on the interim rule, therefore the September action was effective immediately. ASI secured the authority for the center in the last Farm Bill and nominated directors who were recently appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture.   “The next step in this process is for AMS to award the $1.5 million that was secured in the Farm Bill to NSIIC so grants can be made available for sheep industry projects,” said ASI Executive Director Peter Orwick.

Jeanne Carver, the Shaniko, Ore., sheep rancher who supplied wool to the Ralph Lauren-designed uniforms sported by U.S. athletes at the 2014 Olympic Games, is launching a new line of clothing and “ranch-to-runway” is her battle cry. Carver’s 35,000-acre Imperial Stock Ranch is launching the Imperial Collection by Anna Cohen, designed by the award-winning fashion designer. The collection launches Friday at Portland’s Mercantile. “Similar to the farm-to-fork ‘slow food’ movement that reconnects us to our food, we are starting a ranch-to-runway ‘slow wear’ movement that reconnects us to the source of the fibers we wear,” explained Carver. 

The American Meat Institute (AMI) and eight co-plaintiffs filed a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc (a request for all the court’s judges to hear the case) and a motion for miscellaneous relief with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as part of its appeal for a preliminary injunction to block implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) May 2013 final rule on country-of-origin labeling (COOL). The move follows the July 29 decision by the Appeals Court to reject the coalition’s appeal of the denial of its July 22, 2013, request for a preliminary injunction to block implementation of the USDA May 2013 final rule on COOL.