Apply Now for NLFA Leadership School
The National Lamb Feeders Association is now accepting applications for this summer’s Howard Wyman Sheep Industry Leadership School, which will be conducted June 19-22 in Greeley, Colo.
The school kicks off on Sunday, June 19, with a meet and greet at the hotel in Greeley for school attendees to get acquainted before the busy week of touring and learning starts. Monday morning the school will travel to Brush, Colo., to tour the Colorado Lamb Processors facility followed by multiple feedlot tours including the Rule Feedlot in Brush as well as JJ Lamb Feedlot and Harper Livestock Lamb and Cattle Feedlot both located near Greeley. The day will end with a tour of the Eldon Mars Dairy and a lamb dinner at the Eaton County Country Club.
Tuesday will offer a classroom setting with presentations on marketing options for lambs, American Sheep Industry Association programs and plenty of time for group discussion on issues and challenges pertaining to marketing options. The school will wrap up on Wednesday morning and offer a time to ask questions to sheep industry leaders and school presenters.
The deadline to apply is April 29.
Click Here for the application.
Source: NLFA
SHF Scholarship Applications Due by May 31
A $3,000 college scholarship is available once again this year for graduate students from the American Sheep Industry Association’s Sheep Heritage Foundation.
Students should be working in an area of study that will lead to the advancement of the American sheep industry. Students pursing either a master’s degree or a doctorate at a university in the United States are eligible to apply. Application requirements include a complete application form and two letters of reference.
Click Here for the scholarship application.
U.S. Open to Canadian Sheep & Goats
As of this week, live-breeding sheep and goats are eligible for import into the United States from Canada.
Importers must provide supporting documentation showing the scrapie-free status of the Canadian flock of origin at the time an import permit application is submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Importers must also contact the United States port of entry at least 10 business days before the intended date of arrival. Post-entry requirements about traceback of imported animals and recordkeeping will apply. Click here for additional import and post-entry requirements on the USDA/APHIS Live Animal Imports website.
Producers can contact USDA/APHIS (Live Animal Imports and Exports) by phone at 301-801-3300, Option 2, or email [email protected] with any questions.
Source: USDA/APHIS
MSU Hosting Parasite Webinars & Workshop
The Michigan State University Small Ruminant Team is hosting a four-part online webinar series called Sustainable Management of Internal Parasites in Sheep and Goats in the Upper Midwest and Northeast USA. It will take place on Tuesday evenings from 7-9 p.m. eastern time on April 26, May 3, May 10 and May 17. The webinar will discuss which parasites are a problem in the Midwest/Northeast, risk factors for infection, grazing strategies to reduce parasite load, infection monitoring, effective drug treatments and farm specific control programs. All sessions will be recorded and available within two days after each live session.
In addition to the online sessions, there is an optional workshop on June 11 at the MSU Sheep Teaching and Research Center and the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, which will provide instruction on the FAMACHA parasite monitoring program and the practice of fecal egg counting. Participants will receive a FAMACHA anemia scoring card and training certificate. Workshop participants must attend live sessions or view the four-part webinar series recordings to attend the workshop.
Agenda for the virtual program:
- Session 1, April 26: Parasites of impact in sheep and goats, and basics of their lifecycles
- Session 2, May 3: Factors that determine risk of parasite infection and grazing management strategies to reduce exposure.
- Session 3, May 10: Control and infection monitoring approaches and methods to maintain refugia.
- Session 4, May 17: Putting it all together: developing a successful sustainable integrated parasite control program for your farm.
Cost for the webinar series is $25 per household. Cost for the workshop is an additional $15 per person to attend on June 11. There is a 58-participant limit, so please register early to reserve a spot.
Click Here to register for the webinars and the workshop.
Zoom links and program information will be sent to registered email addresses prior to the event. Please double check your email entered at registration. Registration closes at 11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 25. Please contact Mike Metzger at [email protected] or 517-788-4292 with questions.
Source: MSU
Senators Request Biden Fill Agricultural Trade Vacancies
U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Ranking Member John Boozman (Ark.) sent a letter to President Joe Biden this week urging him to nominate a candidate to serve as chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and a candidate to serve as under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The letter – which was also signed by Mike Crapo (Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance – highlights the need to enforce existing trade agreements, create foreign market access opportunities, and prevent unfair or anti-competitive trade practices. The letter also sites an increase in trade barriers against American agricultural products.
Click Here to read the letter.
Source: Cornerstone Government Affairs
DOI Releases Wildfire Risk Plan
This week, the Department of the Interior released a roadmap to address wildfire risk and prepare communities and ecosystems that could be impacted by wildfire through investments in forest restoration, hazardous fuels management and post-wildfire restoration.
Together, with USDA’s 10-Year Strategy, the DOI’s Five-Year Plan will inform the development of a joint USDA and DOI long-term, outcome-based monitoring, maintenance and treatment strategy focused on:
- Maintaining forest health improvements and wildfire risk reduction accomplishments.
- Continuing treatments at levels necessary to address the 20 million acres that need priority treatment.
- Proactively conducting treatments at a level necessary to minimize the risk of wildfire to surrounding at-risk communities.
“Wildland fire management simply isn’t possible without the interagency, all-hands approach made possible by multilevel partnerships across the country,” said Office of Wildland Fire Director Jeff Rupert. “With new funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bolster these efforts, we are able to better coordinate with stakeholders and partners to reduce wildfire risk to help save lives, businesses and communities.”
Click Here for more information.
Source: Cornerstone Government Affairs
Australian Market Records Overall Loss
The Australian wool market continued its downward path, recording an overall loss for the fourth consecutive series. The national offering was 42,737 bales, with only two selling days required.
The market opened solidly on the first day, with strong demand on good-style, low-vegetable matter wool helping to push all Merino fleece Micron Price Guides up by between 4 and 30 cents. Some selected pockets of the market recorded losses, which restricted the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator to a 4 cent rise. On the second day of selling, buyer sentiment eased off slightly, resulting in a noticeable softening in bidding intensity. By the end of the day, the Merino fleece MPGs had dropped by between 5 and 27 cents with only the 17.5 micron MPG in the South posting an increase of 4 cents. The EMI fell by 10 cents for the day. The EMI closed the week at 1,369 Australian cents, an overall drop of 6 cents for the series. But the market showed a slight increase in U.S. dollars due to currency movement.
Heavy rains across some parts of the country have resulted in an increase in the amount of unscourable color and water color appearing. This is best highlighted by studying the amount of color in the pieces and bellies this week, as this is where the majority of the color ends up when the fleeces are skirted. In the Eastern regions, more than 46 percent of the skirting offering contained an AWEX-ID color qualify of H1, H2, H3 or a water color qualifier of N1, N2 or N3. This was the highest figure in more than 10 years. This 46 percent was driven by the Northern region, where this figure was nearly 76 percent.
Next week is the final sale before the one-week Easter recess. Due to the Good Friday Public Holiday, all centers are restricted to two selling days – Tuesday and Wednesday – and 48,413 bales are currently expected to be offered.
Source: AWEX
Wyoming Shearer Shares Knowledge
Guy Edwards cradled the sheep’s head between his arms on the wooden platform as he ran the clippers under its chin. When the sheep kicked, Edwards stilled it with his legs and continued shearing under the bright spotlight in the otherwise dim barn as a row of teens looked on.
It’s physical work and tomorrow, Edwards will be sore. Today, however, he’s in his element as the clippers hum on either side of him and the sheep bleat their chorus of discontent as they wait in line in the chute behind him.
A few clipper strokes later and Edwards pushed the fully intact fleece into a basket as the pink-skinned sheep jumped to its feet, scrambling off the platform into the dirt pen where it looked briefly over its shoulder as if wondering what the heck just happened before wandering off to join the others in the corral.
Saturday morning was day two for 25 teenage students from around the state and Montana who signed up to attend a sheep shearing school hosted by Edwards on his family’s ranch in south Campbell County. The Edwards family has a flock of more than 250 sheep, including South African Meat Merino (SAMM), Rambouillets and a hodgepodge of mixed breeds.
Edwards, now 40, took his first shearing class – taught by one of his neighbors – at about the age of 14. Right out of high school, he joined a seven-man crew and traveled the country shearing, as well as taking part in a three-month trip to England.
Shearing is hard work and a lot of time and practice are needed to get good at it, Edwards said.
Despite its laborious nature, he loves the work.
Click Here to read the full story.
Source: Cowboy State Daily
Club & Resort Chefs Learn About American Lamb
The American Lamb Board sponsored the Club + Resort Chef to Chef Conference in Nashville on March 20-22 to educate and inspire club and resort chefs about the diverse uses of American lamb.
“Club and resort chefs are a segment of the foodservice industry who use large amounts of lamb,” said Megan Wortman, ALB executive director. “This conference enables us to encourage chefs to use American lamb and to inspire them with diverse uses to feature lamb on their menus.”
ALB sponsored an American lamb butchery demonstration in advance of the conference. Approximately 50 chefs attended the demonstration where Chef Loreal Gavin – author of The Butcher Babe – fabricated a split carcass of American lamb. The split carcass and some of the lamb used at the conference came from Freedom Run Farm. Owner/shepherdess Valerie Samutin attended the demonstration to provide insight about her Kentucky-based lamb business.
Lamb was featured at receptions and meals throughout the conference, including lamb meatballs at the opening night gathering. American lamb from the butchery demo was braised and served with mint chutney. A luncheon ramen bowl with lamb was also served.
ALB staff distributed American lamb information and strengthened relationships with the food service professionals. Lamb with Cider and Fennel Salami slices were sampled at ALB’s exhibit.
Source: ALB