USDA AMS Announces Trade Mitigation Lamb Purchase
On July 25, 2019, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced details of additional actions the U.S. Department of Agriculture would take to support American agricultural producers while continued efforts on free, fair and reciprocal trade deals take place. As part of those actions, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service announced up to $17 million of food purchases in American lamb under the authority of Section 5 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act for distribution to various food nutrition assistance programs.
A pre-solicitation notice issued Feb. 18 announced a near-term opportunity for a solicitation of lamb products to be procured as to include, but not limited to, lamb shanks. A delivery period is suggested as May through September.
Solicitations will be issued soon and will be available electronically through the Web-Based Supply Chain Management system. Public WBSCM information is available without an account on the WBSCM Public Procurement Page. All future information regarding this acquisition, including solicitation amendments and award notices, will be published through WBSCM, and on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s website at www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food. Interested parties shall be responsible for ensuring that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. The contract type is anticipated to be firm-fixed price. Deliveries are expected to be to various locations in the United States on an FOB destination basis.
Pursuant to Agricultural Acquisition Regulation 470.103(b), commodities and the products of agricultural commodities acquired under this contract must be a product of the United States, and shall be considered to be such a product if it is grown, processed and otherwise prepared for sale or distribution exclusively in the United States. Packaging and container components under this acquisition will be the only portion subject to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements, as addressed by FAR clause 52.225-5.
To be eligible to submit offers, potential contractors must meet the AMS vendor qualification requirements. The AMS point of contact for new vendors may be reached via email at NewVendor@usda.gov. Details of these requirements are available online at: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/becoming-approved.
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Source: USDA/AMS
Johnson Hired as MWGA Executive Secretary
The Montana Wool Growers Association announced this week the hiring of Leah Johnson as the association’s new executive secretary.
Johnson grew up in Eastern Montana, near Opheim. When she was 8 years old, she raised her first bum lamb and discovered an interest in sheep. After high school, her passion for animals and agriculture lead her to earn degrees in veterinary technology and animal science.
A proud graduate of Montana State University, she met her husband, Kevin, on the college campus. They now live near Highwood, Mont., where they farm and run a commercial cow operation with his family. Johnson has a small flock of Targhee ewes, sells butcher lambs and is also coordinator for the Young Ag Leadership Conference.
Aside from work, you’ll find her doing DIY projects, traveling, gardening, volunteering and rocking friends’ babies. Her dream has been to find a career in the sheep industry, and she is grateful for the opportunity to serve the MWGA.
Source: MWGA
Deadlines Approaching to Apply for ALB Programs
The American Lamb Board is soliciting applications for two ALB-sponsored programs: the Young Guns Leadership Program and the Local Lamb Funding Program.
ALB is seeking candidates to represent the United States in the Young Guns Leadership Program held in conjunction with 2020 LambEx in Melbourne, Australia. From the applications – which are due Feb. 28 – three candidates between the ages of 22 and 40 will be selected to attend the program, which showcases the latest innovations from on-farm productivity to product quality. LambEx is Australia’s premier educational forum that features outstanding speakers and opportunities to network with all sectors of the lamb value chain.
Applicants must complete the written application no later than Feb. 28. The application is available at https://americanlamb.wufoo.com/forms/w1q62tlm0ppa6dm/.
ALB is also soliciting applications from industry partners interested in promoting American lamb in their local markets through the Local Lamb Funding Program. The program is intended to fund events and promotions that educate consumers about the benefits and great taste of American lamb. Examples include cooking workshops, farm or ranch tours, sampling at farmer’s markets, grocery stores or local events, and other educational demonstrations.
Applications are available at www.lambresourcecenter.com and must be submitted by March 31. For questions and more information about either program contact the ALB office at info@americanlamb.com or 303-759-3001.
Source: ALB
Australian Wool Market Posts Modest Gains
The Australian wool market managed to record positive movement this week, as concerns about global health disruptions were largely alleviated.
Many exporters were concerned one possible effect of the coronavirus would be the inability of overseas customers being able to open letters of credit, due to bank staff being unable to attend work. These concerns were unfounded, however, as the letters of credit started flowing through, and opened the way for exports to be shipped. Buying confidence increased once exporters confirmed that it was “business as usual.”
This stronger buyer sentiment resulted in spirited competition in auction rooms across the country. Melbourne opened proceedings on Tuesday with a stand-alone offering of New Zealand stored wool. As these wools are not included in the make-up of the individual Micron Price Guides, the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator remained unchanged for the day.
Sydney and Fremantle joined Melbourne on the second selling day, as the offering returned to Australian grown and stored wool. Main buyer focus continued to be on the better-style wools, particularly those with favorable additional measurement results. Strong demand on these types pushed prices up by 40 to 100 cents during the series. Lesser-style, lower-yielding wools and those with poor additional results did not attract the same support and lost ground as the series progressed.
The gains in the better wools, outweighed the losses in the poorer wools, resulting in overall increases in the MPGs across the country of between 6 and 74 cents. The Western region – selling last – posted the largest gains due to the continually rising market. On the back of these rises, the EMI gained 13 cents for the series and closed the week at 1,581 Australian cents. Next week’s national quantity increases, currently there are 44,091 bales on offer.
Source: AWEX
Video of the Week
This episode of Material of Miracles from the American Wool Council explains why wool is the fashion world’s first choice for the way it drapes fits and flows.
Learn more about wool and style at: www.americanwool.org/wool-style.
Click Here to watch the video.