ASI Members Address Issues with Agency & Legislative Leaders
The American Sheep Industry Association conducted its annual Spring Trip to Washington, D.C., this week as approximately 50 sheep producers from all over the country traveled to the nation’s capital to advocate for the industry’s priorities.
Attendees met with key officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Labor and the Office of the Trade Representative to discuss critical issues facing American sheep producers. Conversations centered around near-term tariff and trade announcements from the Trump Administration, the importance of risk management for sheep producers in passing a new Farm Bill and the sheep specific requests for changes to the H-2A program.
Following the agency meetings, attendees visited individually with members of their respective state Congressional delegations, focusing conversations on many of those same issues, as well as animal health, the important role Wildlife Services plays for producers, and the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station.
On Tuesday evening, ASI hosted its esteemed lamb BBQ on the roof of Cornerstone Government Affair’s office. This event was highly attended by ASI members and congressional staff. It was a great opportunity to make connections and further the industry’s priorities while showing off the great taste of American lamb.
ASI Leads Support Letter for WS
Approximately 230 organizations have signed on to the American Sheep Industry Association’s annual letter of support for Wildlife Services, which was shared with appropriations leaders in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on Monday. Signers of the letter include trade groups representing farmers, ranchers, airports, pilots, conservationists and sportsmen.
While the American sheep industry counts on Wildlife Services to play an essential role in protecting the nation’s flock, the agency is just as essential when it comes to protecting human life and American crops. For instance, bird strikes endanger civilian and military aircraft daily, but Wildlife Services has worked to mitigate this issue and improve travel safety in the process.
“Wildlife causes more than $12.8 billion in damage each year to natural resources, public infrastructures, private property, and agriculture. USDA Wildlife Services works to prevent, minimize, or manage this damage and to protect human health & safety from conflicts with wildlife. Wildlife damage to U.S. livestock, aquaculture, small grains, fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products has been estimated to reach nearly $1 billion annually. Wildlife predators cause more than $232 million in death loss to livestock; field crop losses due to wildlife total $619 million annually; losses to vegetables, fruits and nuts total $146 million annually; and 70 percent of catfish farmers incur wildlife-related damage. The annual industry-wide value of lost catfish sales revenue to cormorants averages $47.2 million, ranging from $25.8 million to $65.4 million, depending upon predation levels in any given year. As a result, WS is an essential program to U.S. agriculture.
“WS assists farmers and ranchers in 50 states and three territories to reduce the impact of predators on their animals, protecting 8.9 million head of cattle, 5.1 million head of sheep and 56 million head of other livestock in 334,000 direct control actions. In FY23, WS provided more than 20,800 technical assistance activities that enabled 6,061 livestock producers to implement improved husbandry and methods such as use of guard animals, exclusion, fencing and predator dispersal. These activities included 53 predator management workshops attended by more than 2,700 individuals from 14 states, dispersal of 277,335 double-crested cormorants, and removal of 2,521 cormorants at aquaculture facilities in 15 states to protect farmed fish from avian depredation. The industry is worth $1.5 billion nationally (per National Marine Fisheries Service).
“WS supported USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Services’ emergency response efforts to animal diseases, natural disasters and hazardous spills. In FY23, WS deployed 102 personnel on 172 deployments for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever. WS personnel have physically deployed to assist 12 states in response to HPAI. WS responded to the ASF detection on the island of Hispaniola and since detection in July 2021, have removed a total of 4,921 feral swine and have sampled 3,042 for ASF on Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands through FY23. The National Wildlife Disease Program also coordinated sample collection and evaluation or assisted state agencies with many other diseases in wildlife to include SARS-CoV-2, plague, tularemia, leptospirosis, rabies, chronic wasting disease and rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus.”
Click Here to read the full Senate letter.
Click Here to read the full House letter.
West Virginia Awarded Fiber Grant
Wool is a highly functional fiber, but despite this, most of the wool and textile industry has left the country due to lack of infrastructure, limiting farmers’ profits from wool production. With the help of a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, West Virginia University researchers are exploring new ways to support sheep farmers and fiber producers in the region.
A partnership between WVU Extension, the Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the College of Creative Arts and Media has been awarded a three-year, $200,000 grant to explore new market opportunities for agricultural products and create a profitable wool market.
“Many breeds of wool sheep have short staple length fiber in their fleece. Once the sheep is sheared, we have a wool fleece as the raw product that is sold, typically in bulk quantities. Unfortunately, right now, the wool has a low monetary value, for a variety of reasons,” said WVU Extension Small Farm Center Program Coordinator Lisa Jones. “Wool is being discarded as ‘waste wool’ due to the necessary infrastructure not being available and low national wholesale market value. By focusing on waste wool and value creation, this grant seeks to find value for the wool, so it is not thrown away or an expense for a farmer.”
Due to the lack of local options, some farmers send their wool out of state to be processed, which can take several months, and farmers receive very little compensation in return, making it not worth the time or effort to ship it. This grant will identify infrastructure needed for processing and distribution, allowing farmers to profit from their wool production in West Virginia by turning the processed wool into a retail item. The first phase of the grant will be to conduct a feasibility analysis and research the wool supply chain and its complexity.
“We are researching and taking a systems approach to understand the wool production system to integrate environmental, economic and social aspects to drive sustainable practices to enhance product quality and maximize efficiency,” said Jordon Masters, research assistant with the Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “Research is being done to determine an appropriate price point for farmers’ return on investment, create new wool products and more to add value to the wool.”
During the outreach phase of the grant, WVU Extension agents will be heavily involved in training farmers, given their existing connections to the community. Other extension and Davis College faculty and staff also will train local farmers.
Click Here to read the full story.
Source: WVU Extension
Iowa State to Host Lambing Workshop
The Iowa State University Sheep Teaching Farm and ISU Extension and Outreach will host a one-day, in-person workshop tailored for sheep producers seeking to enhance their expertise and understanding of the lambing process and the essential care required for ewes and their lambs. The workshop is scheduled for April 12 at the ISU Sheep Teaching Farm in Ames, Iowa.
Participants will have the unique chance to observe, discuss and engage in practical activities with spring lambing ewes and their offspring. Topics on the agenda include: biosecurity, nutrition and health. Afternoon sessions will include rotations through five stations: lambing observations, lambing simulator, lamb processing, record keeping and bottle lambs.
Click Here to learn more.
Source: ISU Extension
Lamb Sales Highlighted at Meat Conference
The American Lamb Board recently attended the 2025 Annual Meat Conference. Sponsored by FMI and the Meat Institute, this educational event brings together all segments of the retail meat industry to learn how to improve meat and poultry marketing, operations and profitability.
The 2025 Power of Meat Study – conducted by 210 Analytics – was released at the conference. The study highlights shopper insights and behavior trends related to shopping, preparing and consuming meat. The study showed overwhelmingly positive results for the meat industry as a whole and for lamb, in particular.
In 2024, dollar sales and volume sales of meat and poultry experienced growth. The average annual expenditure per U.S. household on meat and poultry reached $871, with 98 percent of households purchasing these products.
One exceptionally bright spot for lamb was the growth in fresh meat sales. Fresh meat had a remarkable year, with sales exceeding $73 billion, reflecting a 6.7-percent increase from 2023. When presenting these findings in the fresh meat category, Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 201 Analytics, emphasized that lamb sales were noteworthy.
“You see that fresh meat had a tremendous year led by beef, but really all proteins within fresh meat had gains in pounds,” she said. “Look at lamb, for instance. My guess is that over the next year, we’ll see lamb become a billion-dollar category.”
The study also found that in 2024, there continued to be a multi-year shift toward more Americans cooking at home as they dined out less. However, many consumers in the study indicated a desire to create more premium restaurant-style meals at home, which is another bright spot for both lamb and the work being done by the American Lamb Board.
The study found that 87 percent of consumers are interested in recipes and tips for making premium, restaurant-quality meals with indulgent, involved cuts at home. At the same time, 27 percent of consumers are willing to spend a bit more on meat and poultry when replacing a restaurant meal. In both cases, American lamb is a great option.
Another bright spot for lamb – according to the study – is that while many consumers have favorite cuts and types of meat, 58 percent are open to trying new options. One of the most significant barriers to trying new meats was a lack of confidence in preparing them. Fortunately, ALB has spent years developing programs and partnerships to help consumers more confidently prepare American lamb in their kitchen and is well poised to help consumers add American lamb to their at-home menus.
“ALB’s long-term partnerships with Lambassadors and more recent sponsorships with online cooking schools like Homemade are exactly what many of these consumers are looking for as they prepare new cuts of meat at home,” said ALB Chairman Jeff Ebert. “So many of the partnerships and programs ALB has been working to develop are exactly what today’s consumers are looking for when shopping for new meat cuts.”
Source: ALB
Legislative Update from Washington, D.C.
The American Sheep Industry Association’s lobbying firm – Cornerstone Government Affairs – offered an update this week on legislative issues in our nation’s capital.
USDA Announces FPAC Appointments
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced several new presidential appointments for key roles within the Farm Production and Conservation mission area. Agencies housed under FPAC include the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Risk Management Agency.
Brooke Appleton was appointed to serve as deputy under secretary for FPAC. Before this role, she served as the vice president of public policy at the National Corn Growers Association and worked at USDA under the first Trump Administration as chief of staff to the deputy secretary.
Andrew Fisher will serve as chief of staff for FPAC. Most recently, he worked on the Hill for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as a legislative assistant covering the agriculture portfolio. Aubrey Bettencourt was appointed as NRCS chief. Before this role, she was serving as the global director of government affairs and external affairs for Netafim and previously held the role of deputy assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of the Interior under the first Trump Administration.
Bill Beam was tapped in to be the next FSA administrator. Beam owns and operates Beam Farms Inc., where he farms corn, soybeans and wheat. He previously served in the first Trump Administration as deputy administrator of farm programs for FSA. Pat Swanson will serve as the next RMA administrator. Most recently, she was a director for the American Soybean Association and completed her term on the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Board.
Lastly, Colton Buckley was appointed chief of staff for NRCS. Before this role, he served as the chief executive officer of the National Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils.
Australian Wool Market Hot Streak Ends
The Australian wool market was unable to maintain its upward run, falling for the first selling series since Week 34 (Feb. 19). The national offering was 39,048 bales.
The season-to-date offering continues to track well below the previous season, but the difference is not as large as at the start of the year. There have been 192,208 fewer bales offered through auction this season, a reduction of 13.9 percent. After the first wool sale in January, this reduction was 19.3 percent.
On the first day of selling, the benchmark AWEX Eastern Market Indicator added a single cent, climbing to 1,251 cents. This pushed the run of daily EMI increases up to 11 and was the longest run of EMI rises since 2011, when the EMI rose 15 times between May and June. Across the current run of rises, the EMI rose by 71 cents for an increase of 6 percent.
This week was heavily influenced by currency. When viewed in U.S. dollar terms, the EMI fell by 8 cents on the first day. This was the largest daily fall in USD since October of last year, when the EMI dropped by 13 U.S. cents.
On the final day of selling, the upward run of the EMI ended after losses were recorded across all three selling centers. The heaviest falls were recorded in the Merino fleece types 20 micron and finer. This was reflected in the individual Micron Price Guides in this range, which fell by between 2 and 37 cents. These falls combined with mixed results in the other sectors resulted in a 6-cent drop in the EMI. The EMI closed the week 5 cents lower at 1,245 Australian cents. When viewed in USD terms, the fall was larger as the EMI closed the series at 786 U.S. cents for a weekly fall of 10 U.S. cents.
Next week there are currently 41,492 bales on offer nationally.
Click Here for the ASI Conversion Chart – AWEX Prices to USD Per Pound.
Source: AWEX
State of the U.S. Textile Industry Address
National Council of Textile Organizations Chairman Charles Heilig delivered the State of the Textile Industry overview at NCTO’s 21st Annual Meeting on Thursday. The American Sheep Industry Association is a member of NCTO, and ASI staff attended the NCTO Government Textile Committee meeting – featuring reports from various military personnel – focused on the supply of textiles to the United States military.
Heilig’s speech outlined (1) the U.S. textile industry’s major achievements and challenges, (2) U.S. textile supply chain, economic, trade data, and (3) NCTO’s policy priorities for domestic textile manufacturers.
“Our industry’s resilience and innovation is unparalleled and strong, despite economic and trade headwinds that have impacted our sector and our customers,” Heilig noted in the speech.
“The breadth of challenges we face every day is astonishing – economic downturns, predatory trade practices, such as the use of forced labor in supply chains, ill-conceived trade policies, inadequate customs enforcement of trade fraud, post-pandemic inventory related issues, freight and logistics challenges, and race-to-the-bottom business models that – all combined – are suppressing growth and investment, leading to a persistent and severe downturn in business,” he adds. “Despite the economic downturn and unfair trade practices impacting the industry in 2024, our metrics remained stable or registered only slight declines, with the exception of employment in the cotton and wool sectors. This again underscores the industry’s ability to adapt during challenging times and remain viable even while registering painful losses.”
However, it’s worth noting that detailed employment data for the cotton and wool sectors is currently unavailable.
A link to his full remarks as prepared for delivery are included here along with a link to a data infographic prepared by NCTO illustrating the current economic status of the U.S. textile industry. Heilig is president of Parkdale Mills, based in Gastonia, N.C., a leading American manufacturer of yarn and cotton consumer products.
NCTO’s annual meeting was held March this week at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Source: NCTO
Sheep Found with Bird Flu in United Kingdom
The world’s first case of bird flu in sheep has been found in the United Kingdom, the nation’s chief veterinary officer confirmed earlier this week. The exact location of the farm has not been revealed, but a government spokesperson said the case was identified on a site in Yorkshire, where bird flu had been confirmed in captive birds.
The spokesperson said the single infected sheep had been humanely culled and no further cases among the flock were found after extensive testing.
“There is no evidence to suggest an increased risk to the nation’s livestock population,” they added.
Click Here to read the full story.
Source: BBC