The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service is seeking nominees for the American Lamb Board to succeed one producer with 101 to 500 lambs, one producer with more than 500 lambs, one feeder with 5,000 or more lambs, and one first handler, all with terms that expire in early 2025. Any U.S. producer, feeder or first handler who owns or purchases lambs may be considered for nomination. The Secretary of Agriculture will select individuals from the nominations submitted.
The American Sheep Industry Association is approved by USDA to submit nominations for these openings. Producers who are interested should complete the nomination form and return it to ASI Executive Director Peter Orwick at [email protected] by May 1.
Either the producer with 100 or less lambs or the producer with more than 500 lambs must be from Region I, east of the Mississippi River. The feeder with less than 5,000 lambs may be from either Region I or Region II, west of the Mississippi River.
Producers, feeders and first handlers must be nominated by certified nominating organizations and submit a completed application.
The 13-member board was established to maintain and expand the market for sheep and sheep products. A list of certified nominating organizations, the nomination form and information about the Lamb Board are available on the AMS American Lamb Board webpage and on the boards website, https://www.lambresourcecenter.com/. For more information, contact Barbara Josselyn at (202) 713-6918 or [email protected].
Since 1966, Congress has authorized the development of industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight of 22 boards, paid for by industry assessments, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
AMS policy is that diversity of the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect the diversity of their industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, marketing strategies, and other distinguishing factors, including but not limited to individuals from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Throughout the full nomination process, the industry must conduct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved communities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.
USDA/AMS requires two nominations for each open position.