Sheep Industry News April 2024

ASI Seeking Nominations for ALB, NSIIC

T he U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service is seeking nominees for both the American Lamb Board and the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center. ASI is a certified nominating organization for both ALB and NSIIC and is now accepting nominations from those interested in filling these roles. All nomination forms must be submitted to ASI Executive Director Peter Orwick by May 1. Forms can be emailed to peter@sheepusa.org. The ASI Executive Board will then choose a slate of nominees to forward to USDA for consider ation. USDA requires at least two nominees for each position. For ALB, USDA/AMS is seeking nominees 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. 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 Mis sissippi River. These positions are currently filled by Jimmy Parker of Alabama, David Fisher of Texas, Steve Schreier of Minnesota and Andrew Allman of Colorado. Each are eligible for reappointment. The 13-member board was established to maintain and ex pand the market for sheep and sheep products with industry funding via the American Lamb checkoff. ASI coordinated sheep industry development and support of the checkoff with implementation in 2002 and two nationally approved refer endums in the ensuring years. Visit SheepUSA.org/resources-albnominations to learn more.

NSIIC OPENINGS USDA/AMS is seeking nominees for one producer posi tion and one expert in finance and management to serve three-year terms on the NSIIC Board of Directors. The positions are currently filled by Leo Tammi of Virginia and Burton Pfliger of North Dakota, both of whom are not eligible for reappointment after serving consecutive three year terms. The center’s board of directors is comprised of seven vot ing members and two non-voting members. Voting members include four active U.S. sheep producers, two members with expertise in finance and management and one member with expertise in lamb or wool product marketing. The National Sheep Industry Improvement Center was established – at the request of ASI – as part of the 2008 Farm Bill and administers a grant program designed to improve the competitiveness of the American sheep industry by strengthening and enhancing the production and marketing of sheep and sheep products. Visit SheepUSA.org/resources-nsiicnominations for more information on the NSIIC openings. 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 individu als from historically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives and ideas to the table. Through out 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.

22 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org