Sheep Industry News December 2022

California Producer Discusses AWA Certification Process

I f you've been thinking about getting your flock certified through ASI's American Wool Assurance program, California producer Ryan Mahoney can provide some insight. His family's Emigh Livestock became the first privately-owned flock to reach Level III – Certified status this fall. Following in the footsteps of the University of Wyoming flock, Emigh Livestock can now provide buyers of its American wool with piece of mind from reaching the highest level of a national certifica tion program that addresses every aspect of the flock from sheep health to shearing. "It was a very good exercise," said Mahoney on an episode of Sheep Stuff Ewe Should Know , the podcast he hosts with Dan Macon and Dr. Rosie Busch. "It wasn't bad at all. They were patient with us and it worked really well. I definitely encourage people to check out the program, because it is very important to have that animal hus bandry certification or third-party verification nowadays." Wool processors and customers are increasingly looking for a cer tification stamp to show that sheep were raised with good care. This desire for certification is not just happening in the United States, but across the globe and with all livestock species. And although virtu ally all domestic sheep operations provide exceptional care to their sheep, the AWA program provides an avenue to show that. The program offers four levels of certification that start with a simple online education course. Once that's completed, producers can move on to Level II – Process Verified. That level requires an evaluation by one of two dozen ASI-trained evaluators that include

extension educators and others familiar with the American sheep industry. From there, producers need to complete a full, third-party audit to join Mahoney's ranch as a Level III – Certified operation. The program also offers a Ranch Group certification for multiple operations marketing together under one brand. "It's the realities of the marketing world we live in now. We have to have stuff like this," Mahoney said. "It's good to pursue. Don't be afraid to share any concerns. This is very early in its infancy, and there's always opportunities to improve these things as we go forward." In the case of Emigh Livestock, there weren't any major opera tional changes to reach Level III certification. The biggest chal lenge was simply documenting how the sheep are handled to meet program standards. "Most of this is what we already do," Mahoney said. "We didn’t change anything substantially on our ranch to comply with the stan dard. We just documented it a little better." ASI's Sheep Care Guide and a variety of resources on the AWA website at AmericanWoolAssurance.org can serve as a blueprint or template for developing a ranch's standard operating procedures. "It’s intimidating as heck when you first sit down with them and they say, 'Where are your standard operating procedures for every thing you do on the ranch?'" Mahoney said. "I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow. But the point is, the tiered approach is there. You start with online training, and then you get to go and visit with Dr. Rosie Busch (or some other evaluator) and that’s super easy.

Then you get to the auditors, where you sit down and they say, 'Give me your SOPs.' It kind of eases you into it." ASI chose CloverLeaf Animal Welfare Systems as the official auditing firm for the AWA program. The com pany is familiar with agriculture in general, and wants to work with producers in the auditing process. "What I want producers to know about us is that we are everyday folks with ag backgrounds and down-to earth values," CloverLeaf President Jason McAlister said. "We are not a corporate auditing firm with hundreds of auditors. I hire and train every CloverLeaf auditor to be respectful of your time, your process and you as a per son, and producers are encouraged to call me personally with any questions." There's no doubt documenting a farm or ranch's daily operations will be the most challenging aspect of certifi See AWA CERTIFICATION on Page 25

California rancher Ryan Mahoney checks out his Emigh Livestock flock with third-party evalua tors Erika Voogd and Lauren Davis during his AWA certification audit.

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