Sheep Industry News January 2023

USDA Announces Plans for Section 32 Lamb Purchase

T he U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in late November 2022 plans for a Section 32 purchase of American lamb products for distribution to various food nutrition assistance programs, as requested by ASI and the National Lamb Feeders Association earlier this year. Support for the purchase also came from congressional del egations from several Western states in recent months. “We made the initial request with NLFA in the spring because we saw the supply issues starting to occur,” said ASI Executive Director Peter Orwick. “We’ve since had numer ous meetings with USDA and lamb companies in support of a purchase.” USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service issued a pre-solic itation notice with “the purpose to encourage the continued domestic consumption of these products by diverting them from the normal channels of trade and commerce.” The notice said lamb leg roasts, diced lamb, lamb shoulder chops and lamb loin chops might all be included in the forth COMPLETELY UPDATED Sheep Production Handbook Fully Searchable USB

coming solicitation. “Solicitations will be issued in the near future and will be available via a Request for Quote,” read the pre-solicitation notice. “To request that your entity receive a copy of the RFQ, please email hilary.cole@usda.gov. All contract activity will be available via WBSCM. 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 on the Agricultural Marketing Service's website. Interested parties shall be responsible for ensuring that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. The con tract type is anticipated to be FOB Origin, firm-fixed price.” Orwick said the meat purchase is basically adding a new customer for American lamb in the coming months and ought to help strengthen demand. As a volunteer trade association, ASI is very limited in ways to impact lamb prices outside of this USDA tool. ASI Adds Items To Online Shop N eed a sheep calendar for the new year? How about a bum per sticker to show your support for American wool? Or maybe some industry-related reading material? You can find all of this and more available for purchase at ASI's online store.

Volume 8 Features New Chapter on Lamb Quality Updated Material in Every Chapter, including:

Several items were added to the shop at SheepUSA.org in recent months, including an updated Shearing Guide for prospective shearers priced at $35 per copy. For those who prefer digital

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versions of resource materials – instead of a hard copy – there’s the option to purchase the Shearing Guide and Videos on a USB flash drive for $20. Also available is a USB flash drive of Wool Handling Videos for $20. These new products are available in addition to a variety of other products that include an American wool baseball cap, bumper stickers, a shearing pattern poster and other assorted products. Go to SheepUSA.org/shop to get started. 2023 ASI calendar.indd 1

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22 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org