Sheep Industry News November 2021

ity – Mountain States Rosen – owned by the Mountain States Lamb Cooperative. The loss of this lamb packer at the height of what is tradi tionally the lamb industry’s busiest marketing season – the Easter/Passover holiday – exposed serious deficiencies in the industry’s supply chain, namely the lack of adequate packing and fabrication capacity in the event of a market disruption. The American sheep industry appreciates the current efforts by Congress and the administration to look at investments and opportunities for meat and poultry processing infrastruc ture, and building resilient supply chains. The sheep industry continues to experience gaps in sufficient processing capacity across the country, particularly in the upper Midwest and East ern regions of the nation, where lamb producers have shown growth in flock size and demand for lamb has expanded for local and non-traditional consumer markets. Sheep producers in these regions frequently comment that they are only offered one date – usually a year in advance – to get their lambs processed. If they miss that date or find them selves short or long of their anticipated head count, they have few – if any – viable alternatives available. Relatively modest investments – especially through grants or federally backed loans – to increase processing in areas of the nation where we have both supply and consumer demand could have a huge impact on the future of this industry. This is not only an issue of packing capacity in these regions,

but also the hurdle of interstate shipment due to the lack of federally inspected facilities. Additionally, as in all of agricul ture, access to skilled labor remains a tremendous challenge for our packing infrastructure. ASI supports efforts to look at additional flexibilities that allow small and regional processing facilities to engage in interstate commerce, without negatively impacting our vital food safety system. TRADE The lamb market in the United States is heavily influenced by imported lamb – particularly from Australia and New Zea land – which make up over 50 percent of total lamb sales. The American Sheep Industry Association in response has asked successive administrations to prioritize lamb export opportu nities for United States producers before allowing additional imports. Our industry still cannot access potentially lucrative mar kets like China, the European Union and the United Kingdom. This despite an announcement last month that the United States would begin allowing imported lamb from the United Kingdom. The domestic industry’s ability to withstand addi tional import pressure at this challenging time, and the United Kingdom’s tremendous potential for significant lamb exports in the wake of their departure from the European Union are a looming concern for United States lamb producers. A cautious and deliberative approach is necessary to ensure that while

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