Councils Prepare to Meet In Arizona

January 6, 2006 -- An important part of the American Sheep Industry Association?s (ASI) annual meeting being held in Mesa, Ariz., from January 26-29, is the inclusion of the council and committee meetings. Each council and committee is comprised of volunteer leaders appointed to work on area-specific issues throughout the year.

Friday, Jan. 27, is the primary opportunity for all of the councils and committees to meet and discuss the status of industry programs and projects, hear updates to issues being addressed and visit with key subject-mater experts.

• Wool Council conducts a round table of industry officials discussing the state of the wool industry and future initiatives, which includes the continued relationship with the U.S. military.
• Legislative Action Council will meet with congressional staff on issues from mandatory price reporting legislation to the upcoming Farm Bill.
• Resource Management Council, along with its Predator Management and Public Lands Committees, will be discussing prescribed-grazing opportunities as well as water-rights issues.
• Producer Education and Research Council (PERC) and the Animal Health Committee will meet with federal officials and state veterinarians on animal-disease efforts, in addition to scrapie eradication.
• Lamb Council will review market conditions.

Additionally, each meeting sets aside a block of time to review expiring policies and consider any new policies of the association. Recommendations are made to the board of directors on each policy. The full board then considers and votes on them during the business meeting on Saturday.

Sheep producers interested in becoming a member of any of the ASI councils or committees are encouraged to contact their state association for nomination. The ASI president will appoint members in February for service in 2006.