July 3 ASI Weekly

 

ASI Office Closed for Independence Day

The American Sheep Industry Association office will be closed Thursday, July 4, and Friday, July 5, for the Independence Day holiday. Normal office hours will resume on Monday, July 8.

 

France Hosting Golden Shears World Championship

For the first time since the competition began 42 years ago, France is hosting the Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing Championships this week.

Everything began for the village of Le Dorat in 2013, when the French Championships and the 6 Nations tournament were held in the village. Motivated by the success of this two-day event – with 150 competitors, 60 partner organizations and 1,800 sheep – the group of volunteers decided to take on a crazy challenge: to organize the world championships in Le Dorat in 2019.

In December 2015, and after two years of reflection, the Association pour le Mondial de Tonte de Moutons was created (World Sheep Shearing Championships Association). Its membership consisted of people from all professional horizons and all regions of France. From that point on, time was short. There was only one year to prepare a strong bid, including all the technical, financial and logistical elements.

The world championship means 5,000 sheep to locate, 300 sheep shearers and companions to accommodate, and 30,000 people to welcome and feed. In a country where sheep shearing is not well known – and even less as a sport – the team has an enormous task. Thirty-four countries from five continents will be represented this week as the competition runs from July 4 through July 7.

The United States will be represented in France by Alex Moser and Davin Perrin in machine shearing; Kevin Ford and Doug Rathke in blade shearing; and Leann Brimmer and Amelia Seifert in wool handling. Emily Chamelin-Hickman is serving as the team manager and Loren Opstedahl is the country’s representative to the world council. American participants in the competition were determined through points accumulated at shearing competitions around the United States the past two years, as well as by placing at the 2019 Black Hills Stock Show National Sheep Shearing Championship in January in Rapid City, S.D.

Click Here to watch live video of the competition.

Click Here for the event website.

 

Remember to Send Entries for the ASI Photo Contest

The deadline for the 2019 American Sheep Industry Association Photo Contest is less than a month away. All photos must be submitted by Aug. 1.

The five categories for the 2019 contest include: Action, Scenic (East), Scenic (West); Working Dogs and Open. Photos in the scenic categories should not include people, while photos in the working dog category should include both dogs and sheep.

Other contest rules:

• ASI can use or reproduce all entries at the discretion of ASI. In addition, entries will not be returned.
• ASI is not required to notify photographers when photos are used in materials.
• Photographs can be submitted via hard copy or electronically.
• All entries must be at least 3 inches by 5 inches, color or black-and-white, high-resolution photos (larger sizes encouraged).
• Entries must be submitted in the name of the person who took the photograph.
• Entries are limited to two per category per person.
• Only photographs that have been taken in the past six years can be entered.
• Photographs submitted in previous ASI photo contests cannot be re-entered.
• The following information needs to be included with each submission: title of photo; category (from the five listed above) into which it is being entered; photographer’s name; mailing address; phone number; email address; and approximate location/date of photo.
• If there is a particular story or background information that goes with the photo, please include that, as well, with the entry.

Entries should be emailed to kyle@sheepusa.org with the subject line of ASI Photo Contest. Those mailing photos should send them to ASI; Attn: Photo Contest; 9785 Maroon Circle, Suite 360; Englewood, CO 80112.

 

Discounts Offered for Final 2019 Lamb Jams

The American Lamb Board is offering discounts on both general admission and VIP tickets to the two remaining Lamb Jams in San Francisco and Denver.

General admission ticket buyers can save $10, while VIP ticket buyers can save $20 when ordering for San Francisco on July 21 or Denver on Aug. 25. But the discount is only good through July 4. To receive the general admission discount, enter JULY4 as your discount code. For VIP tickets, enter JULY4-VIP as your discount code when ordering.

Click Here for San Francisco tickets.

Click Here for Denver tickets. 

    Source: ALB

 

Rep. Stauber Makes Case for Wolf Delisting

In an opinion piece for the Brainerd (Minn.) Dispatch this week, Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber argued that states should be empowered to manage their own gray wolf populations.

“While nearly hunted to extinction in the early twentieth century, the gray wolf population is now thriving. In fact, a 2018 survey performed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources put Minnesota’s gray wolf population at 2,655 wolves, a 25 percent increase from 2017 and well above the state’s minimum goal of 1,600,” Stauber wrote.

“The Obama administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the gray wolf no longer warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act. In reference to the gray wolf’s successful recovery, President Obama’s appointee to lead the service, Director Dan Ashe stated, ‘an exhaustive review of the latest scientific information and taxonomic information shows that we have accomplished that goal.’

“Despite its evident recovery, the gray wolf remains listed thanks to an activist judge who lives on the East Coast, hundreds of miles away from gray wolf territory. This ruling means the gray wolf can only be killed if it threatens a human life, leaving Minnesota families and farmers with no legal option to protect their pets or livestock should they be attacked.”

“Moving the federal government out of the way and empowering our state agencies to responsibly manage our gray wolf populations is long overdue. I am confident the hardworking individuals at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources know more than Washington bureaucrats about tailoring a management plan that meets all of our state’s needs and circumstances.”

Stauber went on to thank Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt for choosing to host a public forum on the issue in Brainerd back on June 25. American Sheep Industry Association

Executive Board member John Dvorak of Minnesota provided formal comments in favor of delisting for the organization.

Click Here to read the full story. 

            Source: Brainerd Dispatch