ASI WEEKLY NEWS FOR SHEEP INDUSTRY LEADERS

ASI WEEKLY NEWS FOR SHEEP INDUSTRY LEADERS ________________________________________ American Sheep Industry Association; 9785 Maroon Circle, Suite 360; Englewood, CO 80112-2692 Phone: (303) 771-3500 Fax: (303) 771-8200 Writer/Editor: Judy Malone E-mail: judym@sheepusa.org Web site: http://www.sheepusa.org ASI is an equal opportunity provider and employer. ________________________________________ Future Dates • Oct. 30-31 - Washington State Convention - www.wssp.org • Nov. 2 - Nonlethal Methods for Predatory Management - Conrad, Mont. - www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/pdfs/nepa/MT%20flyer%20conrad%20REV%2009_28_15.pdf • Nov. 5-7 - West Central States Wool Growers Convention (Utah, Idaho, Wyo. and Nev.) - Park City, Utah - www.idahowool.org • Nov. 5-7 - 21st Dairy Sheep Association of North America Symposium - Madison, Wis. - http://fyi.uwex.edu/wisheepandgoat or 608-263-4306 • Nov. 15 - Let's Grow Application Deadline - www.sheepusa.org/Growourflock_Funding_Application • Nov. 16 - ASI Awards Nominations Due - www.sheepusa.org/About_Awards • Nov. 21-23 - North Dakota Shearing School - Hettinger Fairgrounds - www.ag.ndsu.edu/HettingerREC/sheep-shearing-school • Nov. 21-23 - North Dakota Certified Wool Classing School - Hettinger Armory - www.ag.ndsu.edu/HettingerREC/sheep-shearing-school • Dec. 3-5 - Oregon Sheep Growers Association Annual Convention and Pacific Northwest Lamb and Wool Symposium - Sunriver Resort - www.sheeporegon.com • Dec. 5-6 - Wisconsin Beginning Shearing School - toddtaylor@wisc.edu • Dec. 9-11 - South Dakota Shearing Training - SDSU Sheep Unit, Brookings, SD - Jeffrey.Held@sdstate.edu or 605-690-7033 • Dec. 11-12 - Buckeye Shepherd's Symposium and OSIA Annual Meeting - Shisler Center, Wooster - rhigh@ofbf.org or www.ohiosheep.org/symposium.html • Jan. 9-11 - San Angelo Shearing School - reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu • Jan. 27-30, 2016 - SAVE THE DATE - ASI Annual Convention - Scottsdale, Ariz. - More information will be available soon. • March 14-16, 2016 - Save the Date - ASI Spring Trip - Washington, D.C. ASI Award Nominations Due Nov. 16 Just three weeks remain for you to recognize those who have provided outstanding service to the sheep industry by nominating them for an industry award. Nov. 16 marks the deadline for the submission of nominations to the annual American Sheep Industry Association awards program. Awards will be presented at the ASI Convention, Jan. 27-30, 2016, in Scottsdale, Ariz. There are three award categories available for nomination: • the McClure Silver Ram Award is dedicated to volunteer commitment and service and is presented to a sheep producer who has made substantial contributions to the sheep industry and its organizations in his/her state, region or nation; • the Camptender Award recognizes industry contributions from a professional in a position or field related to sheep production; and • the Distinguished Producer Award, launched in 2014, is a way to recognize an individual who has had a significant long-term impact on the industry including involvement with the National Wool Growers Association or American Sheep Producers Council, the predecessor organizations to ASI. Full details and the applications are available at ASI's website, www.sheepusa.org/About_Awards. Let's Grow Applications Due Nov. 15 To be considered for an ASI Let's Grow grant, applications must be submitted on or before Nov. 15. A total of $325,000 is available for projects to support, promote and ensure the U.S. sheep industry's future through the development of innovative and sustainable initiatives that increase the productivity, profitability and growth of the American sheep industry. Projects should further enhance domestic wool and lamb production. Producers are encouraged to submit proposals that meet the guidelines of the committee in an attempt to compete with not only imported lamb and wool products but with other domestic livestock production. The application is available by clicking on the Let's Grow Program tab on the home page of www.sheepusa.org and then going to Funding. For additional information, contact ASI Let's Grow Coordinator Alan Culham at alan@sheepusa.org or 517-896-7378. ASI Market-App Calculators As fall activities begin to wind down, this is a good time to remind producers of the two calculators that were added to the American Sheep Industry Association Market App - a wool calculator and a gestation calculator. The wool calculator helps a producer calculate total price on a given day by entering micron and estimated yield of the clip. It provides updated international market prices relative to the type of preparation and type of wool in the United States for a specific micron. It also takes into account exchange rates and converts Australian prices to U.S. dollars per pound (instead of kilos). Wool descriptions define the various preparation choices used in the United States and other relevant pricing factors such as length, strength and contamination levels that influence variance in prices for that specific micron diameter. An estimated lambing date can be easily calculated by inputting the service date into the gestation calculator. It also identifies the estimated return date based on an average cycle of 17 days. The calculators are available for both android and iPhone users and can be downloaded through your App Store by searching for ASI Market News. Click on the ASI Tools tab to locate the calculators. Apparel, Textile Industries 'Happy Enough' with TPP Clothing makers and Vietnam - the largest apparel producer in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations - have a few reasons to be pleased with the final trade deal that emerged this month. Chief among those, according to sources, is that the deal would immediately eliminate tariffs on roughly half of apparel trade among the 12 participating countries. The textile industry scored a win with the deal's "yarn-forward" rule, requiring a garment be almost entirely produced in a TPP country in order for it to benefit from the tariff reductions. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman earlier this month touted the final outcome on apparel and textiles in the TPP deal as a delicate balance negotiators were able to achieve. "We worked very closely with both groups of stakeholders to come up with a solution, to come up with an outcome that we think both will be comfortable with and both will be supportive of," Froman said during a teleconference hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. But "comfortable" might be the strongest word that can be used to describe how the U.S. textile industry feels about the deal. Textile manufacturers, which have struggled with the impact of globalization on their industry in recent decades, were braced for the worst this time given how Vietnam was fighting back against the yarn-forward rule - a position the U.S. aggressively staked out at the beginning of the talks. Vietnam initially pushed for tariff benefits under a less extreme "cut and sew" rule. Most garments currently made in Vietnam are cut and sewn from fabric imported primarily from China, which is not a TPP country. Now, under the terms of the deal, major apparel companies will be forced to build new yarn and textile production in Vietnam if they want to get tariffs reduced on garments produced there. Auggie Tantillo, president of the National Council of Textile Organizations, said maintaining those tariffs would be vital for the future of the U.S. domestic textile industry. A huge market access windfall for Vietnam would compel many apparel companies to move their Western Hemisphere production to the Southeast Asian nation where labor costs are even lower and the government provides more subsidies, he said. U.S. textile manufacturers have been able to prop up their domestic industry through trade deals with Mexico and Central American countries. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement, many apparel producers took advantage of lower labor costs to build garment factories in countries south of the border. The U.S. textile industry seized on the opportunity and established itself as a primary supplier for apparel makers operating in those countries. "It would be a major catastrophe if Vietnam were to have such generous and instant access to the U.S. market," said Tantillo. "That would cut production in this hemisphere by half." Reprinted from Politico Researchers Say Eat More Animal Protein As animal protein gains favor in consumers' eyes, research projects are helping to show the potential for animal-based proteins to improve health. Nutrition researchers and dieticians are also changing their tune about the benefits of increasing protein in our diets. Several findings in the past dozen years or so have really boosted the "stock price" of protein. In review, here are a few of the findings now accepted or gaining acceptance as valid scientific theory: • Higher-protein diets support body weight loss and maintenance of that loss. • Higher-protein diets offer greater satiety (fullness/satisfaction) and decrease snacking. • Distributing protein consumption across all meals in a day appears to improve weight management and appetite control. • The amino acids in animal protein appear better at supplying the "essential" amino acids for humans, meaning those we cannot synthesize and must take in, than are plant proteins. • Early research trials suggest increasing protein intake from middle age forward, together with increased physical activity, may improve retention of muscle mass and reduce frailty. • Animal proteins provide more and higher-quality proteins than can plant-based proteins, and they deliver with fewer total calories. For example, three ounces of lamb contains 23 grams of protein and 175 calories, while six tablespoons of peanut butter contains 25 grams of protein but 564 calories. Reprinted in part from CattleNetwork Video of the Week Watch as sheep rancher and Bureau of Land Management permittee Denis Kowitz takes 1,200 sheep across a 50-year-old wooden bridge. Denis has been crossing the historical bridge for more than 18 years. The bridge hangs 30 feet above the Big Wood River, connecting the Bennett Hills and Timmerman Hills with the Wood River Valley in south central Idaho. Since its construction, it has served as a connector for a major trailing route, allowing sheep to move from lower elevation to higher elevation pastures. Not for the faint of heart, the bridge has been known to swing nearly two feet from side to side while livestock cross it. BLM maintains the bridge to the same standards consistent with footbridges, routinely replacing old sections of wood and tightening up the railings. Twelve bands (25,000 sheep) owned by three different operators will cross the bridge during the year. If you think you have seen this bridge before, it is the very bridge shown on the cover of the October issue of the Sheep Industry News and the winner of the action category in ASI's 2015 photo contest. The photo was taken by Michael Lark of Idaho. Watch the video at www.facebook.com/BLMIdaho/videos/973078109404392/?fref=nf. MARKET NEWS Weekly National Market Prices for Wool The U.S. Department of Agriculture's prices for wool can be accessed at www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_EPAS_Reports/wamrpt091515.pdf. The effective repayment rate is the lower of either the 30-day average or weekly rate. Category 2014 Loan Rate Effective Repayment Rate LDP Rate Week of 10/21/15 Graded Wool CLEAN PRICES in $ per pound <18.6 Micron 3.88 3.71 $.17 LDP Available 18.6-19.5 3.38 3.47 Not Available 19.6-20.5 2.94 3.32 Not Available 20.6-22.0 2.72 3.27 Not Available 22.1-23.5 2.56 3.26 Not Available 23.6-25.9 2.33 3.03 Not Available 26.0-28.9 1.78 1.94 Not Available > 29 Micron 1.38 1.71 Not Available GREASE PRICES in $ per pound Ungraded Wool 40 cents 60 cents Not Available Unshorn Pelt 6.865 lbs x Ungraded Wool LDP Not Available Wool LDPs are not available when the weekly repayment rate is above loan rate. Market Summary, Week ending October 16, 2015 Feeder Prices ($/cwt.), San Angelo: 40-60 lbs. for 200-210, 65 lbs. for 185; 70-90 lbs. for 172-178. Slaughter Prices - Negotiated ($/cwt.), wooled and shorn 115-165 lbs. for 150-167 (wtd avg 158.51). Slaughter Prices - Formula1, 4,278 head at 288.76-324.00 $/cwt. for 72.3 lbs.; 1,305 head at 290.82-312.65 $/cwt. for 77.0 lbs. Equity Electronic Auction, shorn 145 lbs. for 157.75. Cutout Value/Net Carcass Value2, $326.23/cwt. Carcass Price, Choice and Prime, YG 1-4, $/cwt., weighted averages, 1,211 head at 55-65 lbs. for 340.72, 2,347 head at 65-75 lbs. for 326.56, 1,631 head at 75-85 lbs. for 316.11, 678 head at 85 lbs. and up for 309.19. Boxed Lamb, weighted average prices ($/cwt.), Trimmed 4" Loins 526.15, Rack, roast-ready, frenched (cap-on) 1,446.56, Rack, roast-ready, frenched, special (cap-off) 1,784.33, Leg, trotter-off, partial boneless 480.50, Shoulder, square-cut 304.40, Ground lamb 557.22. Imported Boxed Lamb, weighted average prices ($/cwt.), AUS Rack (fresh, frenched, cap-off, 28 oz/up) 999.30, AUS Shoulder (fresh, square-cut) 244.13, AUS Leg (fresh, semi boneless) 428.74, AUS Rack (frozen, frenched, cap-off, 28 oz/up) 736.10, NZ Rack (frozen, frenched, cap-off, 20 oz/up) 769.00, AUS Shoulder (frozen, square-cut) 206.78. Exported Adult Sheep, 0 head Wool, Price ($/pound) Clean, Delivered, June-July prices: 18 micron (Grade 80s) NA, 19 micron (Grade 80s) 4.21, 20 micron (Grade 70s) 4.20, 21 micron (Grade 64-70s) 3.90-3.96, 22 micron (Grade 64s) 3.69, 23 micron (Grade 62s) 3.53, 24 micron (Grade 60-62s) 3.42, 25 micron (Grade 58s) 3.18-3.32, 26 micron (Grade 56-58s) 2.95, 27 micron (Grade 56s) 2.89, 28 micron (Grade 54s) 2.62, 29 micron (Grade 50-54s) NA, 30-34 micron (Grade 44-50s) 1.89. Australian Wool, Clean, delivered FOB warehouse & gross producers ($/pound), 18 micron (Grade 80s) 3.58-4.06, 19 micron (Grade 80s) 3.32-3.77, 20 micron (Grade 70s) 3.18-3.61, 21 micron (Grade 64-70s) 3.15-3.57, 22 micron (Grade 64s) 3.13-3.54, 23 micron (Grade 62s) 3.10-3.51, 24 micron (Grade 60-62s) NA, 25 micron (Grade 58s) 2.82-3.20, 26 micron (Grade 56-58s) 2.63-2.98, 28 micron (Grade 54s) 2.18-2.47, 30 micron (Grade 50s) 2.06-2.34, 32 micron (Grade 46-48s) 1.82-2.06, Merino Clippings 2.75-3.11. 1Prices reported for the two weight categories of the largest volume traded. Second, multiplying the carcass prices by an estimated 50.4% dressing percentage yields live weight prices. 2The cutout value is the same as a net carcass value. It is a composite value that sums the value of the respective lamb cuts multiplied by their weights. It is also the gross carcass value less processing and packaging costs. Source: USDA's AMS