On the final day of the Oregon Sheep Growers Association convention the message focused on looking towards the future and thinking globally. To kick off the day, ASI Vice-President Clint Krebs brought everyone up to date with the current issues affecting our industry including the changing demographics of the American sheep industry.
Margaret Magruder and Don Gnos guided everyone through a wonderful slide show summarizing their trip to the Tri-Lamb Conference held in New Zealand. The virtual tour was followed by outgoing President Reed Anderson’s Promotions Report and Oregon Sheep Commission Chairman John Fine’s wrap-up of their year.
Sprinkled throughout the day were visits from state officials such as John Killefer, the new Department Head for the Animal and Rangeland Sciences at OSU. Killefer outlined a number of things happening at OSU, including the universities drive to host more research projects. Fielding questions from the audience, the new dean tried to assure industry members concerned with the rumored reduction of flock numbers at the institution.
Rounding out the morning were department director Roy Elicker and his crew from ODF&W. Leading a rousing discussion regarding current Oregon wolf and predator issues the crew fielded a wide array of concerns from producers. In addition, former gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix appealed to the group to support his move to create an initiative to help repeal the Oregon Death Tax.
Lunch and an extensive business session rounded out the afternoon. Key issues centered around the change in how the Oregon Sheep Commission assessments will be taken out, a resolution to support Mannix’s movement and a change in OSGA newsletter correspondence system.
The final action of the afternoon session was the election of officers.
With Maureen Krebs at the helm, The Make it Yourself With Wool fashion show rounded out the conference! More to follow on this event.
Oregon Sheep Connection 