Every year, helpful and different chapter members step up and volunteer to assist CA ARPAS. Chapter officers for 2011 are President - Travis Taylor, past President - Dennis Ervin, President Elect - Luis Rodriguez, Treasurer - Matt Kelley, Secretary - Gerald Higgenbotham, Directors at Large - Jed Asmus and Andy Riordan. Bill Vogt, for a second year has organized a successful fundraiser called Bang for Your Buck II. Also, we cannot forget Bill Choppe, who, for many years, has asked for corporate donations for the annual Continuing Education Conference (CEC) held the last Thursday and Friday of October. 

The CEC meeting theme for October 27th and 28th, 2011 is “Understanding Oxidative Stress: The Biochemistry, The Biology and Improved Animal Health”. Every year, three scholarships are given out- two graduate (the students give a presentation at the CEC meeting) and one undergraduate who are studying animal science. 

At the May 2011 CA ARPAS Chapter meeting just before the California Animal Nutrition Conference in Fresno, CA, chapter members approved that the California Feed and Grain Association handle the CA ARPAS Chapter financial accounts. The speaker for the May 2011 meeting was Dan Schnert, the animal facilities coordinator at University of California, Davis (UC Davis). 

Several ARPAS members are very active. Tim Riordan is a new member on the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Feed Inspection Board. Dr. Carl Old, a dairy nutrition consultant is finishing up the Alfalfa Hay Project and I working with Dr Heidi Rossow of the veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center (VMTRC), UC Davis in Tulare, CA on a mathematical modeling of feed refusal. Over the years, the CA ARPAS Chapter has been very active in nutrition and feed research.