Pacific Northwest Chapter

Shelby Filley, PhD, PAS
ARPAS PNW Chapter President 2019–2020

(June 2019) – We currently have 64 members from the United States and Canada. Our activities this year included a well-attended annual meeting on January 15, 2019, in Boise, Idaho, in conjunction with the PNW Animal Nutrition Conference. We plan to continue meeting with them annually.

We also hosted a CEU-eligible webinar for PNW members. Our topic was “Livestock and Commodity Connections to Know” by Jim Robb, an agricultural economist at the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) in Denver, Colorado.

We are active in recruiting student members and presented scholarships to two worthy students: Caitlin Klaeui from University of Idaho and Katie Walker of Eastern Oregon University.

Our governance council structure is solid, and our financial standing is good.

Washington DC Chapter

Bill Price, PhD, PAS
ARPAS DC Chapter President 2019–2020

(Sept. 2019) – We have planned monthly meetings for each month, alternating between Rockville, Maryland, and Beltsville, Maryland, for our meetings. The WDC Area Chapter finished its meetings for the year on a high note with its Mini-Symposium titled “Myths and Realities of Modern Animal Production” on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. We are planning the next symposium on a current topic for April 2020.

We continue to support a scholarship fund at the University of Maryland for a student pursuing a career in animal science.

The new officers for the 2019–2020 year are as follows:

Bill Price
President

Richard Sellers
President-Elect

Robin Keyser
Secretary

Gerald Poley
Treasurer

Ciro Ruiz-Feria
Past President

California Chapter

Jed Asmus, MS, PAS
ARPAS California Chapter Representative

(July 2019) – The California Chapter currently consists of 80+ members and is focused on expanding its support of production agriculture within California and the industry. Current projects supported by the chapter include the following:

• Almond hull feeding level study, in collaboration with the University of California–Davis, funded by the Almond Board, with the focus on evaluating the effect of feeding high levels of almond hulls. This trial is currently complete, and data are being reviewed and analyzed. Secondary research topics are being discussed with the collaborators to expand the project.
• Collaboration with the University of California Extension and various state regulatory groups to support research into the effect livestock and dairy feeding have on capturing carbon through the use of by-product feeds that would otherwise make it to a landfill.

We are currently wrapping up planning of the 2019 annual meeting and educational conference to be held in late October at Harris Ranch (Collinga, CA). The topic will be the new NRC for Dairy Cattle. This meeting is open to all ARPAS members, industry, and students.

We continue our support of college students through various scholarships, for graduate and undergraduate students. Funding for scholarships comes through annual fundraising efforts by the chapter.