New ASI Leader Takes Over Hefty Issues

New American Sheep Industry Association Executive Director Mike Michener on some of the ongoing issues the sheep industry is facing and what they are actively working on, including the H2A Visa Ag Worker program.

“Costs are too high, prices are too volatile, and risks are unmitigated. So, on the cost side, we talked a lot about labor costs, particularly the H2A visa issue. Our producers are paying so much for their H A labor, and it's such a bureaucratic burden, all the paperwork and everything they have to do. So, if we could help simplify the process and lower those H A costs for our producers, because they're getting squeezed on both sides, you know, you've got imports really depressing prices for lamb meat, but you've got their costs going up, so they're really getting squeezed on both sides.”

In addition, producers are dealing with predator losses and depressed prices due to a 40% increase in lamb imports. Thus, ASI is focused on market promotion tools funded by the Foreign Agricultural Service.

“One in particular is the quality samples program that we really use in China to promote American wool, and that's important because we're not just promoting the sale of American wool to China as an endpoint. China actually has all that first-stage processing capacity for wool, so that first-stage processing is critical, because that's the entry point into the global wool textile market.”