Via Zoom

Present: Mark Meurer, Bryce Freking, Kathy Ewert, Jeremy Refshaw, Chris Kaeb, Mark Van Roekel, John Anderson, Brett Pharo (past president and newsletter)

Mark Meurer called the meeting to order.

Secretary’s Report

Minutes from the previous meeting were approved.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer’s report was approved.

Committee Reports

• Sales
  • Mark Meurer said the Midwest Stud Ram sale at Sedalia will take place starting June 14. The APSA National Meeting will be held at the Clay County Fairgrounds in Spencer Iowa July 30. The NSIP sale will be July 31 in Spencer.
  • It was agreed that the APSA would plan to have an all-membership sale held on-line in April of 2022.

• Youth Committee Report: A discussion was held on the youth starter flock program. Bryce and Jeremy suggested ewes would be better for a starter flock than ewe lambs. The program could be aimed at youth of 16-22 years old to improve the chances of success.

• Advertising Committee Report: Bryce will check with Kyle Partain about advertising with ASI. APSA usually does an email blast with various state associations before the major sales start.

• Genomics grants update
  • Nothing new with the NSIIC grant John Carslon was submitting.
  • Kathy Ewert reported on the USDA NIFA grant she was working on with researchers from several universities. At this time the grant did not have a title but was focused on udder health in sheep and there would be several breeds involved.

New Business

• There was discussion of reviving the Jr Show and Futurity sale at Sedalia.
• New APSA board members starting after the National Meeting on July 30 will be Kayla Flinn of Ohio and Matt Chadwick of Kentucky.

Old Business

Kathy Ewert discussed the occurrence of “Dozer Lambs” (formerly called Rhino Lambs) in the Polypay breed and discussed the need to send samples to researchers if producers see this syndrome in their lambs. Call Kathy if you see this syndrome.

Respectfully submitted
John Anderson, Secretary