ARPAS E-Mail Newsletter

June 11, 2001

To: All ARPAS Members

From: Bill Baumgardt, Executive Vice President (bbaum@gte.net)

Headlines

* Annual Meeting Highlights: National Meeting of ADSA, ASAS, PSA, AMSA and ARPAS, Indianapolis July 24-28. Special ARPAS events (1)

* Chapters invited to send representative. (2)

* Animal Care Certification - Research Setting - FASS-ARPAS Alliance (3)

* Other Educational Opportunities (4)

* Environmental Assessment and Assurance Programs (5)

* Proposed changes to By-Laws (6)

* ARPAS Colleges(7)

Hello Colleagues,

1) CORRECTION of date for Annual Membership Business Meeting in Indianapolis:

The correct time for the Annual Membership Business Meeting is THURSDAY, July 26, 2001 at 11:00 a.m. - rather than the date shown in the March 6 Newsletter. It will be held in Convention Center 101-102.

ARPAS will meet at the International Animal Agriculture and Food Science Conference (ADSA, ASAS, PSA, RMC-AMSA), Indianapolis, IN July 24 -28, 2001. Check web for complete information on all aspects of the 2001 meeting. < www.fass.org/fass01/

Here are some other ARPAS specific meetings and events :

- Executive Committee will meet Monday evening, July 23 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

- Governing Council. Tuesday July 24, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Westin, Boardroom

- ARPAS Symposium “On-Farm Certification Programs” Wednesday July 25, 8 a.m. to 12 noon., Convention Center room 101-102.

- ARPAS Membership Annual Business Meeting, Thursday July 26, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Convention Center 145-146.

- ARPAS Exams, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, July 25, 26, 27, Convention Center room 212. Encourage those interested in taking the exam (or with questions about the process) to sign up at the ARPAS Booth in the Exhibit Hall.

- ACAN Meeting, Thursday July 26, 12 to 1 p.m., Convention Center room 143-144.

2) ARPAS Chapters are invited to send a representative to attend the Governing Council meeting on Tuesday, July 24 (see above):

Chapters are invited to send a representative to the Governing Council meeting and to raise any issues of special interest to them. A brief description of the message they wish to present to the Governing Council should be received by the Executive Vice President by July 10, and since the agenda is very full, they should limit their presentation to ten minutes.

3) Animal Care Certification - Research Setting - Update on FASS-ARPAS Initiative.

In the last Newsletter we previewed a partnership between FASS and ARPAS whereby FASS would offer Education/Training and ARPAS would do the examinations and certification. This is for Farm Animal Workers in the research setting. It is a SERVICE and a VOLUNTARY program, especially appealing to many universities, companies, and private research operations who utilize the “Ag Guide” as their standard. The Spring 2001 Newsletter (ASASynopsis) contained informative columns on both the FASS and ARPAS Components. Information can now be found on the FASS website (www.fass.org) and details about the development of the ARPAS certification component will soon be on the ARPAS website (www.arpas.org).

The joint FASS-ARPAS project has a Steering Committee composed of: FASS - Janice Swanson, John McGlone, the two EVPs (Barbara Glenn, and Chuck Sapp); ARPAS - David Anderson, Robert Easter, and the EVP (Bill Baumgardt).

The ARPAS working committee to develop the examination and certification process is being chaired by Janice Swanson and she is completing the formation of that committee. A proposal has been developed which the committee will be working on over the next few months.

4) OTHER EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

You are encouraged to check the ARPAS website (www.arpas.org) often for up-to-date listing of meetings and conferences ("Calendar of Events")

ADSA and ASAS are collaborating on a project called DASEES, the Dairy and Animal Science Electronic Executive Summaries. Each DASEE includes recent stories of interest to those in the dairy/animal ag industry, peer-reviewed research articles on timely topics, practical applications of recent research findings, questions for further consideration, and a discussion area for all subscribers. They are grouped in six interest areas: beef production, dairy foods, dairy production, large animal health, large animal nutrition, and swine production.

They have produced nearly 15 pilot issues and new DASEES issues will be posted every two to three weeks. Please take a few minutes to look them over. To get to the DASEE issues, please click on this webpage <www.fass.org.dasees/>.

Recent DASEES:

Beef Production

Genetic Prediction Technologies

Large Animal Health

Contemporary Issues, Relevance, and New Technologies

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Swine Production

Swine Welfare Issues

5) Environmental Assessment and Assurance Programs

Private sector and public sector organizations are working on environmental quality assurance type programs. ARPAS members have expressed an interest in working with these groups to provide quality, science based programs. Several species-producer groups and the Land Grant university community are involved in providing tools and programs for voluntary use by producers. The goal is to help producers in their efforts to continuously improve practices and to provide producers a means of “recognition” (certification) which can be made known to neighbors and the public. Note, “voluntary” is a key concept.

We are aware of three public sector projects underway. One of these is the livestock Environmental Management System project. Co-Principal Investigators are: Gary Jackson, University of Wisconsin (gwjackson@facstaff.wisc.edu) and Richard Koelsch, University of Nebraska (rkoelsch@unl.edu). The Partnership for Livestock Environmental Management Systems National Stakeholders Roundtable was held in Washington, DC on May 30-31. Barbara Glenn participated for FASS and has shared information relevant to ARPAS. More information will be coming in the future.

ACTION: For now, it is important that we hear from any ARPAS member who may have an interest in participating in the on-farm or walk-through voluntary programs. Various terms are being used: consultant, auditor, assessor, etc. Most of these programs require that the livestock/poultry consultant be an ARPAS member. ARPAS members filling such roles do so as a private contractor and receive compensation either from the sponsoring organization or the producer. If you would like to hear more about these programs as they develop, please let me know (bbaum@gte.net). I will be developing an information distribution list. If you know people who are not now ARPAS registered, but who may have an interest in working on these program, have them contact me.

6) PROPOSED CHANGES TO BY-LAWS:

New opportunities for registration and certification are emerging. An immediate example is the FASS-ARPAS joint program to provide a registration/certification for farm animal workers, as described in item 3 above. Unique examinations will be developed. It is likely that specific "titles" will accompany each of the levels, which the committee will develop. Appropriate labels should be used to identify persons successfully entering these new areas. Proposed changes in by-laws to allow for such flexibility are being provided to all ARPAS members and will be voted on at the annual business meeting in Indianapolis.

7) ARPAS COLLEGES:

Comments and questions have been received which suggest that there is a lack of understanding about the colleges and the requirements for certification. ACAN is developing a statement which can be made available on the web and as a handout to those wanting more precise information about the process for achieving Board Certification. You are encouraged to provide your input to Ken Cummings, ACAN president (cummike@churchdwight.com).

Let us hear from you!! See you in Indianapolis.

Best wishes,

Bill Baumgardt, ARPAS Executive Vice President

Bill Baumgardt

P.O. Box 2180

West Lafayette, IN 47996-2180

Ph: Home office:765-463-4249 (has voice mail)

Fax: 765-497-8115

E-mail: <bbaum@gte.net>

(FedEx etc.: 2614 Trace 26; 47906-1888)

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