Sunday, April 01, 2018
W. Randy Walker, PhD, PAS, Dipl. ACAN, ACAS President
The new year is upon us, and the groundhog says spring should be arriving any day now. As signs of spring begin to appear, such as new leaves on the trees, greener grass, all of the planting activity, and, of course, the opening day of baseball, we are reminded that spring is a time of renewal. This also applies to ACAS as we renew our efforts to remind ARPAS members who are not yet board certified of all the benefit and value of achieving the highest level of certification available in ARPAS.
Sunday, April 01, 2018
Dave Beede, Editor-in-Chief
About 25% of the ARPAS membership (n = 421 respondents) answered the recent ARPAS 2018 journal name-change survey and questionnaire providing valuable information. The ARPAS editorial team met by conference call April 9 to discuss the input. Here I summarize some of the key responses from members and readers. I have also added some comments to update you on several forward-looking efforts happening with The Professional Animal Scientist (PAS).
Sunday, April 01, 2018
Jack Garrett
The ARPAS Foundation’s assets now exceed $200,000. The ARPAS Foundation was established to recognize and fund worthy educational efforts of ARPAS and its members, or to promote the activities of ARPAS. Each year we receive multiple requests for educational funding projects, such as support for symposiums and speakers. This year the foundation will be supporting the dissemination of the information that will be presented at this year’s educational symposium “Sustainable Dairy Production” at the ADAS annual meeting by helping with the publication of the written articles in our journal.
Sunday, April 01, 2018
Dana Tomlinson
National ARPAS has started 2018 well with revenue generation in line with expectations. Through the first two months of the year, we are sitting with 49% of our revenue and support budgeted position. Fortunately, the bulk of our membership dues are collected early in the year; however, membership activity could be stronger. We always have room for new members and encourage everyone to share the value of ARPAS with their colleagues and any students with whom they interact.
Friday, December 01, 2017
Wayne Kellogg
Even after editing for more than a decade, it was still exciting to complete another volume of The Professional Animal Scientist (PAS). The 33rd volume of 781 pages contained nine review articles, 55 research articles, six technical notes, and 15 case studies. Though not as dominant as the previous year, topics about beef cattle and meats comprised more than one-half of the articles. Dairy was followed by swine, equine, and caprine topics. There were also some articles about feedstuffs, bedding, and water.
The review articles are a major contribution to PAS. Two of the reviews were from the ARPAS 2015 Symposium: “Nutritional and management considerations for beef cattle experiencing stress-induced inflammation” and “The ruminal microbes, microbial products, and systemic inflammation.” Three review papers had been presented at the Southern Section of the American Society of Animal Science about management strategies for intensive, sustainable cow-calf production systems in the Southeastern United States: “Matching forage systems with cow size and environment for sustainable cow-calf production in the southern region of the United States,” “Bermudagrass pastures overseeded with cool-season annual grasses and legumes,” and “Issues affecting research and extension programs on cow-calf and stocker cattle production in the Southeast region of the United States.” Individual reviews were titled “Transportation of commercial finished cattle and animal welfare considerations,” “Subjective pork quality evaluation may not be indicative of instrumental pork quality measurements on a study-to-study basis,” “The link between feeding dairy cows and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese production area,” and “Advantages and limitations of dairy efficiency measures and the effects of nutrition and feeding management interventions.”
Friday, December 01, 2017
Bill Price, PAS, and Chapter Past President
The Washington, DC, area chapter has an active agenda with monthly meetings and is planning a spring symposium. The speakers and topics for our monthly meetings are listed below. We alternate meeting sites between CVM (Rockville, MD) and USDA, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Our mini-symposium is planned for April 26.
Friday, December 01, 2017
South Central Chapter
The South Central Chapter offered its third annual graduate student competition in conjunction with the Four States Cattle Conference. Unfortunately, the conference date conflicted with finals and we were unable to attract participants. During the Four States Cattle Conference, Buck Pendergraft, chapter secretary, distributed ARPAS brochures and discussed membership benefits among trade show participants. A business meeting location is being secured for February 5 in conjunction with the Southern Section meeting of the American Society of Animal Science. Once details are finalized, an email will be distributed to paid chapter members. Several items of discussion for the business meeting will include a report from the chapter objectives committee, membership and membership drive, officer elections, and future direction for the graduate student competition. The chapter is currently seeking officers for president elect and director positions for Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
Friday, December 01, 2017
Jim Tully
Continuing Education Conference: October 2017
Chew on this—Another look at fiber
The calendar year and our chapter year are winding down. Our yearly Continuing Education Conference gave our members an in-depth review of fiber. Chemistry, functionality, and utilization of fiber were covered. Attendance was fantastic. We have a meeting policy whereby vendors are asked to avoid using the meeting as an opportunity to make sales presentations. This year this request was well heeded. Thank you to the many vendors/sponsors for making this meeting a success.
Each year the California-ARPAS group awards scholarships to students that present a preview or completed thesis project. This October at the annual continuing education meeting, the recipients were
(left to right) Ashley Niesen, Yuki Okatsu, Maia Laabs, Hannah Gautier, and Morgan Wukadinovich.
All papers were submitted, reviewed by an ARPAS education committee, and then presenters were interviewed.
The state and national ARPAS congratulate these students from the University of California–Davis.
Friday, December 01, 2017
Current Leadership
ARPAS Midwest Director: Randy Walker
Midwest Chapter President: Aaron Park
Midwest Chapter President-Elect: Rick Bonander
Midwest Chapter Past President: Bruce Arentson
Midwest Chapter Secretary-Treasurer: Wendy Flatt
Midwest Chapter Directors: Phil Krueger, Chad Risley, Joe Wolf, Jim Edwards, Bob Coleman, Elizabeth Marvel, and Stephanie Wisdom
Tuesday, August 01, 2017
W. Randy Walker, PhD, PAS, Dipl. ACAN, ACAS President
I would like to sincerely thank members of the American College of Animal Sciences (ACAS). I am honored to have been elected as an ACAS officer and look forward to serving as ACAS president through the coming year. I also want to thank Andy Cole for his service as ACAS president for the past year, Kenneth Cummings for his service as ARPAS executive vice president, and Cornicha Henderson of FASS for her assistance with the ACAS administrative duties.