This report provides a brief accounting of my activities on behalf of ARPAS since our meeting with ADSA in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2018. Without a doubt, this past 12-month period has seen the most events, conference calls, emails, meetings, and other activities in the 35-year existence of ARPAS.

I want to acknowledge and thank our 2018–2019 president, Andy Cole, for the many hours that he devoted to activities and decisions required to manage this organization. He skillfully handled two major issues of lasting importance to ARPAS by appointing and leading two committees, one to address development of a “Value Proposition” for ARPAS members and the other for continuing publication of our newly renamed journal. Details on the actions of these committees will be covered in this report. In addition, he represented ARPAS at the ASAS meeting in Vancouver, BC, and the California Chapter meeting at Harris Ranch.

It is a new era at the FASS office as a brand new membership database went live in August. As with any significant update, there are growing pains with the transition. On behalf of FASS, thank you all for your patience during this time, as we work out any glitches that occur during the transition of thousands of members across 16 different societies into the new system.

The 2019 Distinguished Professional Animal Scientist award recipients are Carl Hunt and Robin Keyser. Keyser received her award at the 2019 ARPAS Business Meeting held at ASAS in July. Hunt received his award at a PNW Chapter meeting.

The ARPAS Foundation Board held their annual meeting on June 24 in Cincinnati, Ohio, in conjunction with the ADSA annual meeting. The Foundation is in a good financial situation with a current balance of $205,000. Kenneth Cummings is working with the fund manager to balance the funds to optimize returns, which have been positive for the past year.

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.

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.

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: