USU Extension part of program to win national AAEA Award

The U.S. Livestock Identification Systems: Risk Management and Market Opportunities program will receive the Distinguished Extension/Outreach Program Group Award from the American Agricultural Economics Association.

Directors of the project are DeeVon Bailey, Utah State University Cooperative Extension marketing specialist, and Wendy Umberger, assistant professor at Colorado State University.

The award will be presented at the AAEA’s annual meeting July 31 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

“The selection of this program for such a prestigious award attests to its high quality and high impact,” said John P. Hoehn, AAEA awards chair. “My congratulations to all the contributing team members.”

The American Agricultural Economics Association is a professional society committed to furthering knowledge about the economics of agriculture, rural communities and natural resources.

The Distinguished Extension/Outreach Program Awards recognize achievement of excellence in agricultural economics extension and outreach programs. Award-winning programs are judged on the ability to clearly define an important problem and target audience, proficiency in applying educational approaches, effective communication and evidence of accomplishment and impact.

“This program has had a significant impact on educational activities across the country that focus on animal identification programs,” Bailey said. “We appreciate all the team members for their hard work and dedication to this project.”

In January 2003, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced the need to implement a National Animal Identification System after Mad-Cow Disease was found in a dairy cow in the United States. The purpose was to help identify any agricultural premise exposed to a foreign animal disease so the disease could be more quickly controlled and eradicated. The U.S. Cattle Identification Systems: Risk Management and Market Opportunities program, a planned collection of fact sheets developed by authors with national expertise in the subject area, was created to meet the need.

For more information about the award-winning program, visit http://www.lmic.info/memberspublic/animalID/AnimalID.htm.