Washington Update

Abstract

This workshop represented the second national collaborative extension effort associated with joint annual meetings of the professional societies. Multistate research committees are important cooperative federal programs. NCR-131 (Animal Behavior) and WCC-204 (Animal Bio-ethics) are both moving toward recognition as full multistate research committees and welcome poultry science members. The organic market is of increasing importance, and an organic animal production and processing research committee is being created to address these issues. Effective immediately, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) review of Hatch Act proposals will affirm that the goals and objectives of the proposal are consistent with the Hatch Act and fall within the strategic objectives of USDA and CSREES.The CSREES has chosen a review of our portfolio of programs as a cogent way to justify our budget requests. An outcome of the review process regarding extension programs is the need to find better ways to quantify qualitative results from extension efforts (e.g., reporting that biosecurity programs prevented disease spread vs. reporting that biosecurity programs saved the turkey industry a certain numbr of dollars).Concepts developed by the Animal Behavior and Welfare Group, led by Michigan State University, for collegiate animal welfare assessment competitions are to be transferred to 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) as upper-level student competition. The Poultry Science Resource List was revised in 2004 [1]. Deborah Posey (USDA/ARS, Athens, GA) was the 2004 recipient of the Support Personnel Award.