WSLHA District Meeting

Description

California is excited to host the 2024 Western States Livestock Health Association Annual Meeting Sunday, June 2^nd to Wednesday, June 5^th in Modesto, California. 

Modesto is a historic farming based city in the heart of the Central Valley of California, our most productive agricultural region. California is the home to over 200 agricultural commodities so it may be fun to “name the crop” on the drive from the airport. If you fly into Sacramento, here is a hint: rice, almonds, pistachios, tomatoes, sunflowers, safflower and wheat. After a rousing game of “name the crop” during your drive, please join us for a welcome reception at the Double Tree Hotel on Sunday late afternoon, June 2^nd.

Our business meetings Monday through Wednesday (also held at the Double Tree) will include scientific presentations and discussions around animal health policy decisions that best support animal agriculture across the Western States. We hope to tackle issues like how to improve response to emerging disease, are there better ways to manage depopulation of poultry facilities, and what exactly should we do about avian metapneumovirus? We will also hear from key federal partners and other programs with animal health impacts.

As an added bonus this year, we are coordinating with the Western States Agriculture Resilience Partnership (WSARP) to add the Integrated Preparedness Planning Workshop (IPPW) to Wednesday, June 5^th (1200-1700) and Thursday, June 6^th (0800-1300). To register for this, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WSARP-IPPW-Registration. We encourage all western states to send at least one representative to participate.

To wrap up your stay in California, there is also a tour opportunity on Wednesday, June 5^th to visit one of our more modern dairies, the largest cheese plant in the State, and a sturgeon farm. Attendance will be first come first serve with one person per state prioritized because we must limit to 35 people. Arrangements can be made to take your rental car to the last stop if leaving after the tour. The cost is $160 and includes bus and meals.

A final note, Modesto is relatively close to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and San Francisco, so if you are lucky enough to combine this meeting with some vacation time, please enjoy the sights as we welcome you to California this summer.