Messenger News Letter - Febuary 2010

The Messenger

February 2010

Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency, 130 Malcolm Road, Guelph, ON, N1K 1B1

BOARD DECISIONS / ACTIONS BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE 2009-2010 March 10 April 14 May 19 June 23 July 21 August 24, 25 October 13

Conference Call Face to Face Conference Call Face to Face Conference Call District 4 (alternate District 5) Face to Face

OSMA INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE This industry wide committee will meet on March 2 in Guelph with the theme – Traceability: “From Farm To Fork and Here To Stay” The committee is chaired by a person named by the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission and the purpose for the committee is so that all stakeholders have an opportunity to bring forward ideas and concerns they feel the OSMA Board needs to address. The Board determines if OSMA should take actions based on the input.

AUDIT COMMITTEE Two Members at Large, Jennifer Peel and Jason Emke, have been selected by the OSMA Board of Directors to sit on the Audit Committee.

Thank you for the genuine interest shown by numerous producers who put their names forward to assist OSMA in this way.

www.ontariosheep.org

Tel: 519-836-0043

BY-LAWS AND REGULATIONS The Board committee continues to review and update OSMA By-Laws and Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (OFPMC) Regulations

TRAINING The OSMA Board decided to proceed with Board training and the details are currently being finalized.

WEBSITE The Board approved for staff to proceed in obtaining funding for the development of a state-of-the art website. Staff hopes by the fall of 2010 producers will have access to even more information.

OSMA 25TH ANNIVERSARY This year marks The Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency's 25th Anniversary Year. We will be highlighting all four Ontario Sheep News throughout this year with articles and reminisces of the past. We will also be focusing on the event at our Annual General Meeting in October. If you have any information or memories you would like to share, please contact us at the office by email general@ontariosheep.org or calling the office at 519836-0043 Ext. 27.

ACTION PLAN AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY Staff presented the Action Plan and Communication Strategy at the February Board Meeting. The Directors are currently reviewing everything and this

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will be an item for adoption at the March 10 th meeting.

GENERAL REPORTING

BUSINESS RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM OSMA is a participating member of the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Coalition. This coalition is preparing details for the Minister of Agriculture and Food to take to a February meeting of other Canadian agriculture and food Ministers. It is very encouraging to see that all sectors (Oils & Grains, Horticulture and Livestock) are working together. Details on the industry recommendations to Minister Mitchell will be available at a later date.

PREDATION Watch for an update on predation that will appear in the March issue of the Ontario Sheep News

CANADIAN EWE FLOCK CONTINUES TO SHRINK January 1, 2010 Statistics Canada numbers were released and the Canadian ewe flock has shrunk 1% over 2009 numbers. Canada now has 517,100 ewes down from 522,100 in 2009 and down a whopping 18% from 2004 flock size of 613,400 ewes.

Only two provinces have seen growth over the past 12 months. Ontario saw its flock expand by 3% to 156,000 ewes; up from 150,900 in 2009, while Saskatchewan’s flock grew 4% to 48,100 ewes. These flock sizes are still substantially smaller than their peaks which was 2004 in Ontario when they had 183,600 ewes and in 2005 Saskatchewan had 65,200 ewes.

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All other provinces saw their flocks shrink. Below is a chart that outlines the current flock sizes compared to 2009 Province

2009

2010

British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Ontario Quebec New Brunswick Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island Newfoundland & Labrador

27,500 83,700 46,100 31,500 150,900 163,200 3,600 11,500 2,000 2,100

26,100 81,000 48,100 27,700 156,000 160,000 3,000 11,400 2,200 1,600

FOCUS GROUP AT ROYAL WINTER FAIR On February 11 the Royal hosted an invited forum for discussing the future for sheep at the Royal.

Although it is too early to say that there are results from that meeting, many ideas on promoting sheep products, educating youth, and recognizing the merits of breeding stock were addressed. It is not within the Royal Sheep Committee to carry forward. At this time OSMA is planning it’s booth at the Royal for 2010. Anyone interested in assisting at the booth should forward their name to Ruth Gilmour (general@ontariosheep.org).

PROJECTS UPDATE ON THE BENCHMARKING PROJECT All producers who have confirmed their participation in the Benchmarking project have now received a copy of the AgExpert software. Felix Weber and Gordon Hawley from the FCC are in the process of completing everyone’s installation on-farm. Group

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training sessions will be provided once participants have had a chance to explore the software. The financial management surveys will be collected by Felix and Gordon, the same representatives who installed the AgExpert software, so that we can have a consistency in the survey completion, and to limit the number of people working with the financial data.

Complete confidentiality is of the utmost importance in this process. The surveys will be assigned to a numerical identifier after the information is gathered, and the data will not be used for any other purpose other than this study.

We do have a very small number of spots still available to participate, so if you’re interested in participating or want more information please contact Shannon Meadows at Shannon@ontariosheep.org or at 519-836-0043 ext. 29

RESEARCH UPDATE OSMA is in the process of evaluating the research letters of intent, and soliciting full project proposals from a chosen few. The projects that we submitted show great promise for advancing knowledge in the sheep industry, and we are looking forward to seeing them progress.

LAMB TRACEABILITY PILOT PROJECT SHELBURNE, Ontario, February 6, 2010 – Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Government of Canada is strengthening the sheep and goat industry by helping to eradicate disease, enhance traceability and improve on-farm food safety practices.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, with Member of Parliament David Tilson (Dufferin-Caledon), today announced an investment of up to $6 million to help sheep and goat farmers come through this economic recovery stronger than ever.

The AgriFlexibility fund, a commitment made under Canada’s Economic Action Plan, will deliver up to

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$4.5 million to determine the prevalence of scrapie, a fatal neurological disease, in Canadian sheep. This information will help establish a time frame in which scrapie can be eradicated from Canada and international markets can be reopened.

The remainder of the investment of more than $1.5 million will go towards the following three projects: §

§

§

$733,000 will support the Canadian Sheep Federation’s pilot project to have a select number of producers implement full-scale Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to demonstrate the benefits RFID can provide to the industry. $491,000 will help the Canadian National Goat Federation and the Canadian Sheep Federation to foster education within the industry on identification and traceability of goats and sheep.

It will also be used to further the work done on the Canadian Sheep Federation’s Canadian Sheep Identification Program. $354,000 will support the Canadian Sheep Federation in the development of their On-Farm Food Safety Management System. This is the last step in the federation’s On-Farm Food Safety system which could lead to government recognition of their Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP)-based system.

OSMA WORKING FOR YOU Events that OSMA will be participating in February 24 – Murray Hunt is Guest Speaker at District 5 March 6 – Murray Hunt is a Guest Speaker at North Wellington Sheep Day March 8 & 9 – Murray Hunt is meeting with G.M.’s of Sheep Organizations across Canada to continue discussions on areas of collaboration and co-operation.

March 11 – Murray Hunt is a Guest speaker at the Floradale Feeds Sheep Day

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UPCOMING EVENT S

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Alongside the day-to-day action on the farm, Lambing Live will delve deeper into the secret life of sheep.

OSMA AGM October 29th and 30th, 2010 Location – To Be Announced

ETHNIC HOLIDAY INFORMATION Mar 30 – Apr 6: Jewish Holiday - Lambs 30-55 lbs live weight, milk fed and fat are wanted. Kosher is preferred April 4: Eastern Orthodox Easter – Traditional market is for suckling kids in the 25-50 lbs. (Live) April 4: Western Roman Easter – Traditional Italian Market is for a suckling kid weighing 18-35 lbs. (Live) August 11: Islamic Holiday – Start of Ramadan – Weaned market lambs 60-80 lbs. are preferred.

ONTRACE TRACEABILITY WORKSHOPS FOR PRODUCERS -

Make traceability work for you Capture needed information easily Implement your own traceability system

Cost per workshop is $25 Workshop #3 – Implementing Traceability (Half Day) -

March 3 March 10 March 24 March 30

– New Liskeard – Leamington – Guelph – Kemptville

Look for more information in the OSN March Issue

To register and for further information: Call: 888-388-7223 Visit: www.ontraceagrifood.com

BBC 2 SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON SHEEP INDUSTRY

NORTH WELLINGTON SHEEP DAY

March 7: The sheep industry is to be thrust into the media spotlight with a primetime TV show about the lambing season.

BBC Two will be broadcasting live from a 900-ewe farm in South Wales for five nights from March 7 – capturing events as they unfold.

The series will be presented by Kate Humble and programme makers say she will be getting her hands dirty helping to make sure as many lambs as possible survive those first crucial days after birth.

She will be joined at the farm, run by the Beavan farmily by Countryfile presenter and farmer Adam Henson.

March 6: 9 to 3 – Mount Forest Legion A variety of topics that include feed, controlling abortions in your flock, SFIP program, Update on Sheep Industry, Benefits of using good Rams in your flock.

For more information call Sarel, Mark, or Doris Phone: 519-323-1271 Email: ssmit@nwcfs.com

FLORADALE FEEDS SHEEP DAY March 11: 10 to 3:30 at Floradale Mennonite Church, 22 Florapine Road; Floradale, ON

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Floradale Feed Mill and Eldale Veterinary Clinic have put together an information meeting for sheep producers. The focus is on the novice sheep producer but anyone interested is encouraged to attend. There will be a variety of topics including general management, nutrition, health and marketing.

RSVP by March 8 Phone Eldale Vet Clinic – 519-669-5672 Email: eldalevetclinic@bellnet.ca

CANADIAN ORGANIC GROWERS – OTTAWA CHAPTER Workshop On Record Keeping For Organic Certification March 13 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Location: Greely, ON Cost: $50.00 ($45 for COG members) – Includes lunch, and handouts.

For organic, transitional, and conventional farmers interested in organics For more information visit www.cog.ca/ottawa Call: Colin Lundy @ 613-493-0020 Email: colin@cog.ca

****************

Strategies For Tapping Into Local Markets March 22 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Location: Kemptville College Cost is free for farmers A symposium to ask questions and explore ideas.

There will be 3 panel presentations by experts with discussions on • Farmers’ Co-operative Development • Organic Farming • Organic Marketplace For more information Email: office@cog.ca Call: 888-375-7383

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CANADIAN FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT COUNCIL Agriwebinar – Informative, Insightful, Inspiring March 15 at 3:30 p.m.

Capturing Opportunitites in Organic Agriculture: Initiatives & Trends Presented by Andrew Hammermeister Organic agriculture continues to capture the attention and interest of consumers and producers alike. What are the factors driving this sustained interest and what are the trends in both production and consumption that we should be looking out for?

For More Information Phone: 888-232-3262 Email: agriwebinar@cfbmc.com Visit and register: www.agriwebinar.com

OTTAWA VALLEY FARM SHOW March 16, 17, 18, 2010 - Farm Show Dates At Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada All breeds invited to exhibit at a cost of $75 For more information: Call: 613-283-5971 Visit: www.ottawafarmshow.com

NORTHEASTERN FARM SHOW April 10: District 11 will have a booth at the Farm Show that will be attended by volunteers

CANADIAN CLASSIC May 21 - 23rd, 2010 All Canada Classic / Classique Canadienne Richmond (Québec) Join us for the largest annual event of the Canadian sheep industry

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May 21 - Fleece Competition – Contact CCWG for details – 613-257-2714 May 22 - Sheep Show Banquet May 23 – Sheep Sale

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For more information and to register: Call: 877-424-1300 or visit www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/sheep/200 81211.htm

Contact Information: Daniel Dion - Tél: 418-856-1200; Fax: 418-856-6247 Email: semrpq@cepoq.com David Mastine - Tél: 819-848-2538; Fax: 819-848-2538 Email: fermemaplestar@b2b2c.ca www.sheepbreeders.ca www.agneauduquebec.com/semrp

LAMBS DOWN PARK FESTIVAL June 12th, 2010 Lambs Down Park Festival 2010 Rural themed festival with petting zoo, sheep shearing, sheep dog demo's, food venders etc Contact Information: CCWG Head Office - Carleton Place, ON Call 613-257-2714 or Cathie McOrmond - CP BIA 613-257-8049 cmcormond@carletonplace.ca

SHEEP INFRASTRUCTURE WORKSHOPS April 28 & 29, 2010 – Grand Valley September 1 & 2, 2010 – Grand Valley Two day Course sponsored by the Large Flock Operators and OMAFRA – limited to 20 participants.

NOTE: This program targets people in the planning cycle for an expansion plan in their sheep enterprise to large scale, commercial scale infrastructure.

Workshop is intended to give ideas, show latest concepts, test out participant’s ideas and examine relative costs.

WESTERN ONTARIO LAMB PRODUCERS ASSOC. (WOLPA) SHEEP SEMINAR DAY August 28, 2010: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Location: Walkerton Community Centre (Arena).

Cost: $30.00 per person, includes a catered lunch.

Western Ontario Lamb Producers Association (WOLPA) with support from Grey-Bruce Sheep Farm Business Management Association are having a sheep seminar day Featured keynote speaker will be Janet McNally from Hinckley, Minnesota(www.tamaracksheep.com).

Topics: her pasture lambing experiences, managing ewes and pastures during the lambing period, cutting $16.00 per ewe from the budget, 6 things to stop depredation NOW!!, using long pasture rotations to beat the parasite cycle and finishing lambs on turnips.

Featured also is Phil Smith from Sutton, Ontario(www.rideausheep.com) along with Jack Kyle(OMAFRA). They will be presenting Phil's experiences with pasturing his dry ewes on corn silage plants for extended fall grazing and a rest period for his permanent pastures.

Limited space available, the cut off date for ticket purchases will be August 1st 2010 or when sold out.

Advance ticket sales available only by Phone: Steven or Lisa Ernewein (519) 392-8624

DISTRICT EVENTS District 1: March 4: 8 p.m. at Coldstream Community Centre Tim Prior of Brussels Livestock will speak about RFID tags and reader systems.

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For further details or a full list of upcoming events please see our website OSMA_district_1.tripod.com Or phone Marlene Raymond at 519-683-6635

Guest Speaker, OSMA General Manager, Murray Hunt March 31: 8 to 10 pm at Holmes Agro Board Room, County Road 11, Dufferin April 28: 8 to 10 pm at OMAFRA Elora Resource Centre, 6484 Wellington Rd. 7, Unit 10

District 2:

May 26: 8 to 10 pm at Holmes Agro Board Room, County Rd. 11, Dufferin August 15 : 6:30 to 9:30 pm BBQ Social & AGM, Thatcher Farms, 5727 5 th Line, Eramos

Feb 4: Next meeting at the Chesley Fire Hall with a presentation on Deadstock Disposal options by Jacqui Laporte from OMAFRA April 9: Annual Lamb and Wine dinner at the Elmwood Communicty Center. Tickets will be available soon.

District 3:

Regular Meetings: Third Thursday of each month in Rostock at the Perth Agricultural Building Feb 17: 8 p.m. The topic is lamb survival with a guest speaker March 18: 8 p.m. The topic is on government programs and grants available to farmers relating to sheep.

April 15: with a producer guest speaker on his experiences with pasturing and cost of production discussions ******** March 4: Annual fund raiser for the lung association in Stratford for the Garden Festival Evening Party. A local restaurant will prepare lamb samples with producers on hand to speak to the participants

District 4: March 16: 7:30 pm - at Kohler Agricultural Bldg.

Introduction to SFIP with OMAFRA sheep specialist Delma Kennedy along with local producer Wayne Oosterhof May 18/10: Ultrasounding your ewes for efficient flock management. Details to be announced

District 5:

February 24: 8 to 10 pm at OMAFRA Elora Resource Centre, 6484 Wellington Road 7, Unit 10

District 7: March 23: Next District meeting at 1 p.m. at Leslie Dyment’s farm April: Hoof to Hook Seminar – examine live lambs and then evaluate the hanging carcasses. Mark Carere to chair. Target date is April May 4 & 5: Sheep shearing beginners course: Contact Phil Smith May 21-23: Sheep Classic in Richmond QC; Spring: Sheep 101 Taught by Rebecca Parker – New producers can participate in ongoing sessions to start their journey into sheep farming August 6–8: Market lamb class at Fenelon Falls – Leslie Dyment is arranging Aug 26-29: CBCA Championships (Canadian Border Collie Assoc. Championships) Victoria County Sheep Producers.

March 17: Carolyn Puterbough presenting on Deadstock issues April 21: Dr Jocelyn Jansen presenting on sheep health issues in Ontario May 19: Doug Plaunt presenting on organic farming June - date TBA - farm tour of local sheep producer July - BBQ at farm TBA August - no meeting September - tentative tour to Orangeville large flock operators.

Evening meetings start at 7:30 in the lower boardroom, OMAFRA Lindsay.

Membership is $20 per farm per year.

Contact: Rebecca Parker Phone: 705-277-1711 Email: middlekingdom@sympatico.ca

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District 8: February 22: 7 pm Social & 7:30 Business – at Westdale Park Public School in Napanee Guest: Richard Barrett speaking on Fencing and Shelters March 22: – 7 pm Social & 7:30 Business – at Westdale Park Public School in Napanee Topic: Potpourri of Ideas – good or bad!

April 17: Sheep Clinic For Beginners (or those wishing to refresh) at 2194 Rapids Rd. near Tweed Chili – Lunch and coffee served.

Call Linda at 613-477-1393 if interested – Spaces limited June 12: Pasture Walk at 570 Front Rd. on Amherst Island (home of Mark Ritchie) with Jack Kyle – Pasture Specialist with OMAFRA. Ferry leaving mainland at 9:30 am, Begin walk at 10 am.

Bring lunch.

District 9: March 16-18: Ottawa Valley Farm Show at Lansdowne Park, Ottawa June 12: Lambs Down Park Festival at Canadian Cooperative Wool Growers (CCWG) Carleton Place

District 10: February 20: Sheep Day “Marketing More Lambs by Weaning More Lambs” at Drummond Building in Spencerville ON – Registration 8:30 am - $25 includes hot lunch. For more information contact 613-989-2792 March 31: “Maximizing Profits – When and Where to Sell” Producer discussion. 7:30 pm at Kemptville College, Leahurst House.

April 28: “Determining Your Cost of Production” Professor Jim Fisher, KCAT. 7:30 pm at Kemptville College

PAST EVENTS ONTARIO FORUM ON AGRI-FOOD TRACEABILITY On January 28 Murray Hunt and Chris Kyle attended a forum on Agri-Food Traceability. The forum was very well attended, well organized, and informative.

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Increased food safety is being demanded by the consuming public. Agri -food traceability has three pillars; product identification, premises identification, and movement recording. The government is most interested in traceability for emergency management and the retailing and processing sectors of the industry are interested in meeting the demands of their customers for increased and transparent food safety.

Thus the development of a value chain and sharing of knowledge and information is vital to the full exploitation of any agri-food traceability system.

Traceability is a necessary component of food safety with wonderful side benefits of increased efficiencies, productivity, and profit to pay for the system. The government is hoping for a voluntary progression and adoption of traceability and food safety initiatives.

OSMA REACHING OUT Anyone with questions or ideas for OSMA to consider are encouraged to send an email to admin@ontariosheep.org. Staff will acknowledge receipt and attempt, in a timely fashion, to provide an answer or comment.

INTERESTING OTHERS WINTER SCENES PHOTO CONTEST April 1, 2010 POSTMARK DEADLINE Get your camera entries for the 2010 photo contest into the OSMA office. There are

three grand prices to be won. Look for more details in the December Sheep News and on the OSMA website homepage www.ontariosheep.org

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OTHER DISTRICT COMMITTEE’S DIRECTOR CONTACTS FOR STRATEGIC PLAN Advocacy

Chris Kennedy & Markus Wand

Education

Judy Dening & Fraser Hodgson

Research/ Development

Colleen Acres, Chris Kyle, & Mark Lenover

Organization

Allan Burn & Neil Mesman

Promotion

Dennis Fischer & Andrew Gordanier

UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION When was the last time you updated your contact information with Ontario Sheep?

To see a complete list of your district committee’s please visit OSMA website: www.ontariosheep.org

THOUGHTS FROM STAFF Creating the future for sheep farming in Ontario/Canada requires that all stakeholders bring forward ideas.

OSMA’s goals of increasing the domestic market share from 41% to 60% of lamb consumed and to enhance the on-farm profit for producers will require that everyone support the concepts and groups or committees that take actions to achieve these goals.

It is important for Ontario Sheep to have current contact information for all sheep producers in order to keep you up to date on current events. There are some producers registered with OS without even a phone number. Please let us know when you move or change your contact information.

This would include your complete address including lot/conc. and/or fire number and street name; Phone number, and your email address.

Please contact us by calling 519-836-0043 or emailing: admin@ontariosheep.org

Ontario Sheep 519-836-0043

admin@ontariosheep.org

Invitation – Producers, industry partners and anyone or organization interested in serving the Ontario Sheep Industry are encouraged to contact either OSMA Directors or the office with ideas, comments, questions or suggestions that may be beneficial to Ontario Sheep as it carries out its mandates.

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Internal and External Committees 2009/2010 Standing Committees Governance Committee: Andrew Gordanier *, Chris Kyle, Judy Dening, Murray Hunt Audit Committee: Fraser Hodgson *, Colleen Acres, Neil Mesman, Director at Large Research Committee: Chris Kennedy *, Mark Lenover, Fraser Hodgson, Colleen Acres

By-Law and Regulations: Allan Burn *, Neil Mesman, Chris Kyle, Murray Hunt __________________________________________________________________________________________

External Representatives 2009 – 2011 President Council: Markus Wand CFFO: Dennis Fischer OLPC: Murray Hunt OFPMC Sheep Advisory Committee: Will be determined at a future date Canadian Sheep Federation (CSF): Andrew Gordanier *, Mark Lenover, Dennis Fischer Ontario Agricultural Commodity Council (OACC): Andrew Gordanier, Murray Hunt Farm Innovation Program: Murray Hunt Predation Leaders: Chris Kennedy (OFA), Dick Kuiperij (CFFO) Toronto Stock Yard & Land Development Board: Allan Burn Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (Sheep Committee): – Chris Kyle, Lene Band (elected 2009 - 2011) Environmental Representative: Chris Kennedy National On-Farm Food Safety Working Group: Murray Hunt Provincial On-Farm Food Safety: Murray Hunt Sheep Flock Improvement Program Advisory (SFIP) Committee: John Steele, Rebecca Parker, Scott Prudom Ontario Federation of Agriculture: Chris Kennedy, alternate Judy Dening HomeGrown Ontario Steering Committee: Murray Hunt OSMA 4H Ontario Scholarship Committee: To be determined Agricultural Adaptation Committee, Red Meat Seat: (shared with Ont. Veal on a 2 year rotation): Judy Dirksen from OVA for the term Jan. 2009 to Dec. 2010.

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- Lead Director