If you raise sheep, you likely know a small percentage of your check when you sell animals goes to fund the Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development program. The checkoff amounts to 0.5% of the net market price of each sheep sold.
According to Emma Hopkins-O’Brien, a freelance writer and sheep producer, the checkoff program was created to support educational, promotional and research efforts related to sheep in Indiana. Funds are collected through the Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Council’s business office at Purdue University. Learn more on the council’s website.
The program has four major projects underway for 2019, Hopkins-O’Brien reports. They include a Lamb Jam event with a group of Indiana chefs, formation of a state shearers school and certification program, organization of a statewide tour of producer farms, and a donation of meat to Scottsburg High School for use in its family and consumer sciences curriculum.
Anyone with other ideas for projects that the group should consider can share them via the website.
The state is divided into districts, and the program council will hold elections for three district seats on the council in 2019. Here are the districts and contact people if you’re interested in running for a seat:
District 3. Miami, Wabash, Whitley, Allen, Huntington, Wells and Adams counties — email Val Slack at valslack@gmail.com
District 6. Blackford, Jay, Delaware, Randolph, Henry, Wayne, Rush, Fayette and Union counties — email Duane Sickels atsickels@globalsite.net
District 9. Perry, Orange, Lawrence, Washington, Jackson, Harrison, Floyd, Clark, Scott, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Switzerland, Ripley, Dearborn, Franklin, Crawford, Brown, Bartholomew and Decatur counties — email Ken McMichael at kenmcmichael@gmail.com
Candidates must declare by March 15, with voting in March.
The Indiana Sheep Association and the Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Council take a step toward increasing knowledge about sheep shearing with a sheep shearing school slated for March 2 at Poe’s Livestock Farm at 2213 W. State Road 144, Franklin, just 1 mile east of Bargersville. Steve Kennedy, a professional shearer, will lead the event. Find registration forms at indianasheep.com. The fee is $50, and participation is limited to the first 50 registrants. Money and forms must be received by Feb. 22.
“Learning the skill of sheep shearing is a great investment for anyone who would like to shear their own sheep or shear for others,” says Larry Hopkins, ISA president.