Sheep checkoff funds 2020 projects and seeks nominees for Board

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Agriculture’s Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Program (Indiana S&W) is funding new projects this year to promote the state’s lamb and wool industry, and is preparing to hold elections for three district seats in 2020.

At the checkoff’s biannual meeting last fall, Indiana S&W board members voted to accept four new projects to fund:

* Clark County 4-H workshop

* Washington County 4-H Sheep Club materials

* The launch of a social media-based marketing campaign to promote Indiana-raised lamb consumption executed by professional marketing firm, Hirons

* The 2020 ISA Shearing School held March 7

Indiana S&W asks that producers and others continue to submit funding requests for projects involving the promotion of or research about the Indiana Sheep Industry. More information can be found at iswcheckoff.wixsite.com/indianasheepandwool.

Indiana S&W will also be holding elections for three district seats in 2020:

District 2: Elkhart, LaGrange, Steuben, Kosciusko, Noble and DeKalb counties

District 5: Cass, Carroll, Howard, Clinton, Boone, Tipton, Hamilton, Grant and Madison counties.

District 8: Sullivan, Knox, Daviess, Marten, Gibson, Pike, Dubois, Posey, Vandenburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Clay, Owen, Monroe and Greene counties.

Anyone with questions or interest in learning more about the program should contact the Council President Ken McMichael at 812-820-1368 or Purdue Program Advisor Meredith Cobb at 765-426-1195. Voting will occur in March of 2020. Sheep producers in the state will receive ballots in the mail.

Background: The Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Program was created to support educational, promotional and research efforts involving sheep in Indiana. Funds for the council are collected from the sale of all sheep in Indiana - 0.5 percent of the net market price of each sheep sold. All funds collected by stockyards, sale managers, producers and others should be sent to the council’s business office at Purdue. More information is on the program’s website https://iswcheckoff.wixsite.com/indianasheepandwool.

Writer: Emma Hopkins-O’Brien, 317-607-5664, emmaellenhopkins@yahoo.com

Source: Meredith Cobb, 765-426-1195, mcobb2@purdue.edu