Ballots for sheep and wool council mailed to producers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Ballots for voting to determine whether an Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Council will be created have been mailed this week to sheep producers who registered for the referendum.

The council would promote consumer awareness and sales of sheep products.

Nearly 400 commercial Indiana sheep producers registered, so Karen Plaut, associate dean of Purdue Agriculture and director of Agricultural Research at Purdue, determined that voting could begin. Plaut and the ARP oversee the council's establishment in accordance with Indiana law.

For a vote to be held, at least 20 percent of Indiana's commercial sheep producers - 367 - needed to register.

Only those who registered by the March 30 deadline are eligible to vote. Ballots must be post-marked no later than May 24 and mailed to Purdue Agricultural Centers, Office of the Director, 615 W. State St., West Lafayette IN 47907-2053.

The Sheep and Wool Market Development Council would be composed of and elected by Indiana sheep producers who would administer the market development program. The program's goals would include supporting sheep and wool research, encouraging consumer education about lamb and wool products, and stressing market development, including producer education and sales promotion.

The council, which would begin July 1, would be funded by a proposed 0.5 percent checkoff of the net market price for all sheep and wool produced in Indiana.

The process to establish the council began in July 2012 when a petition signed by nearly 6 percent of the state's commercial sheep producers was delivered to Purdue University's Office of the Dean of Agriculture.

Writer: Keith Robinson, 765-494-2722, robins89@purdue.edu

Source: Jerry Fankhauser, 765-494-8368, fankhaus@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page