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Sheep producers, lamb feeders and first handlers will have the opportunity in early 2005 to decide whether to continue the national lamb check-off.

A vote will probably be scheduled during a four-week window in late January or early February, according to Roger High, executive director of the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association. Any sheep producer, 4-H or FFA member who owned sheep within 2004 is eligible to participate; the vote will be held at USDA Farm Service Agency offices.

For the check-off to continue, a simple majority of sheep producers and sheep votes is needed. High explained that a producer with 30 ewes would have one producer vote and 30 sheep votes. "That puts the vote weight on where the sheep are," he said.

Ohio is in a unique situation, High said, in that the Ohio sheep industry has a statewide check-off in place that has helped promote the lamb and wool industries for several years in Ohio. Currently, Ohio’s and the national check-off are being collected in Ohio. This winter’s national check-off referendum outcome will have no impact on Ohio’s statewide check-off, High said. But, a positive vote on the federal check-off, which has been in place since July 2002, would go far to ensure the survivability of the sheep industry in the United States, High explained.

Since the national check-off has been operating, there’s been a "major advancement" in the promotion of "Fresh American Lamb," High said. And the American Lamb Board has been able to leverage its dollars by working with other commodity organizations.

What makes the lamb check-off different from other commodity promotion programs, High said, is that producers can request a refund. Information from the American Lamb Board shows less than 5 percent of producers requested a refund in 2003.

Ohio maintains the largest sheep flock east of the Mississippi River and is third largest in number of producers in the United States behind Texas and Iowa. There are about 3,300 sheep producers and about 140,000 sheep in Ohio. The value of the Ohio lamb industry is more than $20 million.

"Demand for our product is good because of the promotion efforts of the American Lamb Board," High said. "We’d like to see that continue."

For more information about the referendum, visit www.ofbf.org and click on Featured Links.

USDA ewe enrollment program
Sheep producers wanting to enroll in the USDA ewe-lamb replacement and retention program should do so as soon as possible.

Sign-ups began in late October and should continue until the end of November so payments can be made by the end of December.

The Bush administration committed $18 million for this final year of the ewe-lamb program, which is aimed at strengthening the U.S. sheep industry.

Those eligible for participation will use a base period from Aug. 1, 2003, to July 31, 2004. The program provides payments for producers who retain ewe-lambs in their flocks for at least one lambing season.

High said the program has definitely helped the industry expand.

For more information, contact your local FSA office.

OFBF’s Sheep Advisory Committee met in September and presented its policy suggestions to the organization’s state policy development committee.

After a briefing and issues update from Guy Flora, Ohio sheep producer and president of the American Sheep Industry Association, committee members made several policy recommendations:

• For animals killed by coyotes, the state livestock indemnity program should consider the economic loss of the animal, and a minimum weight should be established for immature animals, such as calves and lambs.
• Ohio’s sheep industry leadership was encouraged to seek out potential trainers for the sheep quality assurance program so they could be certified as trainer, provide leadership and resources that will lead toward having this program offered to sheep producers in Ohio.
• The funding formula for the national scrapie indemnification program should be revised so it is more equitable.
• The American Lamb Board referendum should be supported to affirm a national lamb check-off.
• AFBF should be encouraged to work with American Sheep Industry Association to encourage sheep producers to participate in the risk management plan being developed specifically for the sheep industry.

Other recommendations regarded mandatory price reporting, funding for a scrapie eradication program, lamb trade between Canada, the United States and Mexico, a national animal identification plan, OFBF’s line fence task force report and the reluctance of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife to implement wildlife control measures.