Producers To Vote On Lamb And Wool Checkoff Referendum
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
WAYNESBURG (Greene Co.)
Sheep producers will soon be
asked to vote to approve, for the
first time, an industrywide check
off program that will go a long way
to promote domestic sheep and
wool.
Hard fought through the last
minutes of the 104th U.S. Con
gress in the fall of 1994, the Sheep
Promotion, Research, and Infor
mation Act of 1994 “is the only
game in town to maintain any sta
bility within the U.S. sheep indus
try,” wrote Janet Mawhinney,
member of the 13-person Referen
dum Task Force for the American
Sheep Industry (ASI) Association,
in., a recent letter to Lancaster
Farming.
Mawhinney operates a 100-ewe
Dorset breeding and custom freez
ing operation in Waynesburg with
her husband Michael. Contacted
by phone on Tuesday, Janet said
the proposed checkoff on lamb is
for one cent per pound on both
domestic and imported lamb based
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on weight at the time of sale. On
domestic wool, the proposed
checkoff amount is two cents per
pound grease at the time of sale.
The amount to be raised according
to checkoff guidelines has a cap of
2.5 cents per pound.
In both cases, as in other indus
try checkoff programs, the amount
would be deducted from the pro
ducer’s check at the time of sale.
Producers who have at least one
sheep for at least 30 days, includ
ing youth, are eligible to vote.
Those who previously signed up
for Wool Act support payments
will have the referendum mailed to
them in the fall. Producers can also
obtain referendum forms at the
local Consolidated Farm Service
Agency office. The referendum
will be voted upon in mid-October
this year, according to
Mawhinney.
The Waynesburg sheep produc
ers, who operate Mawhinney
Mountain Dorsets, are concerned
that the loss of local markets to
importers may cause thousands to
quit the business. After the passage
of S.B. 1548 in the fall of 1993,
which phased out the 1954 Wool
Act, thousands of producers have
been lost.
Sheep producers depended on
the Wool Act, which provided
money to operate from tariffs on
imported wool products, to sur
vive. As a result of the phasing out
(which reduced rates to SO percent
for the 1995 crop), as much as 60
percent of the market has been lost
to importers.
According to Joseph Vogel,
president of the Pennsylvania
Sheep and Wool Growers Associa
tion, the amount paid through the
program for 1995 will only be
about 25 percent of normal.
Vogel views the checkoff prog
ram as a “self help” program.
According to Vogel, there are
about 3,800 sheep producers in
Pennsylvania, and of them, at least
a third derive the major portion of
their income from sheep
production.
“It’s scary,” said Janet
Mawhinney. “I don’t want to see
us lose our industry here. There are
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so many benefits that it provides.”
About 18 percent of individual
sheep and wool producers have
been lost in theU.S. because of the
phasing out of the Wool Act,
according to Mawhinney.
. While many industry promotion
programs spend many millions of
dollars on education, promotion,
and research, the sheep and wool
industry is allocated only $7 mil
lion per year. This compares to $BO
million spent by the beef industry,
$45 million spent by the cotton
industry, and $4O million spent by
the pork industry, according to
Mawhinney.
“Is it any wonder we are unable
to have a ‘catchy’ television prom
otion?” wrote Mawhinney in a
news release.
Of the $7 million allocated to
the sheep industry, most of the
Wool Act tariff money went to
deficit reduction, with little
returned for education and
promotion.
With the passage of the check
off. the total amount expected for
promotion of lamb and wool will
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rise from the current $7 million
under the Wool act to $l3 million
under the proposed checkoff prog
ram. According to Vogel’s esti
mates, about SO percent of the
income will be placed into
marketing.
If the referendum is approved,
state sheep and wool grower orga
nizations would receive 20 percent
of the collected checkoff funds
compared to the 10 percent now
received under the phased-out
Wool Act
Passage of the referendum
would create a National Sheep
Promotion, Research, and Infor
mation Board whose members will
be nominated by certified state
organizations and appointed by the
U.S. secretary of agriculture. The
board will be made up of 85 pro
ducers, 10 feeders, and 25 impor
ters. Pennsylvania will be entitled
to one member on this board,
according to Mawhinney.
(Turn to Pag* A 29)
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