Sheep Industry News February 2024

Industry Hands Out Annual Awards KYLE PARTAIN T he American sheep industry came together to honor its own during the Awards Luncheon and Wool Lunch at the 2024 ASI Annual Convention in Denver, recognizing sheep producers, researchers and wool warehousemen who have left – or continue to leave – their marks on the industry. a drink,’” Forrest recalled. “Then I knew it was a prank, because he’s never bought me a drink in all the years I’ve known him.” Of course, High wasn’t joking. “It’s an honor to follow in the footsteps of the people who have received this award before me,” said Forrest, who also wanted to thank his wife for being his most honest critic. “If she eats more than two forks full, then I know it’s a good recipe. If she eats just one and walks away, I burn that recipe.”

MCCLURE SILVER RAM A sheep and wool festival, a farm, a retirement home and even a funeral. Those are just some of the places that played host in the past year to the American Lamb Roadshow put on by Nick Forrest and his wife, Kathy, of Ohio. There’s literally no place the two won’t go to cook and talk about American lamb. Forrest first got the idea to create the roadshow after a catering job in Texas. “I have to thank my friend Alan McAnally from Texas,” Forrest said of feeding sheep producers in the state. “He said, ‘You ought to take this on the road.’ And that’s how we ended up calling it the American Lamb Roadshow.”

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCER Montana’s Brent and Tracie Roeder were just as surprised to learn they’d been selected for the Distinguished Producer Award when they got a phone call from ASI Vice President Ben Lehfeldt. “When Ben called and said we’d won an award, I asked him, ‘For what?’” Tracie recalled during the couple’s acceptance speech in Denver. “When I told Brent, he said, ‘For what?’” Tracie said she feels like the couple was called by God to work in the sheep and wool industries and feels fortunate that the entire family loves the work. “The kids are going on this odyssey with us,” she said. “It’s domi nated our family and our time, but hopefully we always found joy in our work and working together.” Raising quality sheep would have been enough to earn the couple ASI’s Distinguished Producer Award, but they took it a step further in developing direct marketing opportunities for both their lamb and value-added wool products. While Brent routinely credits Tracie for handling the family’s successful wool venture, he draws extra praise from producers throughout Big Sky Country for his work as the state’s extension specialist for range sheep production. “We have this unique life of extension and producer, and it keeps

Forrest has been an ambassador for American lamb for as long as anyone can remember. A past president and member of the American Lamb Board, he’s best known for his cooking demonstra tions. While he tends to travel in the Eastern half of the country, he’s well known as a lambassador who entertains crowds while his wife, Kathy, does a lot of the prep work to feed the hungry masses he’s convinced to try American lamb. A sheep producer himself, Forrest has previously served as president of the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association as well as on the board of the Ohio Sheep and Wool Program – a state check-off program. Forrest said he was shocked when OSIA Executive Director Roger High called to tell him he’d been selected for the McClure Silver Ram Award. In fact, he thought he was being pranked. “He said, ‘The first thing I want to do when I see you is buy you

it very real for both of us,” said Tracie. “I get to watch what he goes through with all of the red tape and frustrations, and then when we have a problem on our place he can address it with fellow produc ers. I’m grateful to all of those folks who have brought us along and

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