Sheep Industry News January 2022

Wool Excellence Award Honors Colorado's Keith Padgett

K eith Padgett is proud to say he saw an increased aware ness of wool quality among sheep producers during his 55 years in the industry. The role he played in building that awareness will be recognized this month when Padgett re

mid-1990s and served in that capacity until resigning in 2020 and moving to Colorado's Western Slope. "It was highly encouraging to me to see young people on these collegiate wool judging teams show an interest in the com

ceives the Wool Excellence Award at the 2022 ASI Annual Conven tion in San Diego. A longtime market reporter with the U.S. Department of Ag riculture, Padgett said there were many producers he dealt with early in his career who saw wool as an unwanted by-product. "That's probably the biggest change I saw – and I was encour aged to see it – is the interest that a lot of producers had in learning about the quality of their wool and what they could do to improve it," Padgett said from his home in Montrose, Colo. "I think a lot of producers have realized the importance of wool and the effect it can have on the income of their operations if they put a little bit of effort into producing quality wool." Padgett's involvement with wool began early on in life. He worked with sheep in 4-H as a child and started shearing as a

modity," Padgett said. "That's why I continued to work with the wool show and judging competition for so many years." Padgett regularly visited with sheep producers in the inter mountain West to procure fleeces for the show and competition. And he always stressed the impor tance of improving wool quality. "I've seen enormous advance ments in the quality and knowl edge of wool," he said. "I like to think that maybe I had a small involvement in that change. But there were lots of progressive pro ducers out there who saw a need and set about doing it." For the past 15 years or so, Padgett also served as a wool buyer for Keese International. While he hasn't bought wool in the past few years for the com pany, he certainly left his mark on that facet of the industry. "He's just so personable and warm-hearted," said Darrell

Wool Council Offers Developing Shearer-Mentor Grant Program Finding a shearer – for any size operation – is increas ingly difficult. Understanding this, the ASI Wool Council has developed a new grant totaling $15,000 with the goal of helping develop beginner and intermediate shearers and keeping them in the industry. The grant is open to developing shearers and their mentors (those who are helping train them). Developing shearers will receive $500 at the beginning of the pro gram to help them with equipment and/or to supplement their work when they are shearing a low number of head each day. Developing shearers will then receive $1,000 upon completion of the program, which includes sending videos of their progress, visits with ASI staff and Wool Council members and a written summary. Mentors will receive $1,500 upon completion, which includes a written summary and documentation of how they assisted the developing shearer. Applications can be found at Sheepusa.org/wp- content/uploads/2021/12/2022-Developing-Shearer Mentor-Grant-Application.pdf and are due by Jan. 15.

teenager in the 1950s. He was a member of the county 4-H wool judging team. While in college he worked on the Oklahoma State University sheep farm and sheared sheep to pay his way through school. Professionally, he started with the U.S. Department of Agri culture in 1963 as a livestock reporter stationed at various loca tions around the United States before moving into wool report ing, wool standards and wool testing in 1975 at the Denver Wool Lab. "I stayed in that capacity until I retired in 1997," Padgett said. During that time, Padgett got involved with wool judging and the wool show at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. He was named superintendent of the NWSS wool show in the

Keese. "He's the nicest wool buyer you'll ever meet. And he loves the industry and looking for opportunities to help producers. He's just always been a world class individual." Keese also praised Padgett's skills as a market reporter. "He did a great job at reporting prices and was always fair to both the grower and the buyer," Keese said. As for winning the Wool Excellence Award, Padgett was sur prised to receive the phone call from Dan Gutzman of the Wool Roundtable. "I didn't know what to say," Padgett admitted. "I was very much surprised. I have enjoyed my career in the wool industry and the acquaintances I've made with buyers, producers and others in the industry."

14 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org