ASI Submits Nominations to the Lamb Board

June 6, 2008 -In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) provided a slate of nominees for consideration for appointment as producer-directors of the American Lamb Board (ALB).

David Trotter (Ind.) and Fred Pugh (N.C.) were put forward for the producer category representing 100 head of lambs or less. In the more than 500 head of lambs category for producers, Leo Tammi (Va.), David McEwen (Mont.) and Wesley Cude (Texas) were submitted as nominees for the board.

"I believe you will find the slate provides a full opportunity to appoint experienced and dedicated producers who have served their industry at the local, state and national levels and who meet the requirements of the order regarding size of operation," stated Burdell Johnson, ASI president, in his letter to the secretary.

Trotter and his wife raise approximately 25 Polled Dorsets and grow 150 acres of alfalfa/alfalfa-grass hay on their farm in Indiana. He has served as president of the Indiana Sheep Association and represented six eastern states on the ASI executive board. Trotter is being nominated to serve a second term on the board.

For the last 20 years, Pugh has fed and sold lambs to the retail trade in North Carolina. He currently runs 40 head, but prior to 2002, he fed 1,400 head a year and sold them to a five-store chain. He has been active in various sheep industry related associations.

Tammi and his wife have raised sheep in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia since 1980, but he has been active in the sheep industry most of his life. He has served on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Voluntary Scrapie Certification Program oversight committee since 1990.

McEwen's more than 20 years of experience encompasses wool production, lamb feeding and replacement ewe production. He owns 650 stock ewes as well as 18 registered rams. He serves on many state and county boards.

In west Texas, Cude runs approximately 1,500 head of sheep on the range. He has been in the sheep business for 30 years and is president of the American Dorper Sheep Breeders Association as well as other local boards.

"These individuals are very capable of making decisions in cooperation with the feeding and packing sectors represented on this diverse, industry-wide board," concluded Johnson.
Staff contact: Peter Orwick, ext. 33

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