Sock It To ‘Em: SDSGA Introduces Bikers to Wool

SD Sheep Growers Association Introduces Bikers to Lamb and Woo

lThe population of the South Dakota’s Black Hills swells considerably each year during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which provided the perfect opportunity for area ranchers to introduce bikers to American lamb and wool.The South Dakota Sheep Growers Association did just that on August 8^th, offering lamb shoulder samples and wool socks to interested bikers at the Stone House Saloon in Belle Fourche, S.D.”It’s such a great opportunity,” said SDSGA Treasurer Tammy Basel, who has played a role in similar outreach efforts with beef in previous years. “We’re a duel species grazer, so I thought we should do something with sheep this year, as well.”Basel used $1,000 American Sheep Industry Association Wool Outreach Grant to purchase American wool socks that were given away throughout the day. The American Lamb Board’s Local Lamb Promotional Funding Program provided for smoked lamb shoulder from Kitzan Sheep in nearby Nisland, S.D.”It was such a great environment because I’ve been to trade shows where people just keep walking by and don’t want to talk with you,” Basel said. “But this was completely different. In fact, I kept having to cut off conversations because other people were waiting to talk about American lamb and wool. We were giving the socks away, but by the time we left, we had them all convinced to go out and buy wool socks. And that was the idea, to get these great American wool socks on their feet.”Source: American Sheep Industry Association, 8/21/2018