South Dakota Sheep Growers Association is hog wild for lamb and wool

The population of the South Dakota’s Black Hills swells considerably each year during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which provides the perfect opportunity for area ranchers to introduce bikers to American lamb and wool.

The South Dakota Sheep Growers Association did just that recently, offering lamb shoulder samples and wool socks to interested bikers at the Stone House Saloon in Belle Fourche, South Dakota.

“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 a $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, South Dakota.

“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.”