There are two things that are certain in Indiana, if you don’t like the weather wait 10 minutes, and it will change; and if you need help, there is usually a friend or neighbor willing to assist you. The Indiana Sheep Assoc. has found out that we have some great friends in the agricultural community that is willing to stand beside us and help.

The Indiana Sheep Assoc. is one of the oldest commodity groups in the state, and was originally founded in 1876 as the Indiana Wool Growers. There are 1,800 sheep producers in Indiana, but only 100 of those 1,800 belong to our association.

We just had our 2013 sheep symposium at Beck’s Hybrid new Conference Center at their home base in Atlanta, Ind. We had a great gathering of speakers at our symposium and a very educational event was experienced by all who attended.

The Indiana Sheep Assoc. would like to thank all who participated as a sponsor for our symposium. We would especially like to thank the Beck Family and Beck’s Hybrid for the use of this wonderful facility and also for the employees that gave up their Saturday to assist us during this event. We owe thanks to the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance who have sponsored us our last two symposiums.

Thank you Indiana Farm Bureau for media coverage and helping with special projects over the last two years.

Others who have given sponsorships include: Raymond James and Associates, Sagamore Advisors Group; Janes Livestock, Gary Janes; Harshbarger Sharpening; Premier Supplies and Russell Sheep Co.

We would also like to thank those in the broadcast and print media, like Farm World, for helping us spread the word. Indiana is very fortunate to have such cooperation through our agricultural commodity groups. We have a voice that is heard at the Statehouse and across our state line because of the strength of these unified commodity groups.

The Indiana Sheep Assoc. encourages you to join and support these great commodity organizations. When we all work to promote our chosen commodity, great things will happen; we know, just ask anyone who attended our 2013 Indiana Sheep Assoc. symposium.

Mark your calendars for Feb. 22, 2014, and plan on joining us at our sheep symposium.