The Sheep and Goat Predator Management Board will mail ballots this week to elect three producers to represent sheep and goat raisers in its 111-county area. Ballots must be returned to the Board office by the midnight August 5 deadline.
All sheep and goat raisers who reside in one of the three districts are eligible to vote in the upcoming election. The Texas Commodity Referendum Law, which governs the producer board, requires biennial elections. Ballots must bear the signature and address of the voter, and indicate production totals.
Sheep and goat producers nominated for the three open positions on the nine-member board are: District 1: WILL M. BLACK; District 2: JASON BANNOWSKY; District 3: No candidate – write-in only. These producers completed a nomination form with 10 qualified sheep and/or goat producers supporting their nomination, and returned the completed form by the July 6, 2022 deadline. They will each serve a six-year term.
Sheep and goat producers who would like to receive a ballot and have sheep and goat production and reside in one of the districts may obtain ballots at the local county extension offices, or through the Sheep and Goat Predator Management Board office at P.O. Box 3543, San Angelo, Texas 76902-3543, or by calling 325-659-8777.
The Sheep & Goat Predator Board has several programs designed to help sheep and goat producers within the referendum district. Any producer may participate in these programs; just call the office. These programs include the County Funding Program which distributes monies directly to the county clubs to fund whatever needs they might have. This funding is based on the USDA census for head of livestock within that county. The Guard Dog Program is a program between the Board and Texas A&M Agilife Research, designed to provide research and technical assistance and training aid to sheep and goat producers in order for them to develop a successful livestock guardian dog program. The Producer Assistance Program reimburses producers for flights related to predator control. The Hunter Education Program is a program between the Board and Preservation of Southwest Texas Wildlife designed to educate hunters on predator and predator control though various Hunter Extravaganza shows.
Producers vote in the district in which they live, even if they have production in other districts.
District 1: Brewster, Culberson, Crane, Crockett, Ector, Glasscock, Hudspeth, Irion, Jeff Davis, Loving, Midland, Pecos, Presidio, Reagan, Reeves, Sterling, Sutton, Terrell, Upton, Val Verde, Ward and Winkler.
District 2: Bandera, Edwards, Kerr, Kinney, Kimble, Mason, Medina, Menard, Real, Schleicher, Tom Green, Uvalde and Zavala.
District 3: Andrews, Archer, Bailey, Baylor, Bell, Blanco, Borden, Bosque, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Castro, Childress, Clay, Cochran, Coke, Coleman, Comal, Comanche, Concho, Coryell, Cottle, Crosby, Dawson, Dickens, Eastland, Erath, Fisher, Floyd, Gaines, Garza, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Hale, Hamilton, Haskell, Hays, Hockley, Hood, Howard, Jack, Jones, Kendall, Kent, King, Knox, Lamb, Lampasas, Llano, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, McCulloch, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Mitchell, Motley, Nolan, Palo Pinto, Parker, Parmer, Runnels, San Saba, Scurry, Shackelford, Somervell, Stephens, Stonewall, Taylor, Terry, Throckmorton, Travis, Williamson, Yoakum and Young counties.