WESTFIELD, Ind. – An Indiana man who grew up on a dairy farm now has a voice at the national level for producers of lamb and wool. Larry Hopkins, 65, was elected Nov. 13 to the executive board of the American Sheep Association, based in Englewood, Colo.

Hopkins represents Region III, which consists of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

He runs a purebred sheep and wool operation that he started over 25 years ago in Westfield just north of Indianapolis.

Previously, Hopkins served four years as president of the Indiana Sheep Association and worked full-time for over 19 years helping to operate the Indiana Attorney General’s Office in an administrative capacity.

Hopkins said he ran for the open seat to try to do as much as he can to help sheep producers, especially in the Midwest.

“Focusing on improving the American sheep industry is something I feel like I’ve got the time and resources to do and I wanted to kind of stay involved now that I retired professionally,” he said.

Hopkins said he wants to help capitalize on what he believes are opportunities for the U.S. sheep industry to grow. He said the use of more sheep to keep grass and weeds down on solar farms by consuming the vegetation is a strong possibility.

Hopkins said the number of solar farms is exploding and other grazing animals like goats used to maintain the grounds in a cost-efficient manner are known to damage solar panels by jumping on them.

“I think that’s got a real potential to increase the sheep numbers over the next decade,” he said.

He also sees potential to build upon the recent increase in demand for lamb in human consumption.

Before the pandemic, he said most people who eat lamb in the U.S. consumed it in restaurants.

The closing of restaurants to limit the spread of COVID-19 forced people into food venues like supermarkets to purchase lamb and fix the meat at home. Now that restaurants have reopened, he feels conditions are right to promote the consumption of lamb on both menus and dinner tables at home.

Hopkins said the population becoming more diversified also opens the door to further increase the demand for lamb.

He said some immigrants are from countries where lamb is the primary meat source and they want it more readily available in the U.S. “Obviously, lamb has a long way to go to catch up with beef, poultry and swine but seeing an increase is good,” he said.

Hopkins said he also wants to address challenges such as lamb produced more cheaply in places like Australia and New Zealand being more affordable here than lamb raised in the U.S.

He said one way to do that is finding ways for producers here to reduce their operating expenses.

“We got to continue to focus on being as efficient as we can so that our product is the one that wins at the marketplace instead of cheap imports coming from those two countries,” he said.

About 75 percent of all sheep in the U.S. are raised west of the Mississippi River with Texas, California and Colorado being the top producers, according to USDA.

In 2022, Indiana ranked No. 24 in the nation for the number of lambs and sheep on farms, according to USDA. About 52,000 of the state’s 60,000 lambs and sheep were used for breeding purposes while the rest went to market for use as meat and wool. The number of sheep in the state represented 1.2 percent of U.S. inventories, USDA said.

Hopkins was raised on a dairy farm with about 90 cows at its peak. He went to Purdue University where he became interested in politics but returned after his freshman year to help his short-handed father run the dairy operation.

Three years later, he was able to enroll at Indiana University where he obtained a degree in political science.

He went on to work several legislative campaigns for the Indiana Republican State Committee and was on the payroll of Lt. Governor John Mutz during the 1980s.

Hopkins was also city manager for seven years in Fishers, near Indianapolis, before joining the staff at the Indiana Attorney General’s Office where he was chief operating officer and chief administrative officer until retiring in July.

Currently, he has more than 30 ewes he plans on breeding this year with a half dozen or more rams on 22 acres. He also keeps anywhere from 10 to 15 yearlings at his farm.

Hopkins credited the connections built during his time with the Indiana Sheep Association for obtaining more of a voice at the national level.

“When you become president of a state association, you have a lot of involvement then with the national association and different things. So, that’s how I got involved with the national group,” he said.