Keith Padgett is proud to say he saw an increased awareness of wool quality among sheep producers during his 55 years in the industry. The role he played in building that awareness was recognized this month when Padgett received the Wool Excellence Award at the 2022 American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) Annual Convention in San Diego.
A longtime market reporter with the USDA, Padgett said there were many producers he dealt with early in his career who saw wool as an unwanted byproduct.
“That’s probably the biggest change I saw—and I was encouraged to see it—is the interest that a lot of producers had in learning about the quality of their wool and what they could do to improve it,” Padgett said from his home in Montrose, CO. “I think a lot of producers have realized the importance of wool and the effect it can have on the income of their operations if they put a little bit of effort into producing quality wool.”
Padgett’s involvement with wool began early on in life. He worked with sheep in 4-H as a child and started shearing as a teenager in the 1950s. He was a member of the county 4-H wool judging team. While in college, he worked on the Oklahoma State University sheep farm and sheared sheep to pay his way through school.
Professionally, he started with the USDA in 1963 as a livestock reporter stationed at various locations around the U.S. before moving into wool reporting, wool standards and wool testing in 1975 at the Denver Wool Lab.
“I stayed in that capacity until I retired in 1997,” Padgett said.
During that time, Padgett got involved with wool judging and the wool show at the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) in Denver. He was named superintendent of the NWSS wool show in the mid-1990s and served in that capacity until resigning in 2020 and moving to Colorado’s Western Slope.
“It was highly encouraging to me to see young people on these collegiate wool judging teams show an interest in the commodity,” Padgett said. “That’s why I continued to work with the wool show and judging competition for so many years.”
Padgett regularly visited with sheep producers in the Intermountain West to procure fleeces for the show and competition. And he always stressed the importance of improving wool quality.
“I’ve seen enormous advancements in the quality and knowledge of wool,” he said. “I like to think that maybe I had a small involvement in that change. But there were lots of progressive producers out there who saw a need and set about doing it.”
For the past 15 years or so, Padgett also served as a wool buyer for Keese International. While he hasn’t bought wool in the past few years for the company, he certainly left his mark on that facet of the industry.
“He’s just so personable and warm-hearted,” said Darrell Keese. “He’s the nicest wool buyer you’ll ever meet. And he loves the industry and looking for opportunities to help producers. He’s just always been a world-class individual.”
Keese also praised Padgett’s skills as a market reporter.
“He did a great job at reporting prices and was always fair to both the grower and the buyer,” Keese said.
As for winning the Wool Excellence Award, Padgett was surprised to receive the phone call from Dan Gutzman of the Wool Roundtable.
“I didn’t know what to say,” Padgett admitted. “I was very much surprised. I have enjoyed my career in the wool industry and the acquaintances I’ve made with buyers, producers and others in the industry.” — ASI
