3-14 IAN Stan Boyd

 Every time I have a conversation with Stan Boyd, Executive Director of the Idaho Wool Growers Association, it is animated, interesting and filled with controversy. He’s an exciting guy and I love talking with.

 Not long ago I called Stan Boyd and asked him about sheepherders who typically come in from South America,  Peru, Chile... what have you. He waxed poetic about the fact that so many of these laborers come in here courtesy of a wool grower. The wool grower pays for their flight and all of the administrative  expenses to get to Boise and then on to the hills where they work. Their food is taken care of as well as their living quarters. Stan articulated some angst over the fact that it is all too common that, once they are here, they abandon their jobs and go to work for someone else. That led me to ask him about their pay scale. Clearly, if they are not paid very much, one can understand how they would not want to continue working as a sheepherder. So let us allow Stan to weigh in with particulars: “I had a Peruvian tell me, this is 4 or 5 years ago, that he makes as much here as a doctor in Peru. He sends it all home. You know $1000 per month doesn’t sound like much to you and me but to those guys, that is what a doctor makes in Peru. When you convert their money into US dollars and we pay them in US dollars and they ship it home.” I then asked Stan if anything else exciting was going on in the industry. “That is it for the moment. Now is lambing time and we will be shearing here  pretty quick as spring comes on. Its another year and everybody is optimistic that the market will be better than last year.”