Author: Garden State Sheep Breeders

Valais Blacknose Sheep Introduced in North America

http://valaisblacknosesheepsociety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/image11.jpeg

The Valais Blacknose Sheep Association of North America announces the successful launch of a “breed up program” for introducing the breed to North America. The first generation of lambs are being born in 2018.

For centuries, the Valais Blacknose sheep were found only in Switzerland on the remote snow-covered peaks of Valais. Although the sheep are believed to have existed since the 15th century, it became a breed recognized by the Swiss Sheep Breeding Association in the mid 1960’s as the Walliser Schwarznasen or Valais Blacknose because of its unique markings. Several hundred were exported to the United Kingdom in 2014. The breed’s wool is considered ideal for carpets, bedding and felting.

The Blacknose Sheep Association of North America was formed in 2017 to support the introduction of the breed to the United States and record the offspring of the breed up programs already in progress.

For more information, on how to purchase the frozen semen of the Valais Blacknose Sheep, as well as general information on the breed, contact the Teton Blacknose Sheep Company at [email protected], www.tetonvalais.com or 561-309-1402.

 

Article Source: ASI Weekly March 23, 2018

https://www.sheepusa.org/Newsmedia_WeeklyNewsletter_2018_March_March232018_ValaisBlacknoseSheepIntroducedInNorthAmerica

Photo Source: http://valaisblacknosesheepsociety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/image11.jpeg

Soil Health Enables Climate Beneficial Wool

Rancher Benefits in Multiple Ways from Soil Health

What if, before you purchased a hat or sweater, you knew the wool used to make it came from sheep raised on a ranch managed to improve soil health and increase soil carbon? For nearly a decade, ranch owner Lani Estill has worked with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to improve soil health.

By adding carbon-conscious conservation practices to her ranch, the operation now stores more carbon in the soil than it emits through its operations. As a result, her operation, Bare Ranch, is marketing “climate beneficial” wool to a national clothing manufacturer. Estill and her family raise sheep and cattle on her 40,000-acre ranch, which sits on the border of northern California and northwest Nevada.

With help from her local NRCS offices and supported by Environmental Quality Incentives Program contracts, Estill has also improved wildlife habitat on her ranch. She improved sage grouse habitat by removing thousands of acres of invasive juniper and installed hedgerows for pollinators. She and her co-owners also installed fencing and livestock watering facilities and are following a prescribed grazing management plan.

Read the full story at www.usda.gov/blog.

Source: ASI Weekly March 9, 2018
 

Scrapies Update

 

Ohio State Extension Rebuilds Sheep Team Blog

Shepherds now have a place to find all the latest information on sheep production, industry research conducted at Ohio State, and daily management tips. The recently rebuilt The Ohio State University Extension Sheep Team blog page can be found at http://u.osu.edu/sheep/.

The site is managed by Sheep Team Program Coordinator Brady Campbell and includes contributions from the more than 25 Ohio State faculty and staff who each have unique interests in sustaining the sheep industry. Once at the site, readers will find current management information, a listing of upcoming events, research summaries and a library of resources.

Dairy Sheep Symposium Offers AI Presentations

Sheep producers who are considering the use Artificial Insemination to improve their flock genetics might want to consider attending the 2017 Symposium of the Dairy Sheep Association of North America, Nov. 30-Dec. 2 in Orford, Quebec, Canada.

The first day of this year’s symposium will be devoted entirely to AI. Speakers from Canada, Europe and the United States will present on AI techniques used in France, Iceland and Canada, both cervical and laparoscopic, with both frozen and fresh semen. Presenters will also discuss protocols that will improve conception rates and litter size in ewes who have been artificially inseminated.

Furthermore, a large number of dairy sheep producers who have begun using AI to incorporate European genetics into their flocks will be in attendance. Developments in AI techniques, as well as improved availability of internationally-sourced semen, are offering American sheep producers some real opportunities to broaden and improve their breed’s gene pool.

The symposium will be at the Estrimont Suites & Spa in Orford, in southern Quebec just north of Vermont. Attendees can register for just one day (i.e., for the day of AI presentations on Nov. 30th), or for the full symposium – which includes two days of presentations, a wine-and-cheese reception featuring Canadian sheep-milk cheeses, tours of two Quebecois sheep dairies and an optional cheese-making workshop.

For more details on the symposium schedule, go to www.dsana.org.

Women Shearers Featured in Vogue

“I was always acutely aware that there were less women shearers,” photographer Nich Hance McElroy said of photographing women shearers up and down the West Coast for Vogue. But last year, when he began shearing on commercial crews for a shearer and sheep rancher named Robert Irwin, McElroy noticed more and more women working on flocks – many who Irwin actively recruited. Some were already farmers or gardeners themselves, some were tech professionals in the Bay Area with a back-to-the-land mind-set, some were part-time knitters who wondered why it was next to impossible to find local wool. McElroy began photographing them, too.

“I really think, going forward, it’s going to be women doing farm work,” Irwin told me recently by phone from California. “The last five years or so, teaching guys to do this stuff, a lot of them just don’t have the mentality of waking up and thinking to themselves, ‘I’m going to get better at this.’ The women do. They’re more apt to stick with this; they’re more detail-oriented; they’re tougher.”

Read the story at https://www.vogue.com/projects/13535219/women-sheep-shearers-california-oregon-photographs-nich-mcelroy/.

ASI Wool Council Hosts Military Wool Tour

Wool is one of the world’s most diverse natural fibers. It’s this diversity that has made the United States military the American wool industry’s No. 1 customer.

American Sheep Industry Association Deputy Director Rita Kourlis Samuelson says, “We’re trying to remind people why they use wool. It’s not your grandma’s wool sweater.”

With 18 different characteristics, wool plays an important role in today’s U.S. military.

“Wool is naturally fire resistant, which protects our soldiers when they are exposed to fire hazards. Wool is comfortable in that it breathes. I could go on and on, but there really are so many properties that make it comfortable for a soldier to wear,” says Samuelson.

This week, ASI’s Wool Council hosted a military wool tour in North Carolina and South Carolina with stops at Chargeurs Wool, Burlington Worldwide and Nester Hosiery (known for their all-American brand Farm to Feet).

“We had the wonderful opportunity to explain that we have a good supply of wool that is adequate to meet the military’s specifications,” said ASI Wool Council Chairman Ken Wixom of Idaho. “We have a lot of good, fine wool and we do a good job of producing it for them. This was the perfect way to show that to them first hand.”

Not only is the relationship between the U.S. military and American wool industry an exciting one, it’s also a very important one. And one that all stakeholders involved hope to keep going for years to come.

The United States military is the single largest consumer of American wool in the U.S. and consumes 15 to 20 percent of the annual American wool clip.

Catch videos of the tour online at https://youtu.be/E3UQztgBbSg and https://youtu.be/e68nzn_ymbM.

APHIS No Longer Providing Free Plastic Scrapie Tags

To support animal disease traceability and scrapie eradication efforts, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has provided both metal and plastic ear tags and applicators to sheep and goat producers – at no cost – since fiscal year 2002.

After a funding reduction in FY 2012, APHIS used specific, no-year funding (for scrapie and ADT) to continue purchasing the tags and distributing them free of cost to producers. These no-year funds were exhausted in fiscal year 2017. While the Agency remains committed to ADT efforts, beginning Oct. 1 of this year, APHIS is providing only metal tags free of charge to producers and others who handle sheep and goats. Plastic tags and applicators for metal and plastic tags will remain available for purchase directly from approved tag manufactures.

These changes will reduce APHIS tag and applicator costs while still providing sheep and goat producers with a free identification device. APHIS will provide a limited number of plastic tags to producers newly enrolled in the Scrapie Free Flock Certification Program who submit tissues for scrapie surveillance in order to encourage on-farm scrapie surveillance.

The agency will continue to work closely in partnership with states and industry to achieve scrapie eradication.

For more information on how to purchase tags and applicators, visit https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animalhealth/scrapie-tags.
Note: The American Sheep Industry Association and other stakeholder groups continue to work with USDA on alternatives to this new policy, including increasing the appropriations designated to the scrapie eradication program.

2017 Contest Results

Breed Display

Waiting for results to be reported, contact Shelly Nussbaum

Fleece Show

2017 Fleece Show Results

Sheep Shows

Babydoll Classic  (No show in 2017) Commercial Grade
 Hampshire Jacob Meat (Open)
 Romney, White Romney, Natural Colored Shetland
 Wool-Fine & Medium Wool-Long

Shepherd’s Lead

Waiting for results to be reported, contact Shelly Nussbaum

Skein Contest

Contact North Country Spinners.

Updated: 15-Sep-2017

WIN THE OXFORD SHEEP FOUNDATION FLOCK

WIN THE OXFORD SHEEP FOUNDATION FLOCK

Since 2007, prominent Oxford Breeders have donated lambs to establish a Foundation Flock.  The Foundation Flock is given annually to establish one new Oxford Flock.  The flock consists of quality Registered Oxford ewes   and one Registered Oxford ram.
To win the award flock, you must write an essay to the Oxford Foundation Flock Award Committee.  Include information about yourself, illustrate your goals and intentions with the animals should you win the award.  Please type your essay and e-mail it to [email protected] by May 18.   Kindly include your mailing address and phone number.

The only request we ask of the Winner is to donate one ewe lamb within the first three years to a Foundation Flock. The Winner will be invited to attend the National Oxford Sale at Springfield, Illinois to receive their award.  If you cannot attend, other arrangements to  receive the flock will be made.  Good Luck!