Timely information, courtesy of the University of Rhode Island. Also check out the link at bottom for a concise demonstration on how to view your sheep’s lower eyelids for FAMACHA scoring.
We are announcing our Free Fecal Egg Count Analysis Program funded by USDA NESARE (Project: LNE 23-464) that will run from May through mid-September [2024]
The Livestock Conservancy is thrilled to announce the release of our short film, How to Shear Sheep & Why It’s Important. Directed by Jody Shapiro, the compelling 12-minute film showcases the beautiful dance between sheep and shearer, the importance of sheep shearing to the health and well-being of sheep, and the impact that Slow Fashion and local wool have on the economy and local community.
The film begins with an introduction by Dr. Temple Grandin, award-winning author, animal welfare advocate, and Lifetime Member of The Livestock Conservancy. Throughout the film, viewers will
Meet expert shearers and rare breed sheep
Learn tips on the best way to shear humanely, including preparing sheep for shearing and best tools for the job
Understand why shearing is important for the health of the sheep
Watch the art of humane sheep shearing
Discover how you can support a sustainable industry and help save rare sheep breeds from extinction. (Hint – it’s by supporting those that raise them, shear them, and make products from their fiber)
We hope that after watching this film, you will feel an appreciation for the art of humane sheep shearing and why it is so vital to the health of sheep. Please watch and share this video with your communities. We need your help spreading the word about why shearing is an important part of conserving rare breeds!
To learn more about our work with rare breeds and why conserving them is important for maintaining biodiversity and food security, visit our website at https://livestockconservancy.org/.
Thank you to Isabella Rossellini, Executive Producer of the film and Ambassador for The Livestock Conservancy for her generous gift that made this project possible.
###
The Livestock Conservancy is a national non-profit membership organization working to protect more than 150 breeds of livestock and poultry from extinction.
Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em Initiative
Interested in helping save rare breed sheep from extinction? Want to support shearers, shepherds, and the slow fashion movement? Sign up as a Fiber Artist to craft for a cause. This initiative encourages knitters, spinners, weavers, felters, and other crafters to use fiber from rare breed sheep in their projects. Using their wool puts sheep back to work on farms across the U.S. Enroll online at https://livestockconservancy.org/get-involved/shave-em-to-save-em/
Why is genetic diversity important?
Like all ecological systems, agriculture depends on genetic diversity to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Genetic diversity in domestic animals is revealed in distinct breeds, each with different characteristics and uses. Traditional, historic breeds retain essential attributes for survival and self-sufficiency – fertility, foraging ability, longevity, maternal instincts and resistance to disease and parasites. As agriculture changes, this genetic diversity may be needed for a broad range of uses and opportunities. Once lost, genetic diversity is gone forever.
What are Heritage Breeds?
Heritage breeds are livestock and poultry breeds raised by our forefathers. These breeds were carefully selected and bred over time to develop traits that made them well-adapted to the local environment and they thrived under farming practices and cultural conditions that are very different from those found in modern agriculture.
Heritage animals once roamed America’s pastoral landscape, but today these breeds are in danger of extinction. Modern agriculture has changed, causing many of these breeds to fall out of favor. Heritage breeds store a wealth of genetic resources that are important for our future and the future of our agricultural food system.
The United States is nearing the goal line after a 70 year battle against scrapie, a fatal disease that affects the brain of sheep and goats. Sheep and goat producers can help the USDA achieve this goal. The current program has been very successful to drastically reduce the amount of scrapie in the US. One of the most difficult aspects of an eradication program is making sure that the last few cases of the disease are found.
The most recent two cases of scrapie found in the US were sampled at slaughter but could not be traced back to a farm origin. One of these cases was a sheep in Wisconsin in 2021 and another was a goat tested in Indiana in 2019. Because these animals did not have adequate records and identification to find where they came from, it is likely there are still farms with cases of scrapie. For a country to be declared free of scrapie, international standards require a certain level of testing among all sheep and goat populations within a country. No samples can test positive for classical scrapie. The samples we need to test are brain and a lymph node.
Each year every state is given a minimum number of samples to be collected based on the breeding sheep and goat populations. This assures sampling represents the different populations. In fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023), NJ needs to sample 31 mature (>18 months) sheep and 23 mature goats. As of the end of December we only collected 2 sheep samples and 1 goat sample. We continue to ask for help from our New Jersey small ruminant industry to obtain these samples. If a producer has an adult sheep or goat that dies, that must be euthanized, or is being culled please contact USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services at 609-241-2236. There is no charge for the collection or testing of the samples. Producers may be eligible for official plastic tags as long as our supplies last.
Submitted by:
Linda A. Detwiler, DVM
Veterinary Medical Officer
Sheep And Goat Health Team
Ruminant Health Center
[email protected]
609.738.5511
Judith Schwartz writes about the people who are trying to turn around the near disappearance of American wool processing within the United States. Ecological reasons for keeping sheep (they contribute to carbon sequestrian if pastures are managed correctly), natural dying, and efforts to make American wool products competitive (based on value not on cost) with Chinese products made from American wool.
The American Wool Council has provided fans of the all-natural fiber with a new way to Experience Wool through the creation of a YouTube page. The page currently hosts three videos produced by Brand Juice in the past year to market American wool to a wide variety of consumers.
The videos were shown on multiple occasions during the American Sheep Industry Association Annual Convention last month in New Orleans, and can now be shared from the YouTube page by producers looking to promote American wool and its many benefits.
In The Luxurious Fiber, a narrator explains that the “Fabric designers choose first to achieve pure elegance, absolute luxury and unmatched style” is American wool.
The High Performance Fiber is aimed at more demanding users and offers, “There’s one time-tested, expedition-proven material you can count on. One fabric for four seasons. Experience the confidence of American wool.”
Natural and Sustainable promotes what might be the fiber’s greatest trait. “What this miracle becomes is infinitely remarkable, versatile, beautiful and in the end, sustainable.”
If you haven’t seen them yet, check out the videos. Share them with your friends, family and clients, and help the American Wool Council in promoting this natural, renewable, sustainable fiber that is perfect for any occasion in any season.
The decline of the American textile industry began after World War II
PUBLISHED ON
In recent years, however, there’s been a slow-growing demand for wool yarn that’s completely produced in the United States, from sheep to skein, said knitting and wool industries expert Clara Parkes. (Lindsay Wilson, Flickr/Creative Commons)
EAST JORDAN, Mich. — It began when Debbie McDermott allowed her daughter Jamie to raise two sheep for a 4-H project. Eventually, her 165-year-old farm was transformed into a successful, family-run, custom fiber processing mill.
McDermott’s Stonehedge Fiber Mill, which opened in 1999 in East Jordan, Michigan, now produces more than 700 pounds of yarn monthly for customers in 38 states and Canada. It produces an additional 15,000 pounds monthly for its personal lines of yarn, including Shepherd’s Wool, which is milled and dyed in-house before it’s shipped and sold in about 300 shops.
“I really think the appeal is our yarn’s made in the U.S., and people are more and more going toward U.S.-made products as a support for U.S. companies,” McDermott said.
Most garments worn in the United States in the first half of the 20th century were American-made, but the decline of the American textile industry began after World War II, according to knitting and wool industries expert Clara Parkes. She’s a member of the American Sheep Industry — an industry trade group — and author of several books on knitting.
In recent years, however, there’s been a slow-growing demand for wool yarn that’s completely produced in the United States, from sheep to skein, Parkes said.
One reason, she thinks, could be that consumers are turning back to wool because of the environmental risks of microplastics in garments made from synthetics like acrylic, nylon and polyester. The microplastics are released into waterways when the synthetic garments are washed.
Locally sourced yarn helps not only the environment but local businesses too, Parkes said. “There’s the environmental impact of shipping goods all the way across the world and bringing it back, but now people are asking themselves, ‘What if I can get the wool here and just keep it here?’”
McDermott echoed that sentiment: “Shopping local is allowing farmers to raise and keep their animals on the farm.”
Consumer interest in locally sourced yarn inspired the Michigan Fiber Cooperative to produce a line, Fresh Water Fiber, which uses wool and alpaca from Michigan farms. It’s processed by Stonehedge Fiber Mill and dyed by Why Knot Fibers in Traverse City.
One store that stocks Fresh Water Fiber is Wool & Honey in Cedar, Michigan. Owner Melissa Kelenske said she buys from Michigan-based fiber artists and companies that focus on producing high-quality, ethically sourced yarn with attention to their environmental impact.
“I think the farm-to-table movement of eating local, shopping local — basically the major slow food movement — laid the ground work for the knitting industry,” Kelenske said.
Another yarn company that supplies Wool & Honey is Brooklyn Tweed, of Portland, Oregon. Knitwear designer Jared Flood founded the company in 2010 to “preserve, support and sustain” American textile production by doing business with sheep farmers, fiber mills and dyers across the United States.
The business concept “was not so much about patriotism as supporting local economies,” said Christina Rondepierre, Brooklyn Tweed’s marketing manager.
“It was also the revitalization of East Coast mills and dyeing houses and the whole U.S. textile industry so they could sustain income and make sure towns and business were able to stay afoot,” Rondepierre said. For example, the Harrisville, New Hampshire, Historic District mill village spins some of Brooklyn Tweed’s yarns. The village was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
But patriotism, too, is helping to revive the American wool industry.
After Ralph Lauren drew flak for making its Team USA apparel for the 2012 Summer Olympics in China, the fashion company had all Team USA apparel for the 2014 Winter Olympics made in the United States. The yarn used for the closing ceremony sweaters was 4,000 pounds of Shepherd’s Wool from Stonehedge Fiber Mill.
McDermott was shocked when a Ralph Lauren representative asked her to supply the yarn.
“It was a mouth-dropped-open moment when I realized who I was talking to on the phone,” she said. “It was a neat experience.”
The Garden State Sheep Breeders organization is proud to announce the introduction of the Garden State Sheep Breeders Youth Ambassador Program. Part of our mission as stewards of the sheep community is to develop and grow our sheep leaders of tomorrow. The program’s goal is to empower the selected candidate with the knowledge, skills and aspirations necessary to develop them into an effective advocate for the Garden State Sheep Breeders. The program will seek to strengthen and expand upon the chosen candidate’s leadership abilities so that they may serve as a positive role model while promoting sheep, build meaningful relationships and support the sheep industry.
“Ongoing surveillance continued during the winter and on April 17, 2018, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the Longhorned tick successfully overwintered in New Jersey and has possibly become established in the state,” it was stated in a news release.
Last summer, a farmer walked into the Hunterdon County health office covered in thousands of the ticks after she was shearing a 12-year-old Icelandic sheep named Hannah. Experts were called in to identify the tick which was not previously known to exist in the United States. The Department of Agriculture says it still does not know how the tick made its way to New Jersey.
The sheep has never traveled internationally and has rarely left Hunterdon County, according to Andrea Egizi, a tick specialist at the Monmouth County Tick-borne Disease Lab.
The longhorn tick. The larval and nymphal stages are difficult to observe with the naked eye. Larvae can be found from late summer to early winter. (Photo courtesy New Jersey Department of Agriculture)
When the incident was first reported, steps were taken to eradicate the insect from the farm by using a chemical wash on the sheep and removing tall grass where the they are known to dwell. The exact location of the farm and the identity of the sheep farmer is being withheld by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
Although the ticks are known to carry diseases, such as spotted fever rickettsioses in other parts of the world, tests performed on the ticks and the farm animals were negative for diseases.
Local, state and federal animal health and wildlife officials, as well as Rutgers University – Center for Vector Biology, are working together to eliminate the ticks and stop them from spreading. Wildlife and livestock in the area will continue to be monitored throughout the year.
The ticks are known to swarm and infest deer and animals other than sheep, so the department is warning that it has the potential to infect other North American wildlife species. The ticks reproduce asexually by cloning themselves and just one of them is capable of laying thousands of eggs.
State and federal Department of Agriculture employees will be working with the public to determine if the tick has spread and to educate the public about protecting their livestock and pets from the pest.
The nymphs of the ticks are very small, resemble small spiders and are easy to miss, according to the Department of Agriculture. They are dark brown, about the size of a pea when full grown and can be found in tall grasses.
Authorities are asking people to contact the state veterinarian at 609-671-6400 if they see any unusual ticks on their livestock.
Unusual ticks detected in wildlife should be reported to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau or Wildlife Management at 908-637-4173, ext. 120.
Any questions about tick-borne illness in humans should be directed to local health departments or the New Jersey Department of Health at 609-826-5964.
At the most recent General Meeting Dr. Linda Detwiler provided an update on the USDA scrapie program and the need for collecting samples from Sheep that are over 18 months old that die in order to meet the state sampling quota. Owners that allow for samples to be collected will be eligible for the free scrapie tags with your farm’s assigned premise ID. The importance of this program can not be overstated. If we are able to collect enough data from the scrapie monitoring program over the next few years, we may be able to declare the U.S. scrapie free which would open up a number of opportunities for U.S. Sheep producers.
Since slaughter surveillance stared in FY 2003, the percent of cull sheep found positive at slaughter (once adjusted for face color) has decreased 90 percent. However, in order to declare the U.S. “scrapie free”, we must be able to prove to the world that we have conducted testing in all sheep and goat populations. This is why your submission of samples from sheep/goats over 18 months of age found dead or euthanized on your farm is extremely important. Without your help, we will not be able to declare the US free of scrapie, costing the sheep and goat industries approximately $10 to $20 million, annually.
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.
