A World of Experts

I cannot think of a more influential technology for delivering a message than social media. The cascade of events over the last 50 years that resulted in a computer entering every home, then the worldwide adoption of the internet, and ultimately the redefining of human-to-human interaction driven by the likes of Facebook and Twitter has created a world where communication is almost unrecognizable as compared to a decade ago.

It is my job to spread ideas and technology to ranchers in the small ruminant industries, and as we speak a simple video, I created for our extension Facebook page showing a piece of equipment to handle goats has been viewed by 8 million people! That type of response is something that should incite a backslapping and high-fiving frenzy amongst our office. So why is it that we still approach posting on social media with a tingling sense of both positivity and trepidation? Like most unfathomably beneficial tools, there is a darker side to social media that must be understood and properly navigated, because a single mouse click has the power to turn good intentions into serious hot water.

In agriculture, not just sheep and goat production, we have an ever-increasing disconnection with the end consumer. I know we all have read something or heard a quote from a city-dwelling critic of how animals are raised and shaken our head in disgust. How could they think that way? The truth is, most people are not as foolish as we would like to think they are, but as a species we tend create a reality in our own minds about everything, even the stuff we know nothing about. For those not connected to agriculture in any way, how farming and ranching really works is a complete unknown, so their perceptions are easily shaped by the talking points of others.

Social media fuels this snowball effect as we tend to surround ourselves in the digital community with like-minded individuals. But that’s not even the point I am trying to make. With the disconnect between farmer and the public quite apparent, we have encouraged our fellow agriculturalists to “tell their story.” Quite simply, pictures and posts on social media about your daily interactions with the animals you raise has the power to shed positive light about the industry and agrarian way of life.

At nearly every conference and or leadership event I have attended where the discussion has turned to creating visibility to the end-consumer, the mantra has been “Post!”, “Post!”, “Post!”. Before you do though, I want to provide our own experiences with building a social media campaign, because even though we have not had any major incidents, just because you post with the best of intentions, it is important to know not everybody will see it through the same lens… and often the harshest critics are our neighbors.

I’ll call this next part, “Lessons from the Facebook Frontier.” Our page has around 10,000 followers, which in all reality is not that many, but it is enough that we expect each of our posts to be seen by several thousand folks. There is potential for us to put something on Facebook and by the next day it has been seen by the same amount of people that attend an Aggie football game. Wait a week and that might equal all the people who watched the football game. For those of you who wish to use social media platforms to promote agriculture (or any business, really), we have a little advice. Here is what we have learned what to do and not to do –

1) DO allow, and encourage, comments on your posts. This creates interaction and promotes sharing and discussion of the information, and all around is beneficial. DO NOT get caught up by negative comments. Inevitably, someone will say something a bit “snarky”, or even worse, and it is very easy to dwell on. We typically brush off comments that are obviously foolish. Best case scenario is when a fellow ag producer defends you with honesty and integrity.

2) DO include photos in your posts. Pictures connect with people significantly more than just words. We (humans) believe what our eyes see but are more likely to question or ignore what we read or hear. Pictures are worth more than a thousand words online and often a simple, or no caption, are even required. Bonus points for pictures of animals. Double bonus points for baby animals. If you are working livestock, definitely describe what and why you are doing.

3) DO post about the drawbacks and negatives of farm and ranch lives. Seeing the “other side” of the story is usually appreciated by viewers as everybody is faced with positives and negatives within their careers and by you showing (and describing) your adversity it helps to create a sense of relatability. DO NOT Describe your problems and how it is somebody else’s fault. Describing a situation, showing both sides of the story, and letting others draw their own conclusions is infinitely more powerful.

4) DO share, comment on, and promote posts by fellow agriculturalists who have similar messages as you. Regularly posting on your page to maintain a steady stream of interest can be exhausting if you are trying to develop new content daily. Often by sharing posts or interactions with others you are able to publish new posts that are equally as impactful without the need to create something new by yourself. DO NOT post or share articles or content from others without vetting their source. The saying “not everything you read on the internet is true” needs to be amended to “almost nothing you read on the internet is true.”

5) DO go live and share videos. Social media is crowded with people who have found the success of posting photos. But most people are terrified of being behind a live camera. Viewers recognize this and are more attracted to videos. If a picture is worth a thousand words, live video is worth a million words. Once we stepped into the world of Facebook live, our audience grew tenfold. Do invest in equipment to stabilize the camera and drown out the wind noise.

This is far from an exhaustive list of how to be successful through social media promotion, mostly because we have not figured out the perfect formula ourselves. New technology generates excitement amongst its users and provides everybody a voice to share their views and stories. You have a great story; so tell it to the general public or someone else will tell it for you. “If you want something done right; do it yourself!”

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Adding to the Menu

Nearly 10 years ago, I made the commitment to eat lamb on a regular basis. It was a slow process but now lamb is the most common protein eaten at our household, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Growing up we did not eat lamb or mutton. These products were not a staple of our diet and we lacked the knowledge to prepare an array of lamb or mutton entrees.

My hometown community had a negative opinion of lamb, which most people accepted as true without direct experiences. Cabrito, young goat, was a delicacy and only a few pit masters in the area dared to cook it. Yet, most of the goat meat never made it to the serving line, as the cooks (and loiterers) ate it straight off the pit.

We were typical “Beef Loving Texans.” Although, we raised more sheep and goats than cattle, it rarely crossed my mind why we did not support these industries similarly to our support for the beef industry.

Lamb, mutton, and goat meat have unique flavors and aromas, which my children truly enjoy as they have grown up eating these on a regular basis. However, my wife and I had to learn to appreciate that they are different from other red meats.

As you are likely aware, flavor comes from the fat. To me, lamb flavor has a sweetness to it that other red meats do not. I’ve come to hold it in high regard. Mutton has a bolder flavor that can be too much for those who don’t eat sheep meat regularly.

Diet of the animal when the fat is deposited can change the flavor. Grains tend to result in milder flavor; whereas, grass tends to result in bolder flavor. The older and fatter the animal the more intense this can be.
Odor is released from the fat during the cooking process. In some cases, the smell from this can resemble how the animals smell alive, which obviously turns people away. This is compounded when cooked inside a home and/or a sealed cooking method. If the raw product has mild animal odor, it will likely be more prominent during the cooking process. As such, I suggest cooking it outside!

For me, the smell of sheep or goat does not come through in the flavor of cooked product. Mutton or goat meat, particularly mature billies, can have this effect. For many international cultures, these more intense flavors are actually preferred, and they have honed their cooking techniques to make them more pleasing to the palate. I would suggest trying a recipe outside of what is considered traditional American fare if you want to experiment with mutton, and I bet you will be pleasantly surprised.

Lamb fat has a lower melting point than beef, which can result in flare ups on the BBQ pit. Keep a close eye on lamb over an open flame! The fat also tends to congeal at a lower temperature, so to me it is important to eat lamb while it is hot or the fat will become tacky. This tackiness will stick to the roof of your mouth and provide an undesirable eating experience. If the majority of the fat is cooked away, then temperature is not as important.

Some people have a difficult time overcoming prior perceptions and they may never be able appreciate these products. Others can overcome these barriers quicker and will likely be a “fan of lamb” in shorter order. Fortunately, the poor perceptions of sheep and goat meats are fading away and the general public are less antagonistic to these products from the beginning.

Often I hear stories of people who have tried lamb in a restaurant and the dish was prepared with an over-abundance of spices and sauces to mask the flavor. My advice is to start simple, grill some chops at home with your favorite steak spices, and don’t bother with a sauce. You can always add more next time, but simplicity almost never fails in this case.

Lamb and goat meat are expensive to purchase at the grocery store, particularly compared chicken or pork. Generally, grocery stores only carry the more expensive cuts that sell for $5 -15 per lb. They tend to have higher margins built in because their sales volumes are low. But they regularly discount lamb or goat meat products to market them before it expires. This is where we started sourcing it.

Cheaper imported products can be purchased but I prefer to support American farmers and ranchers. Plus, I like domestic product better than imports, and I am always perplexed when I see lamb on a menu and it is marketed as being from New Zealand or Australia. While I believe imports have their place, I also believe we have the best product in the world here in the US.

A less expensive way to source lamb or goat meat is to take live animals to a local butcher and purchase half or whole animals. This keeps the overall costs down. It also keeps a supply of product in the freezer to be used without planning too far ahead. Processing costs generally add $2-4 per pound, plus you have transportation costs both ways.

The most cost-effective way to put lamb or goat meat in your freezer is to harvest and process the animals yourself. Currently, this is my preferred strategy. For $4 to 6 per pound, I have several diverse cuts that I can prepare in a number of ways and maybe more importantly my children learn first-hand where our meat comes from. The time spent harvesting, processing, and packaging go by quick and are completely worthwhile.

Making the transition to eating lamb and goat meat on a more regular basis takes time and effort. But I have valued the process immensely. Prior to this, I was jaded with perception and unfamiliarity. Not only do we now get to enjoy some of the finest proteins around, but I can promote my industry with experience and conviction. Eating homegrown meat is enjoyable not only to the palate, but the sheep producer in me realizes the opportunity I have capitalized on to raise, harvest, and eat my own food.

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Looking Beyond Dewormers

This edition of Reid’s Ram-blings was composed by Jake Thorne, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Associate. Jake has been a contributing editor to this column over the past year and is a valued asset to the sheep and goat Extension team at the San Angelo center. Enjoy!

The destructive power of microscopic bio-agents may not have been on your mind two months ago. We can now throw that blissful lack of worry right out the window. COVID-19 has brought the world to a screeching halt, but you are undoubtedly seeking a new topic for your daily dose of reading, so here’s something that may, or may not, put your mind at ease. Your sheep and goats have parasites, specifically haemonchus contortus, and these worms are killing your animals. See, don’t you feel better already?

In all seriousness, internal parasites are not a new theme or topic if you’re a long-time reader of this column. However, they are perhaps the single greatest issue we face in the sheep and goat industry here in Texas and are worth discussing every chance we get. If you are looking for drenching protocols or how to perform fecal egg counts, we have some great videos on these topics on our Facebook page and a sister YouTube channel. I suggest you check it out if you haven’t already done so. With that said, I want to dive a little deeper into a different aspect of parasite management; identifying animals that are resistant, and what that word really means.

Some sheep and goats are able to withstand parasitic infections from the barber pole worm (H. Contortus) much better than others. The barber pole worm resides in the abomasum of ruminant livestock and uses a spear-like tail to puncture the lining of the stomach and feed on the blood of the animal. In the meantime, female worms shed around 5,000 eggs per day. Barbaric and prolific…an effective combination for survival! While mechanisms for host resistance to barber pole worms are complex and still being discovered, research has consistently linked more resistant sheep with higher levels of Th2 helper cell activity, aka a stronger immune response. Immune cells that defend the host against parasites (eosinophils), quicker tissue repair, mucosa secretion in the gastrointestinal tract, and IgA antibody production are all results of increased Th2 activity.

Considering worm resistance to drenches is rampant and that approval of new anthelmintics is not on the horizon, selecting for animals that are genetically capable of combating parasites is crucial. I may be going out on a limb, but in my opinion this may actually be the single most important selection criteria you should have. With that said, one of the greatest mistakes producers make is believing certain animals who are not showing outward signs of parasites are more resistant when in reality they have just not experienced the same “stress” as others in the flock. For example, let’s say we have two sheep, Shrek and Dolly. We have performed a fecal egg count (FEC) on both (a FEC is a way of quantifying the eggs that are shed from the animal in the fecal matter thus allowing us to estimate the worm load in the animal). Shrek has a FEC of 500 eggs per gram (epg) and Dolly has a FEC of 3,000 epg. Seems like a no brainer as to which is more resistant, right? However, what if Shrek did not raise a lamb this year and Dolly currently has a set of twins? These two animals are not able to be accurately compared because the environmental effect (everything that affects an animal other than its genetics) is skewed. We know something called the periparturient rise exists, which is a situation where at the time of parturition the immune system of the dam becomes suppressed and parasites typically flourish, potentially confounding the comparison described here.
Therefore, to identify animals that are more resistant to parasites, we need to level the environmental playing field. The preferred way to do this is to identify a contemporary group of lambs or kids, manage them similarly, and then before they enter into production (lambing or kidding) collect fecal samples and have these analyzed. Common times to collect are at weaning, 60-90 days post weaning or when the animals are a year of age. Instead of having preset dates however, the correct time to collect is when the animals have had some exposure to parasites (they aren’t naïve) and are carrying a moderate load.

A moderate load can be defined when the average of the contemporary group is between 500 and 1,000 epg. One thing to keep in mind is that the correlation between levels of genetic resistance and actual fecal egg counts are not linear, i.e. you likely won’t find a steady rise in the egg counts of this group. More likely, most animals will be at or below the average and a few will be as much as five to 10 times the average! For example, in 2019 at the TAMU Research Station in San Angelo we analyzed FECs on 32 six-month-old Rambouillet sheep. The egg counts ranged from 0 to 4,350 epg, and results are depicted in the bar graph below:

From the analysis we learn that 27 of the 32 animals in the group are at or below the contemporary group average (500 eggs per gram). With that said, the top 5 head (~15%) with the highest egg counts are shedding 72% of the eggs for the entire group. Let’s say each of these animals is producing 1 kilogram of feces a day, we can multiply their egg count by 1,000 to get the number of potential parasites they are shedding on pasture each day. The five sheep with the highest egg counts in this group were dropping a combined 10.6 million eggs per day! The take-away here isn’t that 500 epg is a magical threshold, more-so that you will find the majority of your flock’s parasites come from a small percentage of your animals. These reservoir animals are the ones we want to identify and select against. It’s important to keep in mind that though they may not have visible signs of parasites (a “resilient” animal wouldn’t), they are still a major contributor to the amount of parasites out in the pasture and being consumed by the rest of the flock.

Raw fecal egg counts are clearly useful for identifying some animals with lower resistance, but the best way currently available to sheep and goat producers to determine genetic resistance to parasites is through using estimated breeding values (EBVs) from the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP). New this year, NSIP will be offering fecal egg count EBVS for all breeds of sheep, which can be a powerful tool for Texas producers who consistently have major issues with the barber pole worm. EBVs are calculated not only on an individual animal’s performance, but also on the performance of all of its relatives (offspring included). Ultimately, combating parasites is a complex problem and requires a multifaceted approach to solve it. Identifying resistant animals and keeping those as replacements is only one piece of the puzzle.

Reflecting on the year 2020 so far, we have experienced a situation unlike any my generation has experienced. While the time working from home has its inconveniences, I am certainly thankful for the added family-time it has provided, as well as extra opportunities to contemplate my own sheep operation’s management plan. There is nothing like spending time with your kids, out in the barn, gathered around sheep, collecting poop samples. Welcome to your anatomy and physiology lesson kids!

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Profit Potential in Ranching

In preparation for tax season, I have been sorting through piles of receipts and arranging the necessary information. Although, we only raise a small flock of sheep, it gets complicated to determine true profits generated by the farm. However, it is not difficult to identify enough costs to avoid paying too much in taxes.

Not surprising to this audience, the return on labor, land, and resources needed to properly raise sheep or goats is not going to attract people looking to get rich. Fortunately for those that consume our products, most people that raise livestock value the lifestyle more than profits. However, for an operation to be sustainable, it must generate a profit most years.

This begs the question “What amount of profit should a productive female generate annually?” While the answer is quite complicated and different for every farm or ranch, there is value in regional benchmarks and striving to meet or exceed these industry standards. The American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) provide an economic report that summarizes average profit per ewe by regions within the U.S. Below is a chart that shows the economic report for Texas and Southwestern sheep producers. The full report can be found at: https://c8e3i7k7.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2018-ASI-Budget-Project.pdf

Now you may be scratching your head and questioning how applicable this chart is to your operation. I too was shocked when I first looked at this report. After re-reading it line for line, hoping to fulfill my own bias that this must be wrong. I can say that this is actually very indicative of most commercial sheep operation in Texas. There are some assumptions made that have a significant impact of the budget, to which I encourage you to take a closer look at. For this article, I won’t dig into what all these assumptions are, but let’s just say that this report backs up a point I have tried to emphasize loud and clear; LAMB/KID CROP WEANED IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT! A 25% increase in weaned can drastically improve gross sales.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension has a standardized performance analysis program for beef cattle producers. In this analysis, beef producers are broken into quartiles based on profit per cow from data collected from the ranchers themselves. The chart below shows the profit spread between the different quartiles. Interestingly, half of the Texas cattle raisers lose money and the bottom quartile lost twice as much money as the top quartile made. Details about this program can be found at: https://agecoext.tamu.edu/programs/management-programs/beef-cattle-standard-performance-analysis-spa/

Hopefully, this stimulated a bit of thought about two different subjects.
First, where do I fit? At present, we don’t have a centralized program for sheep and goat producers similar to the Beef Cattle SPA. I’d suggest you refer to the sheep economic budgets presented below and generate a report on flock returns per ewe for your operation. Are you above or below average?

Second, what profit potential exists for across the different livestock species? To address this, Bill Thompson, AgriLife Extension economist in San Angelo, has 2020 projected budgets for the different livestock common to West Central Texas. The chart below looks at return above fixed and variable costs. Details about these budgets can be found at: https://agecoext.tamu.edu/resources/crop-livestock-budgets/budgets-by-extension-district/district-7-west-central/2020-district-7-texas-crop-and-livestock-budgets/

If you raise meat goats, you are already planning to take this article to the local coffee shop to brag to your friends. If you don’t raise meat goats, you are either thinking about getting them or you are convinced that these economic reports are inaccurate. How can it be true that my operation isn’t profitable when I make a living on these animals? Before you disregard this information, I encourage you to look at these budgets closely; specifically review the implied weaning percentages, labor costs, and supplemental feed. Furthermore, when ranchers apply a value to fixed costs to pasture, livestock, and equipment, often they realize that these budgets are more accurate than they’d like to believe. Keep in mind that not all ranchers are businessmen (or women) and not all businessmen are ranchers, but those that have a boot in each world are the ones that thrive.

That is enough data for this month’s column. Even me, a self-certified data junky, needs to take time to reflect on this information. I plan to make time to review the information that I take to the tax office, quantify my true flock profitability, and make plans to improve this going into the future.

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Missed Opportunities

A professor of mine once said that successful ranchers should spend at least 75% of their time working on improving the ranch business, as opposed to working on day-to-day operations for the ranch. At the time, I thought he was dead wrong and he had his percentages backwards.

Based on my ranching background and the love of ranch work, it seemed impossible for a small- or medium-sized rancher to spend 75% of his time behind a desk. I continued to view business-focused ranchers as only being applicable to the large operations. It just seemed impractical to hire employees to conduct all the daily chores and manage periodic work events.

After 15 years of working with some of the most progressive ranches that have continue to be successful in a landscape of tight margins and high cost of production, I am convinced he was right.

The lack of skilled labor that can be hired to accomplish ranch work is generally viewed as a barrier. However, I have come to realize that the best employees are trained, not hired. Some of the best ranch hands that I have worked with haven’t grown up on a ranch. Or if they did grow up ranching, they generally state the they do things very different now from how they did in the past.

Moreover, many progressive ranches have employed new equipment and management strategies to reduce labor requirements, while maintaining optimal levels of productivity. But ranchers must take time to identify these opportunities or daily tasks will continue to consume their lives.

Another barrier to overcome is the perception that there isn’t enough profit in ranching for family-owned operations to support a boss working full-time on the ranch, not for the ranch. While this may be true based on current levels of production, strategic changes in ranch management can unlock profit potential unrealized by ranches that have been stuck in a rut.

Suboptimal lamb and kid crops are a great example. I have had the opportunity to work with producers that raise lamb or kid crops that are 50 to 100% above industry averages. For the most part, these advancements in reproductive efficiency were realized because the producers dedicated time to set goals for improved reproductive efficiency and took action to achieve these goals.

If you are unsure where to start to make improved management decisions, the next time you are performing an important ranching task , ask yourself “why am I doing it this way?” If the answer lacks certain buzzwords like “efficiency”, “economics”, “productivity” and is simply “because it has always been done this way”, then this is an excellent place to begin. Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” We must recognize our weaknesses and look for opportunities for improvement.

In general, I have found the key areas where a laptop, budget, expert advice, and management plan can lead to more productive sheep or goat operations than simply putting in more hours of boots on the ground are as follows:
• Source animals with genetic potential to rear multiple offspring
• Optimize nutrition to achieve genetic potential
• Strategic prevention and treatment of disease
• Develop strategies to eliminate predation
• Refine marketing strategies for all sources of livestock sales

Don’t get me wrong. I highly respect and value the work ethic of the ranching community. In my biased view, this community of people are the ones who made this country great. I also realize that working with your hands and caring for animal and the land directly give many of us purpose. I am not advocating that we all must put down our sorting sticks and trade in the old feed truck for a sedan to zip into the office in town all the time. But, there is a balance between doing what you love and doing what is needed to maintain the future of that lifestyle. You are the most important part of your ranching business so make sure your knowledge and talents are being used in the most beneficial way.

We must recognize for animal agriculture to continue for generations to come, we must take time to capitalize on opportunities. Don’t miss these opportunities because you are too busy doing chores!

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Attract Youth to Livestock Production

In Texas, we don’t even have time to break our New Year’s resolutions before stock show season gets into full swing. My 10-year-old son is in his second year of showing lambs and we just finished up our county show. Although, baseball is still his number one priority, he has grown to appreciate his livestock projects. And I am growing to appreciate what his livestock project are doing for him.

There are a few things that have changed quite a bit compared to 20 years ago when I was showing lambs. Lambs and goats are much bigger, and judges tend to like them a full body condition heavier than before. The quality and depth of competition is much stronger, which makes it more difficult to place very high at any of the major stock shows. The costs of purchasing and feeding competitive lambs and goats has also gone up. I never thought I’d see the day where I referred to a lamb as “only costing $500.”

Thankfully, the real benefits of these projects have remained the same. My son is learning important life lessons such as responsibility, general livestock care, and the value of hard work. During this process, I have had flashbacks of the time that I spent with my father and lessons that he taught me through showing lambs. I wouldn’t trade those moments for any monetary value.

My experiences in showing lambs created a passion for raising sheep and allowed me to build a bond with those who shared my interest, which forged a path that created who I am today. This is true of many youth who are involved in these livestock projects. I’d be willing to bet that a large percent of adults who have a career in agriculture, also showed animals in grade school.

But this does not mean that youth have to be involved in 4H or FFA livestock projects to develop a passion for animal agriculture. These projects require an enormous amount of time and energy that could be channeled into other efforts related to ranching.

As time has passed and the level of competition has increased, breeding of livestock show projects has taken some traits to an extreme. For the commercial producer, show lambs and goats (and most all show animals) have been bred too much for a specific look on a particular day, and not enough about performance under limited management indicative of larger scale production.

For instance, show herds may not be able to maintain adequate body condition common to Texas without a high level of supplementation. They may not rear an adequate number of lambs/kids compared to commercial genetics. These animals have not been bred for a high level of parasite resistance or resilience. Show sheep tend to not produce the best fleeces. To be honest, there is no perfect animal that can do it all. Animals bred to be superior for different traits are equally good in their own right.

Nonetheless, I feel that we now have two different industries. Show animals are bred to result in a particular appearance that the majority of judges will find pleasing to the eye. Granted these animals can have exceptionally good carcass value, but they may not be the most profitable genetics for commercial operations.

I bring this up because I personally struggled with this for years. When animals are evaluated in the showring, they are commented on their genetic superiority with terminology that is centered around livestock production. I took this to heart and for years, I could not see the value in commercial breeding animals that were good for their purpose but did not look like a show animal.

If we want to help our youth make the transition from success in the show ring to success in commercial ranching, we need to make sure that they understand that the best animals for different purposes are likely to not look the same. We also need to make sure that we are respectful to others that have animals that don’t look like ours.

Ultimately, we are all raising food and fiber (and children). We are fortunate to have a customer for most all the products that we produce and a platform for teaching our kids about livestock and life. There is no need to talk negatively about another livestock producer because they don’t raise the type of animals you do.

There is a bright future for sheep and goat production in Texas, regardless of the type of animals each of us raise. Let’s keep developing young people that will continue the tradition of ranching to feed the world, protect rural communities, and care for the land.

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Customers Want to Know More

Undoubtedly, throughout your involvement in agriculture, you have heard buzz words such as “sustainability”, “animal welfare”, and “predator friendly.” In fact, in today’s jump-to-conclusions world it is probably more than likely you haven’t been able to escape these themes in nearly everything you read or watch on TV.

To me, this is largely the result of a public who is uninformed about animal agriculture and has developed an opinion based on theoretical concepts and is limited in real-world application. Beneath the surface of these “this-is-how-you-should-do-it” declarations, we need to realize that folks want to know where their food and fiber is coming from and how it is produced. Unless we deliver that information first-hand, consumers will continue to seek information from a wide variety of outside sources. This is where Quality Assurance Program come in.

What are quality assurance programs? These programs are essentially a set of production and processing guidelines. When followed, a product can receive the program’s stamp of approval. This information can then be displayed at the retail level and folks can feel good knowing that they are buying something that was raised a certain way.

In the next year, I challenge you all to do some research into quality assurance programs and then to act on that information learned. Make a decision about whether to participate in a quality assurance program. If you choose not to participate, discuss your lack of participation with others in the industry to bring awareness of the need for small ruminant quality assurance program that fits your style of ranching.

These are touchy issues because most programs have a strict policy, which infers that there are right and wrong ways to do things. But most all long-time ranchers know that the real world isn’t “black and white” but rather “shades of gray.” So, how do we develop programs that allow good stewards the freedom to manage for the betterment of the people, animal, and natural resources?

To answer this, I think we must focus on why we need quality assurance programs. Ultimately, quality assurance programs exist to ensure consumer confidence in your product and how it is produced. I have had the great pleasure of meeting people from a wide variety of places and backgrounds. In my assessment, most consumers in the US would admire what you do at the ranch and they’d agree with 95% of what you do after you explain to them why it is necessary. However, if you watch the news, you don’t see the silent majority. You only hear from the highly vocal minority.

In my assessment, many quality assurance programs that are being promoted to American sheep producers are designed to please the minority, not the majority. Some ranchers may be able to accommodate the requirements of these strict assurance programs and benefit from the premiums (if they exist) associated with these programs. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a need for more programs that are better aligned with the majority of ranchers and consumers.

It appears that many of the companies who market your products are looking for quality assurance programs to partner with because they don’t want to manage it themselves. If the only program that exist are quite restrictive, they are then forced to work with them. This puts our industry at risk if producers have to comply with a strict quality assurance program because the company marketing our product is our only outlet and their only assurance program is a strict one. Unfortunately, for mohair producers, this might become a reality.

Procrastination has served the sheep and goat industry well on a number of things. For instance, scientific research funded by other livestock species or sheep industries overseas has provided us answers to questions without the cost of doing it. But procrastinating on developing common sense quality assurance programs that are recognized by consumers may end up biting us in the rear.

We all believe that what we are doing is “sustainable” and “ethical”, but we need to realize there is a portion of our customers that do not think that because we haven’t bothered to show or tell them. In contrast, many of them think this because we have allowed someone else to inform them of what “good animal husbandry” is. Common sense quality assurance programs are a great first step to help us share our story of sustainable sheep and goat production.

Here is a short list of assurance programs to help get your research started. We are not promoting these programs. This list is simply to make you aware of their existence, nor is this an exhaustive list:

Available in the U.S.:

SSQA

Home

Front Page 201903

Overseas Sheep Programs:
https://www.redtractor.org.uk/
https://www.rmpp.co.nz/page/nz-farm-assurance/
https://www.agriwebb.com/farmaccreditation

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Wool: Beyond the Stereotype

This edition of Reid’s Ram-blings was composed by Jake Thorne, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Associate. Jake has been a contributing editor to this column over the past year and is a valued asset to the sheep and goat Extension team at the San Angelo center. Enjoy!

Wool is the best kept secret in the world of natural fibers. It’s more expensive than cotton, not as prominent as leather, and not as trendy as hemp… but in my opinion, it is the premier fabric on the planet!

It may not even be fair to claim wool as a secret, as it can be argued that wool is the original fiber used for clothing. However, only recently has wool started to shed its stereotype as a winter-only sweater with a make-ya-squirm itch factor of 10.

Thanks to improved genetics and super-wash technology, developed in Australia and popularized in the last decade, that removes the “prickle” caused by wool scales and sharp fiber ends, wool is popping up as a next-to-skin apparel item for all four seasons. You’ll find it under heavy down jackets on Mt. Everest, in a camo pattern in the woods this fall, as a reflection protectant around a fisherman’s neck in Belize, and of course, on millions of feet as both socks and shoes.

It doesn’t stink. Its absorbent. It’s fire retardant. Its biodegradable in 6-months. And most importantly, it keeps your body temperature in a comfortable range… not too cool or warm. #woolcandoitall.

The point of my heavily biased promotional statement is to lead into the fact that Christmas is right around the corner and I hope you look for American wool products for your loved ones. Save the polyester for the white-elephant exchanges!

Admittedly, the majority of the wool we grow in America gets quickly snatched up by China (in the absence of trade wars), but here and there, a few apparel companies have turned their eyes to the homeland to find a domestically sourced product, and a few sheep outfits and off-the-farm-buyers have stepped up to the plate as providers. If you are interested in purchasing an item that will last forever, can be worn year round, and is 100% made in the USA, I encourage you check out the following website; https://www.americanwool.org/

With that said, wool doesn’t just happen. It takes tremendous efforts on the part of farmers, ranchers, shearers, buyers, and marketers to grow, harvest, and sell this unparalleled fiber. Truly, if it was easy, everybody would do it and wool would be cheap. However, it takes dedication to ensure the well-being of the sheep who grow it and to care of for the fiber itself, all the way from sheep to shelf.

The production of wool in the United States is truly an inspirational story that the public, who is increasingly curious about where their food and clothes come from, are falling in love with. There is history in the wool business, there is beauty in the areas it is grown, there is magic in the way it performs as a fiber, and it is the true definition of sustainability.

In Texas especially, we are fortunate to have mohair and angora goats as a major component of our fiber industry as well. Some would say that sheep turning grass into wool is a superpower, but I would argue that goats are more impressive, they grow hair living off cedar and rocks!

Here in the San Angelo office, we make it a point to promote wool and mohair in every way we can, and that mostly comes in the form of supporting those who produce it. Besides relaying the latest scientific research, we also annually hold a shearing course in early January. To steal the name from our sheep friends up north, we should really rename the event a “wool-harvesting” school.

Students will attend from across the state and country to learn the ropes of becoming a shearer. They come with a sense of curiosity about the practice and leave with sore muscles, a belly full of lamb, a new skill, and most of all, an appreciation for what it takes to play a part in producing the greatest fiber in the world. We need you to encourage young people to participate and learn this skill, which requires strength, endurance, and perseverance – traits that most all ranch kids already embody.

In closing, I want to circle back to wool as a Christmas gift. I continuously mentioned it as a clothing item, but did you know there are wool surfboards? How about wool band-aids? I bet not. So, when Santa is furiously looking for last minute ideas, let him in on the secret that is American wool. Actually, let’s face it, that red robe alone doesn’t keep him warm all night traveling through frigid conditions … I bet he already knows!

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Focus on What You Can Control

Every wonder why there aren’t too many “type A” people in the sheep and goat industry? You know, the type of folks who have to control every segment of their lives. As if the weather, markets, and government weren’t enough, multitudes of dogs, kids (human), kids (goat), half-functioning pickups, leaky fences, and futile attempts at social interaction off the farm can just be flat too much to stay on top of.

Most sheep and goat ranchers are adaptive to the things that are out of their control.
Being able to “roll with the punches” is undoubtedly a prerequisite to any agricultural production career. But has this adaptive behavior consumed so much of our mental energy that it has prohibited us from focusing on things that we can control?

For instance, we tend to be price takers. I too am guilty of selling lambs and cull sheep when it is convenient for me. However, an astute marketer can study what has happened in the past, predict what might happen in the future, and work to create their own destiny. The recently developed lamb and goat market forecast app proved to me that strategic marketing can have a major impact on the bottom-line.

To improve your marketing skills, I suggest starting with creating a realistic goal for the value you hope to attain, which will stimulate a plan to help you reach this goal. Without a goal, you will continue to be price takers and may be leaving money on the table. If you need help utilizing the iPhone app or online worksheets, we’d be glad to discuss this with you.

Predators lurking in the shadows are generally considered an issue we are forced to deal with because someone else harbors them. While this may be true, what happens beyond your fenceline is out of your control. Having a plan for their inevitable presence on your ranch is what we must focus on. It is not easy and not always attainable, but addressing the problem before it is an issue improves your chances of success immensely. We have a team of people at the Texas A&M AgriLife agency to help you develop a predator control strategy. Let us know if we can be of assistance.

Another goal you need to have in mind is lamb/kid crop. Generally, we measure this at weaning, but too often producers consider their maximum attainable lamb/kid crop for the year by the “drop rate”, or number of offspring born. If we want to improve lamb/kid crop, setting a goal and planning to attain this goal must start before the breeding season.
• Females must be in the right body condition at mating and prior to giving birth
• Selected breeding animals based on genetic potential for large lamb/kid crop
• Plan to protection newborns from harsh weather
• Predator prevention strategy before newborns hit the ground
• Parasite control strategy before major signs of illness occur

A career goal of mine is to see the Texas lamb and kid crop increase by 50%. Texas is consistently 30 percentage points behind the national average (80% vs 110%). To realize this goal the best Texas sheep and goat producers must wean 150% or greater lamb and kid crops. Do me a favor and set your own lamb/kid crop goals for 2020 and beyond.

No, we can’t control mother nature or the markets or our neighbors. We can, however, set goals to achieve higher levels of production than has ever been done in this great state. To do this we must “Focus on What We Can Control.”

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.

Dream Big

Sheep producers in America are amongst some of the most resilient and resourceful folks within the agriculture community. Still, churning out a 5 – 9 living to feed the 9 – 5 crowd often doesn’t leave enough time for innovative thinking. Frankly, the U.S. sheep industry, in many ways, is in a rut.

Fortunately, a core group of thinkers, drawing from all walks of the industry -producers, consumers, and academics- have stepped up and taken the ram by his curls.

Premier One Supplies and the American Lamb Board realized the need to get these leaders together to discuss leading-edge ideas that will drive the sheep industry forward and thus held the first American Lamb Summit.

At the end of August for two days in Fort Collins, Colorado, around 200 attendees gathered and engaged in talks from experts in several fields and participated in discussions about the future of the industry. Bonding over a belief of lamb as a premier protein, attendees each went away inspired and with a renewed focus. Here are some of my thoughts overall:

First, American lamb is a great product!
Largely, American lamb in the supermarket or restaurant comes from larger lambs. Most often, American lamb is grain-finished, which gives it a milder flavor for lambs of this age. Does this sometimes lead to the drawback of having over finished lambs? Sure. Can we overcome this? Absolutely.

Overly finished lamb most often results in a great product to the consumer but there is a lot of fat that is trimmed off before the consumer purchases it. This adds considerable cost to the end consumer, whereas, imported lamb comes from smaller and leaner lambs. Through improved efficiency in harvest timing and refined management of animals prior to getting on the truck, we can chip away at this issue.

Second, the American lamb consumer is a gold mine.
Comparatively, Americans are a large population consisting of wealthy, health-conscious lovers of diverse foods. As it stands right now, most Americans hardly eat any lamb. Where some see a dead end road, many progressive industry leaders (and international decision makers) see a sleeping giant of a market.

Millennials will become the single largest generation in history and they are about to hit their prime spending years. And 20% of millennials have eaten lamb in the past three months. American lamb provides a high quality, locally-produced protein that fits their demand. In addition, it provides a unique eating experience that can be shared with their friends in person and via social media.

The non-traditional lamb consumer, primarily Muslim-Americans, continue to source American lamb in large volumes. This consumer is very familiar with sheep meat products and it is a staple of their diet. This consumer base is the major driver of the meat goat market.

Both consumers, traditional and non-traditional, are expected to grow in population and growth is expected in the financial resources they have to spend on lamb. Due to the aforementioned consumers, per capita lamb consumption in the US grew by roughly 30 % from 2011 to 2017, according to USDA-ERS. And there is opportunity for more growth.

Imported lamb has captured the majority of the growth in lamb consumption by the US lamb consumer over the last decade. Primarily, because imported lamb product tends to be more available at big box stores at a more inexpensive price point.

We also have competition from other high-end proteins and meatless proteins. Yes, we have a great consumer “in our backyard” but our competition is aggressively going after that consumer. We will have to fight for this consumer by providing a quality product at the right price. In addition, we have to retain consumer confidence that we properly care for our animals and the environment. This cannot be overstated.

Third, technological advancements in livestock production is mind-blowing.
It is my job to keep up with technology within the sheep and goat industry. It is very exciting that we have so much research-based information and technology. However, it is a daunting task to develop a strategy to implement this technology before it becomes obsolete.

I am very pleased to see that the US sheep industry is adopting the use of estimated breeding values (EBVs) via the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP). Now, we need to start devising a plan for the meat goat industry to integrate this technology as well. Not to mention, that advancements in molecular genetics is coming at us at warp speed. We must start to find a way to integrate genomic predictions into EBVs.

Vision grading integrated with RFID tags at the major lamb packing plants can now provide a highly accurate prediction of the carcass cutability of every lamb. Now producers can be paid for lambs based on the true cutability of the lamb. This data can then be traced back to production systems and genetics on the farm/ranch, allowing for rapid changes in production efficiency.

Rapid Evapoorative Ionixation Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) is being developed to predict flavor of lamb. This will allow for lamb to be classified or sorted into groups based on how the lamb will taste. It has been suggested to sort them into mild, medium, and bold flavor groups. However, this is yet to be determined.

These three things were just a few of the technologies discussed at the lamb summit; I can only image how many new technologies will be discussed at the 2021 American Lamb Summit.

Many of us whom were attracted to the sheep and goat industry like the simplicity of tending animals. In contrast, for sheep and goat operations to become sustainable into the future they are likely to become more complex than most other jobs. Although, we may want to continue to live a simple life, it does not look like this is going to be the case.

In the future, you will need to be experts at animal health care, livestock nutrition, land stewardship, marketing, business/finance, mechanics, etc. In my opinion, one of the most jarring quotes at the Lamb Summit was delivered by Dr. Henry Zerby, a meat scientist and sheep producer who works for a cooperative that supplies meat to the Wendy’s corporation:

“Too often we wonder what the costs of implementing technology will be. In reality, we should be asking… what are the costs if we don’t?”

These are exciting times! Stay tuned.

To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-657-7324. For general questions about sheep and goats, contact your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office. If they can’t answer your question, they have access to someone who can.