Travel is the Best Teacher
Do you ever drive down the road and think “That field needs some sheep to manage their weed problem!” or “Why are those folks spending so much money on mechanical brush work? I’d have a herd of goats do that job for me.”
Am I the only one who uses these lines on every journey I’ve ever taken? The sheepman in me can’t help but see potential pasture at every turn. My job provides a lot windshield time to ponder on this.
This travel also provides the opportunity to see how “somebody else does it.” In my opinion, it is always the right decision to travel and learn when the opportunity arises to take a trip, and I have been fortunate that my studies and career have allowed me to do just that.
American land grant universities are renowned for laying the educational building blocks of the stable agriculture industries our society enjoys. I often take for granted the foundation of science and dedication to research that 9 years of higher education at three of these great schools has instilled in me.
In 2017, I traveled to Kenya and Ethiopia. It reminded me how important it is to properly educate the agricultural producers of your country. Without a secure and affordable food supply, societies have issues that we rarely think about.
Looking back, my time in Montana taught me the most about sheep production. It wasn’t just that the university had some great teachers and top-notch advisors, but it was the drastically different production systems required to raise sheep in an environment completely dissimilar to Texas that taught me the most. Literally and figuratively, I learned there was more than one way to shear a sheep when I was working on my PhD at Montana State.
My desire to learn about agriculture and sheep and goat production did not cease when they handed me the diploma. Throughout my career I have been fortunate enough to visit ranches and farms in nearly two dozen states and half a dozen countries. Textbooks and lectures instilled the fundamentals, but the life lessons and information I receive from producers like you is what I treasure the most.
The folks who have dedicated their lives to raising sheep and goats are not all cut from the same cloth, but most share a similar set of common core values. Sheep and goat people are absolutely a brother/sister-hood. It may be a bumper sticker denouncing coyotes or a shirt that is only dirty on the left side, but you know another sheep person when you see them. They love what they do and tend their flocks and herds for the lifestyle, not the money. Farming with sheep and/or goats can be profitable but there may be easier ways to make a living. I truly believe that sheep and goat farmers are the most passionate and dedicated of all agriculturalists.
In April, I was part of an American delegation chosen by the American Lamb Board that took a weeklong tour of New Zealand’s sheep industry. Beef and Lamb New Zealand LTD hosted three Americans and three Australians on this tour, along with a delegation of young farmers from New Zealand. We visited numerous farms on both the North and South Islands.
I was impressed at their management practices and how precise their goals are. It was repeatedly stated that lamb crop is the most important factor and they shoot for a minimum of 130% lambs weaned per ewe joined with ram. This is the national average and many farms we visited were attaining 160% or higher weaning rates, and these managers were able to do this on a very large scale. According to USDA-NASS surveys, Texas generally produces an 80 to 100 percent lamb and kid crop.
In New Zealand there are 30 million sheep and the land base is roughly half the size of Texas. We have ¾ of a million sheep in Texas. Yes, Texas is generally regarded as a beef cattle state; however, New Zealand has a similar number of cattle as Texas. They are able to raise this number of cattle and sheep due to high rainfall and a temperate climate. Plus, the vast majority of land is improved pasture, growing forages for sheep and cattle (beef and dairy) production. I did not see much land being farmed for cash crops as you would in Texas.
If Texas is going to become a larger producer of lamb and goat to meet domestic demands, I foresee the need to dedicate farmland to forage crop production, primarily for raising lambs/kids with their mothers and potentially for grass finishing. High quality rangeland can rival cultivated ground in cash value and not to mention, livestock can be more intensively managed and predation control is much easier when there isn’t a thick stand of brush.
In June, I have the good fortune of participating in a similar tour of the UK sheep industry. I look forward to seeing the similarities and difference from the NZ sheep industry.
In August, the American Lamb Summit will take place in Fort Collins, Colo. This is a new conference looking to shape the future of the sheep industry. There will be a group of Texans attending this meeting. We are looking forward to what we’ll learn from our travels and we hope to see you there.
Thank you for allowing me to be your state sheep and goat specialist. It is truly my honor and a unique privilege. I promise to always seek new ideas and knowledge wherever I can. I’d like to leave you with this final piece of advice; always make the decision to go! You’re only one good high school kid to do chores – and a few bucks for a plane ticket – away from being forever changed in a way that only a new voyage can provide.
To provide feedback on this article or request topics for future articles, contact me at reid.redden@ag.tamu.edu or 325-653-4576. 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.