Reflecting on the red-ink most sheep producers had in 2008, Dan Persons said some profits showed up in 2009, basically because of significantly cheaper feed costs and reasonably stable marketing prices.

Persons is past president of the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers Association and farms near Kensington.

Margins, however, stayed tight. Even wool prices with some recovery in 2009 are still too depressed to recover shearing expenses.

The depressed world economy is certainly impacting Minnesota sheep producers. “Both wool and pelt prices are hurting and the value of the U.S. dollar isn’t helping the situation either,” Persons said.

Perhaps surprising to non-sheep producers is the fact that the pelt market is suffering because of the depressed auto and aviation industry plus less building construction. Sheep pelt is used extensively in seats of both new cars and new airplanes. “And because the building industry is depressed there is less need for roller pads for new paint rollers,” he said.

Lamb pelts are much preferred for better quality paint rollers because the fibers stay intact unlike man-made fibers, which are glued into a paint roller. “The natural wool pads used to apply varnishes and paints leave no marks so are much preferred by professionals within the building trade,” Persons said.

Smaller ewe flocks increasing

Contrary to most changes in the livestock industry, Minnesota is experiencing a growing number of smaller ewe flock operations, with most occurring on “hobby farms” of 20 to 30 ewes within the Twin Cities area. Persons runs a 1,000-ewe flock operation at Rafter P Ranch. He markets about 1,500 lambs annually from his Polypay, white-faced ewes.

Persons markets five different groups of lambs per year, splitting breeding periods into five months — breeding 200 ewes in January, February, March and April, plus another out-of-season batch in October. He does this because his lambing barn can handle only about 200 ewes, and it fits his labor situation.

“I can comfortably handle 200 ewes in a two-week lambing period.”

To accomplish the October breeding he uses some special feed additives plus teaser rams, a practice fairly common within the purebred industry to get larger rams into the breeding market earlier.

Much like the continual improvement in seed corn genetics, the sheep industry is also seeing new developments in genetics. Persons told of a new study under way with a goal of mapping the genomes of sheep, which could lead to much more rapid advancement of genetic improvements. A DNA marker for prolificacy was recently discovered; twining is already common within selected breeds but the introduction of a special trait for even more additional lambs per gestation could increase U.S. lamb production.

Persons compliments the overall diversity of genetics within the U.S. sheep industry. “We have such a varied landscape in the United States, so a breed that works in the southwest won’t necessarily fit the production scheme that we have in the Upper Midwest. We tended to develop breeding herds that best fit our location and the environment we work in,” he said.

He thinks the genome study eventually will provide genetic answers on productivity in general and more uniformity of the end product, meaning market lambs into the consumer world. An ongoing struggle is the wide variation in carcass weights coming down the rail, ranging from 40 pounds to 90 pounds.

“Packers don’t always have a market for the lightweight carcasses and some have problems with the heavier critters, too,” Persons said.

Future growth

Persons said the real hope of the lamb industry is simply getting more people to eat the product. With per capita consumption holding steady (about 2 pounds per person per year), he indicated the growth opportunity is to touch that vast consumer audience that has never tasted lamb.

With both pork and poultry being touted as a low-cost white meat, Persons said lamb will never be “the cheap red meat” because there just isn’t enough U.S. production. “And if we try to make it cheaper, our industry will be in much the same financial disaster as pork.”

Lamb does have a selective market image, however. “The people eating lamb aren’t those who have gone to the store looking for a cheap cut of meat. They’re buying lamb for the taste, for the experience and because they enjoy it, not because it’s a cheap protein for their plate,” Persons said.

A major concern of Persons’ for all of agriculture, including the sheep industry, is the growing disconnect between urban populations and the rural sector.

“Unfortunately, the food chain is less and less understood by more and more people who simply don’t relate that the entire process begins on the farms of every Minnesota and U.S. farmer,” he said. “We work hard and diligently to provide a safe and nutritious food complex but I don’t think the public is appreciative of what it takes to put that food on their plate.”

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, total sheep on Jan. 1, 2009, in Minnesota were 140,000, down 5,000 head from Jan. 1, 2008. The all-time high count for Minnesota sheep and lambs was 1943 when the number was 1,496,000. Minnesota ranks 12th among U.S. states; Texas, California, Wyoming, Colorado and South Dakota are the top five. Minnesota’s top five counties in sheep and lamb numbers are Lincoln, Murray, Pipestone, Lyon and Cottonwood.