I am looking forward to upcoming shows and sales this summer, I have had enough of winter, we are almost done lambing probably six left, three ewes that lambed last fall and several ewe lambs. We are always anxious to start, and likewise to finish. At the shows and sales it is always the opportunity to renew friendships, meet new people, enjoy the competition, learn and improve. We are going to Wooster Ohio for first time, Midwest as usual, Katahdin Expo, August, Clay Center NE, MN State Fair and then the grand daddy of them all NAILE, Louisville. At all the shows and sales the sheep are judged with the exception of the Expo where they are exhibited, not placed, no judge. Judging prior to sales is certainly an opportune way to view all the sheep and detect unsoundness that is more difficult in the pens. It is also the ideal way to establish sale order of which prices don't necessarily follow but the trend is set. In my past, in Sedalia years ago when I was in the Suffolk business in the middle of the night Mike Caskey and I would be letting rams out of their pens to see how they walked. In that era and that business, it was necessary not to attract a crowd when evaluating animals for purchase.
This article is entitled "Straight Talk" so occasionally my position may be different than yours or another reader. Quite frankly that's the purpose of the message on occasion to confront other opinions and ideas in an attempt to better utilize resources to find a better mouse trap. I don't intend to insult anyone and the clients I related to best in practice over the years were the ones that confronted me, how do you serve someone if you don't know what they are thinking. I don't survive very well in guppy world and remember guppies eat their young. You can't resolve problems without conflict but if you ask a group of people to raise their hand if they enjoy conflict almost no one will raise their hand, no wonder resolution is difficult. Sometimes, resolution can't be accomplished and you have to agree to disagree and that's where I have found myself with OPP and NSIP advocates. I could go into a long list of arguments why both projects were and are a colossal waste of time, effort, and money that could have been used elsewhere to the advantage of the industry but I am going to just disagree and watch it happen. Both programs will die regardless of my input.
Another issue that I will continue to draw my attention to will be those companies that promote antibiotic free meat and enroll producers in programs that provide cash incentive to raise their livestock without the use of antibiotics. They promote hormone free meat and antibiotic free meat and animals raised in a humane manner. With current USDA inspection and welfare regulations, all federally processed meat meets these requirements. By providing a cash incentive, not to use antibiotics, these companies indirectly encourage animal welfare abuse by providing a cash incentive that may and often does delay prompt treatment of sick animals.
I have posted suturing the vagina after a prolapse on YouTube. I prefer this over harness or spoon but if you can make them work, use what works for you. I have a blog post entitled prolapse vagina and uterus. There have been over 5000 views on that site since it was posted. A lot of sheep have prolapse problems.
We moved 150 tons of milk replacer this season, 12,000 lambs can't be wrong. We had many good comments about our product this year. Our product is based on skim milk which gives much better performance than the whey based products. They may or may not be cheaper in price but certainly are on content. I suspect we have the only acidified skim milk based product on the market, and we are striving to make it better.
This is the time of the year when ewes and lambs are sometimes turned to grass. If you are in the Midwest or East you might consider keeping the lambs in and sending the ewes to grass. Much better feed conversion, don't have to fight the worms, coccidiosis can be controlled and there is an excellent opportunity to enjoy a good market.
