High Desert Cowboy- How far is it up north?

[High Desert Cowboy]

It’s raining in December! We had snow for all of 5 days during thanksgiving and now it’s all gone in the valley, but plenty up in the mountains. I dare call that perfect! It’s warm enough I can do some things outside, but the top of that list had been getting my truck to run. Both batteries went bad which wasI bought them a year ago but with a two year warranty it’s covered, but of course as long as it was out of commission I decided to fix one or two other things so once my last parts arrive it’ll all be back together and running. I got the hospital bill paid off, it wasn’t near as bad as we thought it would be. But I’m going to put off any more sheep buying until next year for now.

 

[Baymule]

Getting the truck is a good thing. Being able to do it yourself is even better.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

Truck is running like a champ again. It’s incredible what a difference new batteries make when starting it up. I also replaced all the terminal bolts to actual bolts, when I bought the truck they’d used whatever they had on hand and they were a little short/stripped/cross threaded. Figured I might as well do it right.
We have a new tomcat that has decided to call our place home, fortunately all the females are spayed. He’s not the brightest of cats, shortly after he showed up he walked up to Bella while she was eating and hissed at her trying to get her food. Bella has killed cats before and this looked like a case of natural selection at work. She whooped him and sent him running up a post, then returned to her meal. The cat now respects Bella’s space and when she’s out and about he removes himself from the area.
One day I’ll make up my mind about sheep. I recently made the acquaintance of a gentleman who raises polypay sheep over by town and we got to talking sheep. He said come spring he could probably make me a deal on a ram and a ewe or two if I decided to change my mind on getting more hair sheep. I’m weighing pros and cons here. The biggest thing I’ve learned about my area is that hair sheep are very much looked down upon. Of course this area is very set in their “traditions”. My purpose in getting sheep was two fold. One, I wanted to have the opportunity to train my dogs so breed wasn’t as important. Bella loves to work and I’m sure would do it all day given the option. For that purpose hair sheep seem perfect as I don’t have to shear them. Saves me costs and time. But my lambs didn’t sell very well. My second purpose has evolved somewhat, in that I originally wanted to be able to breed some lambs to sell to cover the costs of having my sheep, essentially paying the hay bill and keeping me in the black. Zero is zero, but it’s still in the black. But with talk of ag exemptions, an opportunity to drop some insurance payments, and a sudden desire to actually make this a profitable side venture I realize that while I like to do things my way, I have to give the people what they want. And after discussion with some friends who are 4th generation sheep ranchers, my newly introduced second cousins who turns out live 30 minutes away and are sheep ranchers, and my good friend who works as an Ag lender for the FSA the people in my area want a wooled animal with a large body. And with breeding stock they either want a black faced sire or a white faced dam with good maternal qualities. So I’ll give the people what they want, and continue to enjoy this journey in the sheep business wherever it takes me next. With all of its tasty benefits of course.

 

[Bruce]

And what, pray tell, are the pertinent differences between hair and wool sheep besides the obvious "covering"?
Can people sell wool for a price that would cover the cost of shearing? Merinos were BIG here in the early/mid 1800's and it was because of the wool. As far as I know, the only way to make any money with sheep now is selling lambs for meat, certainly not by shearing and selling the wool.
Do wool breeds taste different (presumably "better") than hair sheep?
Are the "locals" anti hair sheep simply because "that isn't the way it has been done here"?

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

The biggest issue that gets brought up is size, namely that a good Suffolk or hamp sired lamb will weigh more at sale than a hair sheep. There is one gentleman who is a large scale producer who is currently slowly swapping over to Dorpers, but the majority are sticking with the programs they’ve had since their forefathers first ran sheep on those mountains. Honestly a lot of people get influenced by these club lambs, viewing them as the gold standard as to how a sheep should look. Personally I don’t agree with standards imposed by show animals, as these change frequently and are more about looks than true ability to better the breed. I respect if you disagree, but that’s my opinion on the matter of show animals.
People stick to their traditions and what they know, and in an area where there are still a lot of wool sheep herds those ideas stick. I had a few people look at me with disgust when I said I had a hair ram. And when it came time to sell a buyer I spoke to told me flat out he couldn’t give me a better price as they wouldn’t sell for breed stock and they wouldn’t sell much for meat based on size and appearance (not wool sheep.).
Of course things would be different if the circumstances were better geared towards hair sheep. If I lived closer to a metropolitan area with more ethnic diversity and people who were more interested in “organic” meats, if I this was my main gig and I had time to advertise and market my product, if there was a shortage of sheep in the area and people couldn’t choose to be picky about their source of lamb, etc. But sadly the fact is the nearest metropolitan area is over 200 miles away and the ethnic buyers that bailed on me were up there and decided to go with a more local source. I don’t really have time to market and advertise an alternative lamb source all over the place, and I’m in an area full of woolly buggers, people have their choice of breeds they’re used to consuming. But from the contacts I have made in the area I can make a profit providing a bigger meatier lamb and breeding stock that they will want to buy to augment their large operations. So I have to give them what they want according to their personal wants and yes, biases. I enjoy hair sheep, I like their looks, their manner, and their taste. But at the end of the day it’s about what my available consumer base wants.

 

[Baymule]

Very wise of you to realize the market is what it is and you have to "market" to the market. You might prefer hair sheep. but if nobody around you wants them...…..how big is your freezer? LOL

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

Market is a funny thing, and changes can be drastic. 75 years ago people wanted a hog with several inches of back fat for rendering lard. Then it went to “The other white meat” and a leaner pig was being produced. Now that’s changed again with a desire for a meatier animal with some marbling and they’ve even changed the recommended cook temp for Pork! Most know professionally I manage a Sow Farm with 5600 sows. My herd consisted of 2/3 commercial sows that are a large white/landrace cross. The other 1/3 was pure large white that were bred with land race semen to make more commercial sows. The decision was handed down that the breeding for replacement gilts would be moved to another facility and we would do strictly commercial breeding using Duroc services. 6 months down the road I was informed that I needed to go back to separating my commercial bred piglets from my large white/duroc piglets. The reason? When those piglets were finished they were sent to Japan and the carcass quality of a large white duroc animal was not what the Japanese consumer wanted! They could almost instantly spot the difference in carcass quality and tell you which had crossbred mothers and which came from the pure breeds! But that animal would be completely acceptable in the American marketplace. So you gotta go with what the market wants.
Looking at today’s trends and talk of going green, sustainable, natural as long as animal activists keep their nose out of it I wouldn’t be surprised if wool made a comeback. Natural sustainable fiber, a renewable resource used to make clothes, blankets, etc with no “harmful chemicals” or “unnatural plastics.” Maybe not, but who knows what market changes are around the corner in the next 5-10 years

 

[Bruce]

and they’ve even changed the recommended cook temp for Pork!

That would be due to government regulation regarding feeding of the commercial pork industry a few decades back. There should no longer be any parasites in the meat that has to be cooked thoroughly to kill them. DW still will not eat pork with any amount of pink ... though beef has to be medium rare.

 

[Baymule]

I would never eat pink pork. @Bruce I am in agreement with your wife on this one. Beef steak has got to be medium rare. No pink pork, must be well done, especially since I raise mine on dirt. I have been known to slaughter and consume feral hogs too. I cut them up in small pieces, looking for the "wolves" encapsulated in the muscle. Even though I know cooking them thoroughly kills the parasites, I find them and cut them out.

 

[Bruce]

I think there is a difference between commercially raised pork and pastured pork and ESPECIALLY feral pigs with regard to parasites. Not sure I'd be real happy seeing a parasite in my food.