Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
operations, producing not just lamb or wool but also consumer-ready prod-
ucts, such as specialty processed meats and sweaters.
Typically, when a market segment becomes vertically integrated, it's
very hard for small producers to exist in that segment. The poultry and pork
industries are good examples. The sheep industry, on the other hand, hasn't
been taken over by corporate giants, so small producers who can produce by
using low-cost methods can still remain in the black. In fact, if you're willing
to market your own product, you can do quite well.
Homestead Flocks
Sheep are especially good animals for small-property owners who don't
have the space to raise cattle but want some kind of livestock. Five to seven
ewes and their offspring can typically be run on the same amount of land
as only one cow and a calf. Sheep can graze lawns, ditches, woodlots, and
orchards (with full-size trees only — the sheep will eat dwarf trees if you
plant them).
Starting small gives you the opportunity to gain low-cost experience. If
you start with fewer sheep than your land will support (see chapter 3), you
will be able to keep your best ewe lamb each year, for a few years at least.
After a while, as your purchased ewes become unproductive, they can be
replaced with some of your best lambs.
Although a homesteader may occasionally sell a few lambs or fl eece,
normally the fl ock is raised primarily for personal use. Providing your own
meat and some fl eece for handspinning and for a 4-H project for the kids are
among the reasons homesteaders choose to keep a few sheep. Typically, these
fl ocks are small, usually no more than a dozen ewes and a ram.
Commercial Flocks
Commercial fl ocks vary in size from fairly small fl ocks of 20 to 50 ewes to
vast fl ocks that number in the thousands. Today, more than 80 percent of
the sheep raised in the United States are raised in large “range bands” in the
western half of the country. These bands typically have 1,000 to 1,500 ewes
and are tended by one or two full-time shepherds and their dogs.
The main factor to consider is that for commercial fl ocks — even rela-
tively small ones — marketing must be vigorous. This can be direct market-
ing to consumers or marketing through the conventional commodity system
of sale barns and middlemen, but to do it profi tably, it's going to take time,
energy, and thought (see chapter 11).
