Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
lambs can be marketed throughout the year. It requires capital outlay
for building and feeding facilities, but these can be somewhat smaller
than those required for accelerated lambing or winter-confi nement
lambing, because only part of the fl ock is lambing in any given season.
■
Early-spring-confi nement lambing.
With March and April lambing,
the lambs must be lambed in a barn but are often fi nished after wean-
ing on high-quality pastures instead of in fi nishing facilities. This sys-
tem is an intensive-extensive hybrid.
■
Fall lambing.
Like early-spring-confi nement lambing, this system is
a hybrid of intensive and extensive systems, but capital outlay is for
fi nishing facilities instead of lambing barns.
■
Late-spring pasture lambing.
This is the most extensive system.
Few facilities are required, and less labor is required than in the other
approaches because lambs drop and fi nish on pasture.
Organic Production
Some readers may be interested in organic production. There are some suc-
cessful organic producers in the sheep business, although internal parasites
can challenge those producers who want to be “certifi ed organic,” because
such certifi cation prohibits the use of most commercial worming medica-
tions. Most organic producers are practicing grassfed
production (see page 11), as animal health is easier
to maintain where the animals are never kept in con-
fi nement. But not all pasture-raised animals auto-
matically meet the stringent standards for organic
certifi cation.
Consider the following if you want to pursue cer-
tifi ed organic production:
■
Record keeping is signifi cant, as producers must work with third-
party certifi ers to ensure that they are indeed meeting all the require-
ments of the organic standards adopted by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA). They must thoroughly document that their farm,
feed, and health care practices are in compliance with the standards.
They must maintain identifi cation of all animals sold for slaughter, as
well as breeding stock, throughout their lives.
■
The organic standards specify a wide array of conditions under which
organically raised livestock must be maintained. For example, they
must have access to pasture, though temporary confi nement is allowed
