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. . . continued

When my kids were younger, we showed. However, the shows got me very frustrated. I believe that the show ring, both with frame sheep and wether sheep, is leading us away from what the packers want. The slide set developed by W. Craig Burrell and Jim Jensen, Utah State University Extension Service, does an excellent job showing how different types of lambs grade out after slaughter. From this data, I learned what type of sheep I wanted to breed.

I have been told that our sheep are "tweeners". They are not 40-inch frame sheep. The rams are closer to 36 to 37 inches. My sheep are not true "wether" sheep either, although I sell several lambs to 4-Hers. I used some outstanding wether sires when I was doing A.I. in the past and lost performance as well as rib eye dimension. I had the opportunity to purchase the highest EPD sire of the breed. I found out that this is not the direction I wanted to go either. This sheep did not have the loin eye nor the confirmation that I needed in my flock. As a result, I have chosen to breed tweeners. I hope this type of sheep is of interest to you.

Our flock is certified scrapie free. We codon test and are enrolled in the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP).

I feel very fortunate to have received a Northeast SARE grant to study loin eye. This grant has allowed me to do a worldwide search on loin eye. It also has provided me funding to do some things that I would not have been able to do without it. Please take a moment and look at the grant section.

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