Shearing sheep. Sheepwheat.

[malleefarmer]

Wide combs came in.
Productivity of shearers improved shed workers got a pay rise to compensate farmers got job done quicker but was a nasty nasty debate

[GDR]

I. Would. Die. Lol I struggle when it is over 17. I belong in Greenland. Thanks for the pics, and for reminding me, and affirming in my soul, why we raise hair sheep! I guess if you get paid for the wool, it may be worth it as you showed before. But in 🇨🇦 where you would do all that work for free? Hair sheep it is!

Sheepwheat, as an experiment try a few ewes of one of the more conventional breeds and pay real close attention to the economics. There is a reason that hair sheep have found a place on hobby acreages but not in commercial flocks. Agree wool is not a money maker in Canada it's just part of the deal.

[GDR]

Mallee your comment about the sheared ewes susceptible to cold is interesting. I had a fellow visit from Uruguay one time said the same thing that they can lose huge numbers if they got the rains wrong. Lots of guys shear here in the middle Jan/Feb a couple weeks before lambing with -20 weather with no problems. As long as they have access to shelter they are pretty tough, in a week or so they get a fine layer of wool and don't seem to go back to the barn anymore.

It's done to keep wool cleaner, easier to see the lambs drop and makes the ewes a bit smarter about finding a warm spot to lamb. I have done it but generally don't shear till April or May.

[Sheepwheat]

Sheepwheat, as an experiment try a few ewes of one of the more conventional breeds and pay real close attention to the economics. There is a reason that hair sheep have found a place on hobby acreages but not in commercial flocks. Agree wool is not a money maker in Canada it's just part of the deal.

Yeah we have wanted to try a couple other breeds. The only reason hair sheep have some resistance on a commercial level, is that some, not all buyers dock ten or so cents a lb. No reason stated. They just do, so they can. We believe there should be more hair 🐑, and there should be no discount.

There are for us, too many advantages right now. We shall see in the future, what it holds. Good thoughts.

[malleefarmer]

yep shorn sheep do seek shelter

[GDR]

Yeah we have wanted to try a couple other breeds. The only reason hair sheep have some resistance on a commercial level, is that some, not all buyers dock ten or so cents a lb. No reason stated. They just do, so they can. We believe there should be more hair 🐑, and there should be no discount.

There are for us, too many advantages right now. We shall see in the future, what it holds. Good thoughts.

They don't have a market for the pelts is the reason, supposedly worth 10 bucks?? When the first Kathadins came to Canada they were poor quality, have since improved a lot but got a poor reputation from the start. Dorpers were a better initial group and have been received better. No disrespect intended, all breeds have a place.

[malleefarmer]

dumb comment why dont you bring in some merino genetics or ramboulliet?? To improve wool, maybe i better move to canada and become a sheep farmer

[AllisWD45]

I don't know much about sheep but when i toured parts of Australia and New Zealand last year the sheep seemed to be physically quite big. They seemed much bigger than here especially in New Zealand

[grassfarmer]

dumb comment why dont you bring in some merino genetics or ramboulliet?? To improve wool, maybe i better move to canada and become a sheep farmer

You need the climate for wool not just the breeds. They took some better wool quality type sheep as well as angora goats to Scotland and neither could produce any quality in that climate. Here with the sheep getting fed hay for 6 months of the year there is so much crap in the wool you would never be able to clean it up.

[Sheepwheat]

You need the climate for wool not just the breeds. They took some better wool quality type sheep as well as angora goats to Scotland and neither could produce any quality in that climate. Here with the sheep getting fed hay for 6 months of the year there is so much crap in the wool you would never be able to clean it up.

That is certainly part of it.

[Sheepwheat]

They don't have a market for the pelts is the reason, supposedly worth 10 bucks?? When the first Kathadins came to Canada they were poor quality, have since improved a lot but got a poor reputation from the start. Dorpers were a better initial group and have been received better. No disrespect intended, all breeds have a place.

Actually, hair pelts are better than wool pelts. Just read that last night. A much cleaner and more supple pelt. North America imports millions of hair sheep pelts because they are in high demand. What I did find, is that tails are used as an excuse. Even though hair sheep tails are not shit collectors like wool tails would be, they dock 💰 because old perceptions die hard.

For our farm, we do a lot of direct marketing. We have had rave reviews of our lamb. We sell to several doctors; South Africans, many East Indians, and the typical comment is that it is the best lamb they have ever had. Not trying to toot our own horn here, it is the sheep. Hair meat is very, very good meat. Not saying wool isn’t, but many people much prefer hair 🥩, even people who have not yet had it, from countries where lamb is basically the red meat of choice. So for us, that is really the main reason at this point. As our flock explodes and we can not sell all our lamb into these markets, that is when we may have a parallel breeding system. But we have found a few buyers who do not dicker on prices over a tail, and pay wool prices.

Finally, we raise our sheep without expectation for them to have needs to seek out shelter. We simply do not have enough barn space etc. And so it works in that way for us as well. There is also a lot of evidence that hair sheep are more parasite resistant. Always a bonus.

No doubt several breeds are faster growing, but aside from that, it is tough to see any big advantages at this time for wool breeds in Canada.

As far as sheep size. It is less about size overall, than it is about productivity and speed to market, and rapid growth. I would rather feed a 150 lb ewe, and have her produce two marketable lambs in the fall, than feed a 200lber all winter, to do exactly the same thing. Smaller sheep less feed and pasture needed. Theoretical lower costs?

[macdon02]

The Australian Wool market is poised to make new highs in nominal terms, but it is still nowhere near the 1951 high in real terms. The Australian wool industry peaked in 1950-51 when the average greasy wool price reached 144.2 pence per pound, (about $37 per kilogram). Today’s prices in the area of $3.20 per kilogram illustrate the stark difference. That major high in terms of wool was created by a two-prong influence. First, the British pound was devalued in 1949 from $4.86 to $2.80. The British demand for Australian wool had consumed about 50% of the annual production. The prices reached in 1950-1951 surged initially, as always, to reflect the devaluation of a currency. This was 9x the 1945-46 United Kingdom contract price, and almost 14x the average for the 10 seasons ending in 1938-39. Nonetheless, the rally in wool was also furthered by the short-lived surge in American demand created by the Korean War.

It is very clear that Australian Wool has been greatly influenced by the cycle in gold and thus mining. The low in wool coincided cyclically with gold in forming a 1999 low. The peak is also 2011 as was the case in gold. We are pushing against resistance at this point and we need to close above 1300 to maintain a bullish posture at year-end. However, unlike gold, the decline was confined to the two-year reaction phase. Therefore, wool is in a better position than gold. Breaking through the 2011 high should see the price test the high 1500s to 1600.

Fwiw

[GDR]

You need the climate for wool not just the breeds. They took some better wool quality type sheep as well as angora goats to Scotland and neither could produce any quality in that climate. Here with the sheep getting fed hay for 6 months of the year there is so much crap in the wool you would never be able to clean it up.

Grass is right on both ideas. There are quite a few Rambouillet here and a real small number of Merinos. Problem is the higher fleece price is not enough to offset what you lose in prolificy and meat production.