Industry pushes sheep producers to expand flocks

Initiative hopes to attract interest of Baby Boomers, cattle ranchers

By JOHN O'CONNELL

Capital Press

Todd Mickelsen never liked milking cows as a child, so he opted to raise sheep instead, buying his first 50 head in 1973.

Nowadays, the Blackfoot, Idaho, man's flock is roughly 3,000 strong, ballooning in recent years because his sons, 27-year-old T.C. and 24-year-old Luke, purchased their own sheep and joined him.

To address the recent short supply and steep prices of wool and lamb, the American Sheep Industry Association hopes to recruit more young producers like the Mickelsen brothers.

ASI, which has been working with state associations to develop mentorship programs for new blood, also aims to make sheep producers of retiring Baby Boomers and cattlemen open to a second animal.

Existing producers will be targeted by the new ASI Two Plus campaign. It challenges them to increase flock size and harvest by 2 percent while maintaining annual birth rates of two lambs per ewe.

The overall goal is to increase production by 315,000 lambs and 2 million pounds of wool by 2014.

Idaho sheep producers made $22.7 million in 2010, up 38 percent from 2009, and grew their herd sizes by 6 percent, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

ASI President Margaret Soulen Hinson said lamb is the protein of choice worldwide. In the U.S., she said nontraditional markets, including on-farm sales, farmers' markets and small producers serving ethnic communities, have grown substantially and now represent a third of lamb sales. Furthermore, two major grocers, Kroger Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., started American-raised lamb initiatives this year.

The Mickelsens utilize both public and private land. Todd Mickelsen believes sheep will help his sons diversify their farms while continuing the family legacy.

"You put something together like this and it makes you feel good that there's going to be someone coming along to keep it going," he said.

After graduating high school, Luke Mickelsen farmed and started his own livestock trucking business. The birth of his son, Austin, led Luke Mickelsen to prioritize spending time close to home. He bought 600 head of sheep in June, half of which came from Texas producers coping with severe drought, and intends to buy another 200.

While trucking livestock, he met many sheep producers without anyone in line to take over their operations.

"I personally don't think there's a lot of young guys out there who want to do it, to be honest," Luke Mickelsen said.

T.C. Mickelsen, who has 450 ewes, has been raising sheep for seven years. He said starting wouldn't have been possible without his dad's leases and equipment. He added sheep are labor intensive, particularly during the winter lambing season.

"It's a different lifestyle. You're kind of tied down to the sheep," he said.

Idaho Wool Growers Association President Ken Wixom worries expansion in Idaho is limited by the loss of public land leases due to fears that domestic sheep may pass pneumonia to wild bighorn sheep.

The Blackfoot producer has managed, nonetheless, to grow his own flock by 300.

"Most all outfits in Idaho are trying an expansion," he said.

Online

American Sheep Industry Association: www.sheepusa.org

Idaho Wool Growers Association: www.idahowool.org

Kroger Co.: www.kroger.com

Wal-mart Stores Inc.: walmartstores.com