The calendar says November 10 … mid-autumn. But the thermometer says a record- breaking minus eight degrees … def- initely mid-winter! Thouqh my sentiments lie with the calendar on this contradiction, every other part of me must…

What has happened to the lamb market? Seems a bit strange in this land where supply and demand rule supreme, that with over eight percent fewer lambs com- ing to market this year than last, we have…

I’ve waxed eloquent before in this col- umn about the feeling of excitement and challenge I have each autumn at the start of another sheep breeding season. I also read alot. And something I read recently in…

In the sheep business as with the rest of life, I guess the tendancy is to look else- where for a scapegoat when things go wrong-even when a mirror might show us the real culprit. I was…

Not too long ago, retired Iowa State University extension livestock specialist, Tom Wickersham, wondered out loud in a newspaper article he authored, why sheep numbers have resumed their steady fall in recent years when good prices should…

Some thoughts at large this month- as opposed to large thoughts. Somebody asked me recently, after dutifully noting that “not just everybody can raise sheep,” what personality traits were common to good shepherds. I leaned far back…

It seems that’s the rallying cry of agricultural commodity leaders these days as referendums on various “self- help” programs pop up like mushrooms after a summer rain. Last month (March), sheep producers here in Iowa gave 71…

The early lambing season is now istory. It’s something that’s always preceded by tremendous expectation and excitement … and usually followed by relief and, if things go well, satisfaction. Such was the case this year. One of…

Preparations for the ’86 winter harvest were nearing completion earlier this week when a new crisis arose. The harvest I am referring to, of course, is the early lamb- ing season. The ewes were approaching parturition in…

I’m not sure who it was, but some great person, perhaps an insurance salesman, said, “When all else fails, go back to the basics.” As the New Year fast approaches, I think for me and a lot…