sheep farmers?

[Absent Minded Farmer]

If you don't shear them, their fleece will get overgrown to the point that the weight and heat retention will cause them harm.

I'm picturing a sheep that looks roughly like a large Excedrin, that rolls around a lot?

Mike

 

[cjunrau]

domestic sheep needed shearing from day one. They were not bred to make wool. Wool was used at the beginning of human creation for making clothing. Those sheep were always sheered. We have definitely kept the best and rebred the best sheep to produce good or better wool. Wild sheep Have always been hair or self sheering like a Dorper sheep.

 

[super99]

There are only to kinds of sheep, live sheep and dead sheep. If they get sick, they die.

 

[Ultradog MN]

The sad part in all this is you can't buy good wool clothing anymore. Or they're so expensive you cant afford them.
I grew up wearing wool long johns, Army surplus jackets and trousers, hand me downs, wool socks, etc and liked them a lot. They wore like iron and kept you warm even if wet.
Now you can't find wool clothing and if you do it's so expensive I can't afford it - even used.

 

[cjunrau]

we had to pay up to $10 per head to shear the sheep. We got $0.25 a lbs for the wool. Pay $20 for the bag to put it in. cheaper to just burry it in the manure pile or some people just burn it. I push it in low spots and cover with manure. couple years later nobody knows it was there and My feeding areas have smaller low spots. It will take 50 years to fill some of them.

 

[ss55]

Any sheep farmers out there? Just curious. I'd have them if I could and knew how. What is the market for sheep? Mostly wool I guess but meat too mebbe. Is manure a product? I'd like to have some manure for my garden but haven't connected with any. I tried lamb chops and was not impressed although certainly eatable. Is there u-tube video of successful sheep operations? Thanks, Michael.

What is the market for sheep? - Varies a lot depending on location. Sheep can be very profitable, but do your homework before investing any money. Sheep and Agrivoltaics are mutually beneficial, much like corn and soybeans. Expect a boom in sheep within the next decade.

 

[Ultradog MN]

What is the market for sheep? - Varies a lot depending on location. Sheep can be very profitable, but do your homework before investing any money. Sheep and Agrivoltaics are mutually beneficial, much like corn and soybeans. Expect a boom in sheep within the next decade.

Agrivoltaics...
Solar farms?
I'm curious - how would sheep and solar go together?
Thanks

 

[TomA in CA]

There is a lady near here that raises sheep, shears them, spins the wool into yarn and weaves into fabric. I bought shawl from her for my wife for Christmas. The wife loves wool products and I like to support the lady in her efforts.

I just checked and the wool subsidy still exists. It is now known as a loan deficiency payment or LDP . Maybe some of you know how that works. Wool has always been considered a valuable commodity.

 

[ss55]

Agrivoltaics...
Solar farms?
I'm curious - how would sheep and solar go together?
Thanks

Agrivoltaic opportunities: Grazing livestock in solar energy systems

Increasing community support for agrivoltaics, the practice of farming in and around solar projects, provides an opportunity for solar developers and the Michigan sheep industry to collaboratively meet the market demand for a steady supply of quality lamb.

www.canr.msu.edu

Agrivoltaics: Coming Soon to a Farm Near You? | USDA Climate Hubs

Leer en español: Agrovoltaica: ¿Próximamente en un campo cerca de usted?

www.climatehubs.usda.gov

This farmer was skeptical about solar — until he began grazing sheep

Illinois farmer Trent Gerlach had misgivings about solar panels taking up cropland, but he saw a chance to try agrivoltaics, a practice catching on around…

www.canarymedia.com

Sheep are less destructive around solar panels than goats, cattle or hogs.

Eventually ethanol will no longer be viable, we will definitely need some alternate forms of income to replace it.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Agrivoltaic opportunities: Grazing livestock in solar energy systems

Increasing community support for agrivoltaics, the practice of farming in and around solar projects, provides an opportunity for solar developers and the Michigan sheep industry to collaboratively meet the market demand for a steady supply of quality lamb.

www.canr.msu.edu

Agrivoltaics: Coming Soon to a Farm Near You? | USDA Climate Hubs

Leer en español: Agrovoltaica: ¿Próximamente en un campo cerca de usted?

www.climatehubs.usda.gov

This farmer was skeptical about solar — until he began grazing sheep

Illinois farmer Trent Gerlach had misgivings about solar panels taking up cropland, but he saw a chance to try agrivoltaics, a practice catching on around…

www.canarymedia.com

Sheep are less destructive around solar panels than goats, cattle or hogs.

Eventually ethanol will no longer be viable, we will definitely need some alternate forms of income to replace it.

Very interesting.
Thanks.

 

[Brown David]

 

[38 Sears Roebuck]

LMAO, from one former sheep farmer to another.

 

[sandcastle1]

It was through breeding that we got sheep to produce wool that needed shearing. Sheep in the wild like the Rocky Mountain Big Horn are a breed that doesn't need it.

If I were looking for meat producers. I believe I would go with meat goats instead of sheep. Much easier to care for.

I have had both, I find the sheep breeds I have had to be much easier to keep fenced than goats.

 

[Fred Werring]

Guys that have cows and sheep always said they made more with sheep than cows. I don't believe it as I have had sheep for 15+ years and have cows.

And you probably keep accurate track of your expenses.
Know a few people who do what I do...small cow herd with a town job that actually pays their living expenses. And they would tell me how they're making good money with their cows (this is prior to the latest calf price explosion)
But then you find out they don't expense a lot of stuff related to the cows.
They're doing it 'cause they like it, and I get that. But I always tried to make an actual profit, and it is hard to do.

 

[Tree-Farmer]

Heresay probably: I once heard: To get sheep to load into your 18 wheeler livestock transport vehicle, get a smart goat. The goat will lead the sheep into the trailer along the wall where the ramp is located and go to the front end of the trailer, following the wall, turn and go down the other side and when it gets back to the loading ramp it exits and the transporter shuts the gate.
I had a goat while living in town when I was a kid....don't remember how that happened. "May" was her name as we got her in May of one year. My mother was a Cub Scout Den Mother and May was our mascot. Don't remember what happened to her. The small town where I grew up was initially a strawberry plantation and our house was just a couple of blocks from the fields that remained when the town changed to a blue collar town to support the Houston Ship Channel commerce.

What's a strawberry plantation?

 

[used red MN]

Dare we say AI is smarter than YTers? I felt that some information may have been skipped in the reply 14 back.

No, the earliest domesticated sheep, like their wild ancestors, naturally shed their fleeces in the spring and didn't needshearing
humans collected the wool or plucked it by hand (called "rooing") until selective breeding for more wool created continuous-growing coats that required cutting. Modern sheep that don't shed are a result of breeding for high-yield wool, a relatively recent development.

Mainly knowing in early Biblical times metal to create a blade had not been invented. Thus bearded men.

 

[Tree-Farmer]

Dare we say AI is smarter than YTers? I felt that some information may have been skipped in the reply 14 back.

No, the earliest domesticated sheep, like their wild ancestors, naturally shed their fleeces in the spring and didn't needshearing
humans collected the wool or plucked it by hand (called "rooing") until selective breeding for more wool created continuous-growing coats that required cutting. Modern sheep that don't shed are a result of breeding for high-yield wool, a relatively recent development.

Mainly knowing in early Biblical times metal to create a blade had not been invented. Thus bearded men.

Yeah, that makes more sense

 

[Texasmark]

What's a strawberry plantation?

A large farm that produces strawberries. Surely other names could be used. This one just was the first to come to mind and plantations were usually large owing to the size of the operation(s).

 

[cjunrau]

Dare we say AI is smarter than YTers? I felt that some information may have been skipped in the reply 14 back.

No, the earliest domesticated sheep, like their wild ancestors, naturally shed their fleeces in the spring and didn't needshearing
humans collected the wool or plucked it by hand (called "rooing") until selective breeding for more wool created continuous-growing coats that required cutting. Modern sheep that don't shed are a result of breeding for high-yield wool, a relatively recent development.

Mainly knowing in early Biblical times metal to create a blade had not been invented. Thus bearded men.

Yet they made swords and melted gold all the time. I think the knife was made very early in bible times.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Yet they made swords and melted gold all the time. I think the knife was made very early in bible times.

I believe you are correct.
The Bronze Age began about 3000 years ago and Abraham was born about 2000 years ago. So they would have had a thousand years to develop and improve bronze for knives and swords by Abraham's day.
Even the iron age began around the age of Abraham so they would surely have had some kind of metal tools for cutting stuff in "Biblical" times.