Sheep Industry News July 2023

Georgia Wool Grower Makes Most of Gulf Coast Native Sheep

G eorgia producer Joanne Maki was introduced to sheep in Dr. Keith Inskeep’s class as an undergradu ate at West Virginia University in the mid-1970s. Her experience with sheep, however, ended there until she took in four Gulf Coast Native ewes nearly 30 years later. “They’re the perfect multi-purpose sheep,” says the now veteran sheep producer who currently serves as vice president of the Georgia Sheep Association and operates Georgia Rustic Wool. “They’re small, have good enough production, great tasting carcasses and the wool is just the gravy on top.”

Sheep and Wool Festival back in May. Generally considered to be medium-quality, Gulf Coast sheep are certainly capable of producing wool that is highly coveted among handspinners. But it takes work, Joanne says. “I’ve said on calls with Gulf Coast breeders that I’m select ing for wool, and some of them have said that I shouldn’t be doing that,” Joanne adds. “I’m assuming that they realize I’m putting other things above that. But the wool is important, too. I don’t want hair, because the wool is how I make money from my sheep. My greatest criteria is good mothering, the

For many Gulf Coast producers in the state – of which there are quite a few given the breed’s hair sheep-like para site resistance – the wool is just the gravy. For Joanne, it’s the whole biscuit. There were years when she sold rams to an ethnic market buyer from Atlanta, but those days have passed, and wool is the only product her sheep produce now. A longtime research veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim, Joanne has the luxury of skipping on the meat market in favor of producing top-notch wool with a breed that isn’t known for top-notch wool. Don’t believe it? A fleece from one of her “too many rams” took third in the White Fine Wool Class at the Maryland

ability to lamb on pasture, having a sufficient amount of milk and maintaining parasite resistance. Some of my sheep still shed out quite a bit on their bellies and their necks and basi cally go down to hardly anything in the summer. And I have others that – through selection – tend to keep their wool on their bellies.” GETTING STARTED Joanne’s first experience with raising small ruminants came when she bought her home in Colbert, Ga. – just a short drive from Athens and the University of Georgia. She got five overgrown acres with a house that was once a private hotel for

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