Sheep Industry News July 2023

they tend to like for that to be done in January and Febru ary – a time of year when I’m usually paying for all of the feed. Anything that saves on feed costs helps the bottom line.” While sheep are often easier to contain, Star Creek’s goats have learned to live within the confines of the temporary fencing. It helps that they spend the majority of their lives grazing areas enclosed by such fencing. And the occasional stray goat is less of a problem than the alternative. “A lot of these open spaces are in and around neighbor hoods, so having crews with weed eaters and chainsaws working around everyone’s backyards is not as well received as a herd of sheep and goats,” Andrée says. “A lot of these areas have been impacted by reductions in herbicide ap plications, as well. The public response to targeted grazing is generally positive, so the people making those decisions tend to do what the public likes. As long as it fits in their budget and keeps the residents happy, they’re happy.” California tends to lead the way in wage increases for ag workers, including for H-2A sheepherders. As it becomes more and more difficult for traditional commercial opera tions to remain viable, targeted and solar grazing looks like the future of the state’s sheep industry. “That might be the case, but I know this: as a sheep pro ducer, it’s easier to not have to do targeted grazing,” Andrée says. “It’d be great if we just had all the feed in the world and they could stay in this area and just go to the mountains in the summer. Most producers can’t depend on the lamb mar ket to float their boat these days in California, so anytime I can find a way to boost my income, then I have to do it.” Targeted grazing isn’t the only source of income, how ever. Like traditional commercial flocks, Andrée still sells kids and lambs for meat and produces wool from the Me rinos. The wool flock is certified by the Responsible Wool

Standard and works with Shaniko Wool Company out of Oregon. “But I’m a lot less dependent on the lamb and wool checks than the average producer,” she says. THE NEXT GENERATION Andrée’s daughter, Bianca, serves as project manager for Star Creek. She tends to do initial site inspections with cli ents and determine the best way to get sheep and goats into a site, how to get water to the animals and other logistics that need to be considered when bidding on a targeted graz ing project. “It works really well right now with Bianca, Emilio and myself,” Andrée says. “She loves what she’s doing and it frees me up to handle other things. She’s traveled to Peru and Spain and is more fluent in Spanish than I am now. That allows her to be the main conduit between the herders and the clients when everyone is on site.” Bianca graduated from the University of California Davis with a managerial economics degree in 2018, and seems interested in one day taking over both operations as a fourth-generation producer. “She’s always been around it,” Andrée says. “She really is the first point of contact with a lot of our clients during the jobs. At this point, she likes the hands-on, outside stuff and being around the animals. She’s also passionate about educating the general public. We’ve hosted school field trips to some of our sites and we’re constantly educating the people who live around our projects, and she’s a great voice for that.” The main thing Star Creek’s human employees have to remind their clients is that Mother Nature is in control. “We do our best to get these open spaces grazed as quickly as possible, but ultimately, she’s the boss.”

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