Sheep Industry News May 2024

“We had a speaker yesterday (Glenn Krebs) who talked about using salt baths to graft lambs. I graft lambs like you wouldn’t believe, and I’d never heard of that. I had to go straight over to him and get him to explain the process because I’m definitely going to integrate that into my operation. If I can successfully graft a few more lambs because of it, then I just paid for my trip.” The process involves bathing a ewe’s lamb and the lamb you want to graft in a warm, salt-water bath. Olsen said he was told to put in a bit of the afterbirth – from any ewe – and scrub both lambs well in the bath. The salt encourages the ewe to lick both lambs.

Because livestock guardian dogs don’t work well in the grass seed fields, area pro ducers rely on trappers to keep predators at bay. Laverell was impressed with a presenta tion by Ron Henthorne on the various traps and snares he uses. “I very much enjoyed that discussion,” La verell said. “We use dogs a lot in Wyoming, so getting to learn about the different ways he traps predators was kind of a new concept for me.”

Ultimately, all agreed meeting producers from around the country and exchanging ideas is the most impactful aspect of the school. “Between all of us, we have a fair amount of knowledge,” said Washington state producer Levi Freeman, who runs sheep in the San Juan Islands and has attended multiple leadership schools in recent years. “That’s what keeps bringing me back to these. It’s the people I meet and the amount of knowledge I can soak up in a short amount of time.” Among the newer producers attending the school, McRae welcomed the opportunity to network with others in the industry. “We’re only five years into this, so we’re really just getting started. “Everyone here – including the students – has a wealth of knowledge and they’re so willing to share it all. I appreciate that.” ASI and ALB provided NLFA with additional financial sup port for the school. The next leadership school will be in the Sacramento, Calif., area in the summer of 2026.

NLFA President Reed Anderson and Robyn Anderson hosted the Leadership School.

“Sometimes it’s the small things, the little things we pick up that can make a big difference in our own operations,” he said. “I’ve never heard of that before, but it kind of makes sense.” Touring Anderson’s processing plant was also educational. The plant was built with two specific sides – one to process lamb and one to process cattle. “People have told me that they’re set up to process lambs but not cattle, or vice versa,” Olsen said. “And I always wondered how different it could actually be. The two sides of this plant were hugely different.” Anderson said he believes there’s an opportunity to build more facilities like the one he invested in a decade or so ago all around the country. “I think these size plants are what we really need right now,” he added. “It hasn’t caught on just yet, but I think it will at some point.”

14 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org