Our state was well represented at the recent annual meeting of the 2001 American Sheep Industry Annual Convention. The convention was held in Reno, Nevada January 24th thru 27th. Members of our group included ASI Director Burdell Johnson, NDSU sheep specialist Roger Haugen, State Make it With Wool Director Jane Horner, Make it with Wool contestants Ruth Zacher, Hector Matthys, Elizabeth Horner and myself.

The Make it with Wool contest highlighted Saturday's luncheon held in the Celebrity Ballroom in John Ascuaga's Nugget. The whole event was a well-presented gala event that would make anyone involved in sheep production proud. Individually Elizabeth Horner from Devils Lake placed 3rd runner up in the junior division and Ruth Zacher from Parshall N.D. was awarded top honors in the adult division. Ruth's garment was a beautiful representative of wool, workmanship and work ethic. Perhaps one of the special moments in the event was when the master of ceremonies announced the accent fur collar on Ruth's garment was constructed of one dead coyote. This resulted in a loud eruption of applause and glee only a sheep producer could appreciate. Thirty-two states and 1200 contestants participated in the 2001 Make it Yourself With Wool Contest. North Dakota should be proud of all who participated and those who made the contest happen.

Much of the rest of the convention was spent listening to reports from many governmental agencies and Industry representatives of the sheep Industry. We heard from Wildlife services, USDA, Foreign Agriculture Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 2001 Sheep Health Study (NAHMS), 2002 Committee, Wool Trust Fund Update, Wool Market Update, Farm Bill Legislative Report, Predator Management Committee, Public Lands Committee, Scrapie Eradication program, a Scrapie Slaughter Surveillance Study and many others to numerous to mention.

The Board of Directors approved some By-Law changes helpful to North Dakota's dues structure, and took action on sun setting and new resolutions. We were also update on the Federal Assistance programs in place. The Lamb meat Adjustment Act known as 201 legislation, and the most recent Wool Economic Loss Act. Both of these pieces of legislation would not have taken place if it were not for the ongoing diligent, and well-organized efforts of the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI). Without the efforts of these people and their agency the sheep industry would be a small fraction of what we have today, an insignificant part of Agriculture without a voice in Washington DC. For that each of us owes them a lot of gratitude and personal thanks. The next time you receive a lamb check or receive a governmental assistance program benefit or even just exercise your right to remove a coyote take some time to think about who protected your rights in Washington D.C. while you lambed out your ewes and tended to a days tasks at home.

On a final note, over the last couple of years some division has occurred in the sheep industry at the state and national levels. Historically these types of struggles have shown to be the downfall of many including great armies. During the ASI Convention, the President of the National Lamb Feeders made some very positive remarks to the board of directors. He indicated the Lamb Feeders might be interested in holding a combination meeting with ASI and he was committed to lobbying his board to move in a more cooperative manner with ASI. Most surprisingly the National Lamb feeders announced that 15,000 dollars was being sent from their organization to ASI to help with the over one thousand staff hours and legal expenditures incurred with the defense of your 201 Legislation. For year one, this 201 legislation has paid out over $12 million in ram purchases and facility and genetic improvements. Through December 2000, nearly 1.2 million feeder lambs were nominated for program benefits of $3 per head. During the same period, more than 232,000 slaughter lambs carcasses received $5 dollar per head payments, roughly 27% of those nominated. I think each of us can agree this $25 dollar membership to ASI and $15 membership to NDLWP has it benefits.

10:15 am Current Sheep Research Updates:

*Lean Lamb Project - Dr. Paul Berg, ARS Dept, NDSU

*Nutritional Studies - Dr. Marc Bauer, ARS Dept, NDSU

*Grazing Studies - Jack Dahl, Hettinger REC; Luke Samuel, Donovan Craig and Mitch Faulkner, Graduate Students, ARS Dept, NDSU

*SDSU Report (Finished Lamb Enhancement) - Dr. Jeff Held, ARS Dept, SDSU

*Easy Sheep and Out of Season Lambing - Tim Faller and Dan Nudell, Hettinger REC

*Hair Sheep Discussion and Live Animal Display - Roger Haugen, ARS Dept, NDSU

12:00 noon Lunch: American Lamb

1:00 pm Welcome - Keith Bjerke, Executive Director of University Relations, North Dakota State University

The program is open to the public with no registration fees. The Carrington Research Extension Center is located 3.5 miles north of Carrington, ND on Hiway 281.

For disability assistance or more info contact Karl Hoppe, Area Livestock Specialist at Carrington, 652-2951
###############################################
###############################################

For more info contact Mark Miller, Rolette County Agent, 477-5671
##############################################

Sheep breeds cited as in danger of extinction are the Chiapas sheep in Mexico and the Rauhwolliges Pommersches Landschaf sheep in Germany with only approximately 1,600 of these animals remaining.

The report, called "World Watch List for Domestic Animal Diversity" was co-published by FAO and the United Nation's Environment Program.

USDA is taking the emergency action to prevent potentially cross-contaminated products from entering the United States. The same type of rendered product from ruminant origin has been prohibited from BSE-infected countries since 1989 and the entirety of Europe since 1997.

USDA bases all decisions regarding imports on sound science and extensive research. Although BSE has never been diagnosed in the United States, the department continues to take aggressive measures to both protect the United States from BSE introduction and to ensure the security of U.S. export markets.

These measures include active surveillance, testing, prevention, education and emergency preparation. Since 1989, the United States has banned the import of live ruminants and most ruminant products from countries where BSE has been reported. In 1997, this ban was extended to include ruminants and most ruminant products from the entirety of Europe. In 1998, USDA entered into a cooperative agreement with Harvard University's School of Public Health to analyze and evaluate the department's efforts to prevent BSE. It is expected that a report will be issued early in 2001.

On Thursday afternoon, December 14, DLGC members took part in a sheep school put on by Roger Haugen and Wes Limesand. This school continued on Friday morning, December 15. These 2 days of schooling were informative and appreciated by the DLGC members.

Breeding females totaled 103,500 head, up 3,500 from last year. The number of ewes 1 year old and older, at 89,000 head, were up 3,000 head from January 1, 2000. Replacement ewe lambs totaled 14,500 head, up from 14,000 last year. Market sheep and lambs totaled 31,000 head, down 1,000. The 2000 lamb crop, at 110,000 head, was the same as 1999. Lamb drop was 128% in 2000 compared to 139% in 1999. There were 1,100 sheep operations during 2000, down from 1,200 in 1999.

2000 wool production figures for North Dakota were 111,000 sheep shorn compared to 105,000 in 1999. Weight per fleece for 2000 was 8.2 lbs compared to 8.6 lbs in 1999. Price received per pound was 25 cents in 2000 compared to 30 cents in 1999.

Consider the following example with these assumptions:
   - Buy feeders in mid October for $85/cwt at 70 pounds.
   - White-face lambs (WF) will be on feed for 120 days, put on 60 pounds and consume 420 pounds of feed (feed efficiency (FE) 7:1 and an average daily gain (ADG) of 0.5).
   - Black-face lambs (BF) will be on feed for 86 days, put on 60 pounds and consume 300 pounds of feed (FE of 5:1 and an ADG of 0.7).
   - Lambs go directly on feed.
   - Feed cost $100/ton (total ration).
   - 2% death loss.
   - Financing at 10% interest.
   - Estimated 7 cents/day for non-feed costs (health, facilities, equipment, handling, misc).

ITEM                                         UNIT COST       PER HEAD COST     
                                                                            WF           BF
Feed (total ration, self feed)         $100.00/ton        $21.00      $15.00
Death loss                                             2%            1.19         1.19(est)
Non-feed costs (yardage)         0.07/head/day            8.40         6.02(est)
Interest on operating expenses    10% annual            1.01           .52(est)
                                                                              ------         ------
                                               Cost to Finish      $31.60      $22.73

Feeder Lamb Value (70 lb lamb @ $85/cwt)            $59.50      $59.50
Interest on purchased lambs (per head @10%)           1.96         1.40(est)
                                                    Total Cost       $93.06      $83.63

Breakeven price (BE) on 130 lb fat lamb is $71.58/cwt for white-face lambs and $64.33/cwt for black-face lambs.

For every $1.00/cwt change in the projected fat lamb price, the breakeven feeder price changes by $1.86/cwt.

Using an average BE fat lamb price of $67.95/cwt (WF and BF combined), the following condition changes will produce the following effects.

Feed Cost - for every $10/ton change in ration cost, the BE fat price changes by $1.43/cwt.
Ration cost/ton $110     $100     $90
Cost finish/hd    $29.01  $27.16  $25.31
BE fat price/cwt $69.39  $67.96  $66.53

Feeder Lamb Price - for every $5/cwt change in the feeder lamb price, the BE fat price changes by $2.77/cwt.
Feeder price/cwt  $90.00  $85.00  $80.00
BE fat price/cwt   $70.72  $67.95  $65.18

Feed costs and the feeder lamb price are significant factors to consider when deciding whether to feed lambs. Management is also very critical.

NDSU Research, Extension and Teaching
Fargo: Roger Haugen 231-7645
Wes Limesand 231-7782
Bert Moore 231-7651
Hettinger: Tim Faller 567-4324