Each one of us has heard the hollow sound of the gavel as it pounds the auction block and we hear that familiar word SOLD. We are seated in familiar surroundings of the auction barn soaking up the musty smell of the sheep slightly masked by the scent of an industrial strength pine cleaner. Our experience of that moment in time will be marked in our mind as joy and exhilaration of a good price or the sting and the wince of pain of a sale less than expected. What happens next?

While most of us drive home, the journey for the lambs only begins. Depending on weight and other influencing factors some lambs take some vastly different trips. Have you ever wondered what happens next? The North Dakota Lamb and Wool Producers Association are sponsoring a tour of the components that make up the lamb meat industry. This tour is designed to give insight to producers about the product we raise. It will give producers an opportunity to tour and visit a working lamb feedlot and take a guided tour of the Iowa Lamb processing facility in Haywarden, Iowa. Each of you will get a chance to put a face and a name at the end of the phone line. In short you will be given an opportunity to network with the people who use the product you produce.

The tour is scheduled to depart from Fargo, N.D. on November 5^th and return to Fargo on November 6^th. We will depart from the NDSU Sheep Barn on November 5^th at approximately 9:30 AM. We will drive to Hurley, South Dakota and arrive at the feedlot of Mr. Bill Aeschlimann. We will be given a guided tour of a 20,000-head lamb facility and allowed to ask as many questions as possible. From there we will drive on to the farm of Roger Regher of Marion, South Dakota where we will have a wool grading workshop, view some registered Rambouillet sheep and enjoy a lamb supper provided by Roger and NDLWPA. After supper we will board and drive to Bearsford, Iowa to stay at the Super 8 Motel. Room rates are $42 for a single and $45 for a double. The next morning we will take the short 21-mile drive to the Iowa Lamb processing facility in Haywarden. The guided tour will begin at 10:00 a.m. and is expected to take two hours. I think each of you will be impressed by the efficiency and capital investment this plant has put into your industry. After the tour we will board for a 42 hour bus ride back to Fargo ND, arriving at approximately 5 p.m. This will be an excellent opportunity to network with industry people and fellow sheep producers from our state.

Secretary report: Mark Sheppard made the motion to suspend the reading of the minutes, Matt Benz seconded. Motion carried.

Treasurers Report: Theo reported the checking account balance as of 8-17-03 at $9,961.72. CD= s balance is $3,170.49. Matt Benz made the motion and Mark Sheppard seconded to approve the treasurer report. Motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS
State Fair Picnic - Burton Pfliger made comments on the the picnic. There was a good turnout. He indicated that the association contributed $157.73 to the food part. He plans on writing a letter to those providing lamb next year outlining what is normally done.

Lamb Feeding Trial - Tim Faller gave an update on the USDA $100,000 2 year lambing feeding grant. It will start this fall using April-May born lambs. Half to the Antelope station in South Dakota for background feeding and half at Hettinger. All finished lambs will go to Iowa for slaughter and data collection. Suggestions from the board was to look at the possibility of using speckle faced lambs for part of the trials. Tim will check in to the possibilities.

Scrapie Rule Changes - Burdell Johnson reported that our two state vets met with other state vets about changes in the scrapie rules. No final decisions have been made as of yet. There is still the possibility that each state will get money from APHIS to do scrapie testing within the state.

NEW BUSINESS
2003 Convention - Burton asked for suggestions on topics and speakers for the convention which is scheduled for December 5-6 at the Seven Seas Motel. Suggestions included ultrasounding; utilization of scrapie money in state if it becomes available; genetics/heritabilities; regulations on confinement animal feeding (CAFO) with Scott Ressler from the North Dakota Stockmens Association. Burton will put together a tentative program and send it out to all board members for comments and revisions. It was decided that there would be no ewe sale this year. Roger Haugen was instructed to start planning for a sale in 2004.

Ag Foundation - Burton asked for board members to list their addresses to be included in the foundation directory.

Range Magazine - Burton explained a fund-raising offer by the magazine. It was decided not to pursue it.

Ag Coalition - New dues will go from $200 to $300 in 2004. Should NDLWPA remain a member? A decision was tabled till the next meeting.

Carcass Lamb Proposal - Rick Schmidt gave a summary of the youth carcass results from the state fair. He asked the association for sponsorship money for the next state fair. Discussion followed where if a complete carcass evaluation could be done, the association would be willing to offer some prize money. Rick was asked to contact the NDSU Animal and Range Sciences Department head for assistant on transportation and evaluation form the department. A decision will be made by the association after Rick has reported back on his findings.

Sheep Equipment - Tim Faller explain what the prison does as far as making sheep equipment for the Hettinger station. He wondered if the association would be interested in using this as a fund-raiser for the association. After some discussion, the big concern was on our status as a nonprofit organization. Further discussion was tabled until we know more on how this would affect our status.

Hettinger Ram Sale - Tim Faller indicated that are 153 rams, but no ewes at this time. Discussion on the possibility of a combined sale with Newell in the future. Matt Benz will check with the Newell Sale Management.

Research - Tim Faller asked for producer input in to the Hettinger Research Center future sheep research projects. Burton appointed Matt Benz to gleam input from producers and report back to Tim and the board.

MIYWW - Jane Horner has requested $600. This was tabled until we have a quorum at a future meeting.

Lamb Coop - no report.

Other business - Burton asked people to think about nomination for service awards and bring them to the next board meeting.

Meeting adjourned.
Roger Haugen, Acting Secretary

Hettinger Ram Sale Results
The Hettinger Ram Sale was held on September 17, 2003 in Hettinger, North Dakota. 109 rams sold for an average of $341. A breakdown by breeds is as follows:
11 Targhees averaged $361; 11 Rambouillets averaged $427; 33 Suffolks averaged $379; 36 Columbias averaged $280; 9 Hampshires averaged $358; and 9 Montadales averaged $303.

The school's broad focus makes it excellent training for new producers. The school also provides a thorough review for long-time producers. Health, nutrition, breeding strategies, marketing, enterprise analysis, facilities and other topics will be included in the instruction. Instructors will come from NDSU and the sheep industry.

Tuition is $25 per person or $35 for two people from the same operation. Tuition includes noon meals both days. Participation will be limited to the first 25 operations to enroll. The enrollment deadline is Friday, November 28.

To receive a registration packet or for more information on the school or housing, contact Tim Faller, Hettinger Research Extension Center, Box 1377, Hettinger, N.D. 58639, (701) 567-4323. Or contact Roger Haugen, NDSU, Hultz Hall, P.O. Box 5053, Fargo, ND 58105-5053, (701) 231-7645.

Purpose of the recognition is to focus attention on the outstanding job being done by these sheep producers. They will be honored for their accomplishments in efficient, profitable sheep production, civic service, and contributions to the sheep industry. From one to two producers will be honored.

In an effort to locate these producers, we are asking you to help us. We would like you to send the name and complete address of any producer you think is deserving of recognition. Nominate as many candidates as you wish. I will supply each nominee a form to fill out. There is no age limit and there is no restriction on the size of the operation. The only restriction is that the producer have a minimum of three consecutive years in sheep production.

A screening committee will review all nominees and select those to be visited by a selection committee. All nominations need to be sent to me at the address below by October 22, 2003.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Roger G. Haugen
Extension Sheep Specialist,
Hultz Hall, Room 100e, NDSU
Fargo, ND 58105
(701) 231-7645

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, cards, gifts, and especially the flowers while Beth was in the hospital after an ATV 3-wheeler accident June 20th. We returned home from Fargo on August 20th. Beth is continuing her daily physical and occupational therapy here in Devils Lake but we travel to Fargo once a week for speech therapy. Beth is attending Lake Region State College this fall part-time and we look forward to a 'normal' life soon.

The MIYWW preparations are on schedule. National has compiled a new Procedures Manual. This is a long over due project. I hope this will give the contest more direction. I am again hearing interest in the competition from individuals that have not previously entered. I hope this means we will have a large number of contestants. Again, 4 sewing machines and other prizes have been donated for this year= s contest. Judges and other helpers are being assembled. However, any and all help from anyone would be appreciated. There will again be another state raffle and I am currently securing prizes for this raffle.

It's great to be home and I anticipate another successful MIYWW competition this year. As always, please let your friends and neighbors know about the contest and encourage them to enter.

Sincerely,
Jane Horner, ND MIYWW Director

Feeder Lambs @ $120/cwt - Where= s the Breakeven?
Consider the following example with these assumptions:
- Buy feeders in mid October for $120/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, facilties, 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 @ $120/cwt)                                   $84.00     $84.00
Interest on purchased lambs (per head @10%)                                     2.76         1.98(est)
                                                                                        Total Cost   $118.36   $108.71

Breakeven price (BE) on 130 lb fat lamb is $91.05/cwt for white-face lambs and $83.62/cwt for black-face lambs.

Using the same budget but turning the question around to say, "If I can project the fat lamb market for January thru February, then what are the feeder lambs worth?" If you project a $100.00 fat market then the breakeven feeder price is estimated at $136.63 for WF and $150.41 for BF. The following is how it is calculated:
       $1.00 X 130 lbs. = $130.00 gross income
                                          - 31.60(WF)   or     22.73(BF) cost to finish
                                            - 2.76(WF)   or        1.98(BF) int on purchased lambs (est)
                                     =  $95.64(WF)    or $105.29(BF) divided by 70 lb. feeder lamb
                                     = $136.63(WF)   or $150.41(BF)/cwt BE feeder price

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 $87.34/cwt (WF and BF combined), for every $5/cwt change in the feeder lamb price, the BE fat price changes by $2.69/cwt.

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

Attention Board Members!!
President Burton Pfliger has called a board of directors meeting for October 13th at the Seven Seas in Mandan starting at 5:00 pm CDT. PLEASE PLAN ON ATTENDING.