Shearing sheep. Sheepwheat.

[Sheepwheat]

You need the climate for wool not just the breeds. They took some better wool quality type sheep as well as angora goats to Scotland and neither could produce any quality in that climate. Here with the sheep getting fed hay for 6 months of the year there is so much crap in the wool you would never be able to clean it up.

That is certainly part of it.

[Sheepwheat]

They don't have a market for the pelts is the reason, supposedly worth 10 bucks?? When the first Kathadins came to Canada they were poor quality, have since improved a lot but got a poor reputation from the start. Dorpers were a better initial group and have been received better. No disrespect intended, all breeds have a place.

Actually, hair pelts are better than wool pelts. Just read that last night. A much cleaner and more supple pelt. North America imports millions of hair sheep pelts because they are in high demand. What I did find, is that tails are used as an excuse. Even though hair sheep tails are not shit collectors like wool tails would be, they dock 💰 because old perceptions die hard.

For our farm, we do a lot of direct marketing. We have had rave reviews of our lamb. We sell to several doctors; South Africans, many East Indians, and the typical comment is that it is the best lamb they have ever had. Not trying to toot our own horn here, it is the sheep. Hair meat is very, very good meat. Not saying wool isn’t, but many people much prefer hair 🥩, even people who have not yet had it, from countries where lamb is basically the red meat of choice. So for us, that is really the main reason at this point. As our flock explodes and we can not sell all our lamb into these markets, that is when we may have a parallel breeding system. But we have found a few buyers who do not dicker on prices over a tail, and pay wool prices.

Finally, we raise our sheep without expectation for them to have needs to seek out shelter. We simply do not have enough barn space etc. And so it works in that way for us as well. There is also a lot of evidence that hair sheep are more parasite resistant. Always a bonus.

No doubt several breeds are faster growing, but aside from that, it is tough to see any big advantages at this time for wool breeds in Canada.

As far as sheep size. It is less about size overall, than it is about productivity and speed to market, and rapid growth. I would rather feed a 150 lb ewe, and have her produce two marketable lambs in the fall, than feed a 200lber all winter, to do exactly the same thing. Smaller sheep less feed and pasture needed. Theoretical lower costs?

[macdon02]

The Australian Wool market is poised to make new highs in nominal terms, but it is still nowhere near the 1951 high in real terms. The Australian wool industry peaked in 1950-51 when the average greasy wool price reached 144.2 pence per pound, (about $37 per kilogram). Today’s prices in the area of $3.20 per kilogram illustrate the stark difference. That major high in terms of wool was created by a two-prong influence. First, the British pound was devalued in 1949 from $4.86 to $2.80. The British demand for Australian wool had consumed about 50% of the annual production. The prices reached in 1950-1951 surged initially, as always, to reflect the devaluation of a currency. This was 9x the 1945-46 United Kingdom contract price, and almost 14x the average for the 10 seasons ending in 1938-39. Nonetheless, the rally in wool was also furthered by the short-lived surge in American demand created by the Korean War.

It is very clear that Australian Wool has been greatly influenced by the cycle in gold and thus mining. The low in wool coincided cyclically with gold in forming a 1999 low. The peak is also 2011 as was the case in gold. We are pushing against resistance at this point and we need to close above 1300 to maintain a bullish posture at year-end. However, unlike gold, the decline was confined to the two-year reaction phase. Therefore, wool is in a better position than gold. Breaking through the 2011 high should see the price test the high 1500s to 1600.

Fwiw

[GDR]

You need the climate for wool not just the breeds. They took some better wool quality type sheep as well as angora goats to Scotland and neither could produce any quality in that climate. Here with the sheep getting fed hay for 6 months of the year there is so much crap in the wool you would never be able to clean it up.

Grass is right on both ideas. There are quite a few Rambouillet here and a real small number of Merinos. Problem is the higher fleece price is not enough to offset what you lose in prolificy and meat production.