Story Telling Time

August/September 2005

I’ve got so many things to write about in this issue that I could fill our pretty magazine. I’ve been writing off and on for many years and never once have I ever claimed to be an expert on the subject of writing. In fact my spelling is terrible, and I was not a great student in English literature. With that being said, there has never been a time that I have ever had what the experts call “writer’s block” like many of these poor editors of what were once our great farm and livestock magazines. These poor souls can’t even write an editorial. If they get your address, they send you these magazines free, and of course all the great ads they get pay the bills. Magazines today have few articles, and the ones that do never really take a stand on the subject or ever reach a conclusion. In my opinion this is gutless reporting, something I have never been accused of.

Our dear and long time friends Bob and Shirley Chapman convinced my wife Thelma and I to take off in the middle of corn and soy bean planting, to attend Bob Kimm’s production sale. Shirley, like my wife, had all things planned from the motel, to where to eat and how to get to Bob’s farm. I couldn’t help but think how lucky Bob and I were, or maybe how brilliant we were to pick such special ladies to look after us and with which to share our lives.

I have been in the purebred livestock business all my life, but never have I attended such an outstanding event or been more impressed. I just felt good being a Suffolk breeder that day. Nobody tells me what I should write about in our Suffolk news, and I’m like an old man on an isolated island. This case was different. The first person I saw at Kimm’s sale was our Suffolk Association president, Bill MacCauley. His remark about the sale was that, “If the great sheep and huge crowd didn’t impress me, nothing will.” He felt I should write about it… so of course I will.

Many things amazed me at Bob Kimm’s 17^th annual production sale. I’m not sure it was the huge crowd from 23 different states, or the barn full of “middle of the road” Suffolk sheep that looked like peas in a pod. He had 72 or 73 rams that were going to sell in the sale, then probably 50 more rams in a different barn that you could buy for 250 dollars. You can be sure that many breeders were picking these rams out, especially the commercial breeders. Bob is by far our largest Suffolk purebred breeder. He’s registering 271 sheep, so of course he has many sheep to pick from. He probably sold 40-50 ewe lambs plus maybe 20 yearling ewes. Never have I seen such an intense crowd, trying to pick out the sheep that they were going to buy. Bob had so many data records on his flock. Breeders were doing a lot of reading plus judging the sheep. Many or most of them were repeat buyers so of course they were checking the pedigrees very closely. The sheep all looking alike did not help. One thing that impressed me was the nice heads and big feet with plenty of bone. These rams were not standing on their toes, they actually had pasterns to help them get out and do a lot of walking.

The sale amazed me the most. Talk about a low key approach to a sale- this was it. All sheep had been sheared by a professional shearer probably two weeks before the sale. These sheep had not been put on a trimming stand like the wether sheep are. They had enough wool so that the flies would not bother them. None of them had been washed, yet they were very clean. The sheep had been fed that morning and they were not sucked up like some other show sheep. The auctioneer looked like he had just gotten off a tractor.

Mr. Kimm is a very intelligent man. The teacher and former college judging coach gave a very short talk. He thanked the crowd for coming to his sale, having faith in his genetics and told them he would stand behind every sheep sold. He then said society had not accepted him, meaning the show sheep people wanted nothing do with “middle of the road” sheep. In short, that was his speech. This articulate man hardly said another word during the sale. The 72 or 73 rams sold in an hour or just as fast as they could get them in and out of the ring. The remarkable thing was that only 3 rams sold over $2,000 and none over $3,000. Most of the other rams sold between a $1,000 and $1,500. The 70 or 80 ewe lambs and yearling ewes sold even faster. It was a truly remarkable sale, and a special day for the Suffolk sheep business.

The next big sheep event that I attended was the Mid West Stud Ram Show and Sale in Sedalia, Missouri. This has always been my favorite sheep event, with large crowds of sheep and breeders from all over America. For three days I sat my boney rear end in a chair and watched the excitement. Being old and in the commercial business in a big way, these huge long legged and long necked sheep that are being bred for the show ring had nothing to do with the raising, and making money in the commercial business period.

Pasture is a big thing today and body capacity where sheep can eat and rest is very important. Sheep with less volume seem to be eating all the time just to keep full; it’s an endless process with them. With that said, these sheep are a great hobby. They are huge with great beauty, especially the Suffolk breed. There is also a lot of money to be made with these sheep by selling them to fellow sheep breeders. I don’t want to sound negative, but sometimes I feel that most Suffolk breeders are forgetting one of the real reasons why the Suffolk breed has been number one for so many years: they are the greatest terminal sire alive. Another thing of great importance that we are finding is half blood Suffolk ewes or smaller ewes are just as tough as these white faced ewes; they have more lambs that are not only heavier but loaded with red meat. We should be stressing these important things and stop talking about structural correction plus feet and legs. This is all I hear from the show sheep people. I realize that this is important, but let’s try to drop the subject for at least a year or two and go back to what makes our great breed so important.

It’s time that we look at the Dorpers who have gained great importance overnight. They are now registering 8,000 sheep per year or close to this figure. This breed has a great page colored advertisement in the sheep magazines telling of their history, how easy they are to raise, and that they can get by on weeds, brush or pasture- a pasture where only a goat would be happy. Dorpers are docile and don’t have to be sheared, plus many other things that are of interest to people getting in the sheep business. To my surprise, my grandson Jeff and his wife Stephanie purchased four Dorpers at Sedalia. Jeff has been a junior Suffolk ambassador and loves Suffolk sheep but feels that he can do better in the Dorper business. He feels that as long as the Suffolk breeders have three different types of sheep and the show people are still knit-picking about the smaller Suffolk types, his future may be better with the Dorpers. The Buckhams have been breeding Shropshires for 130 years and Suffolks for 55, so of course this was shocking to me. Our sheep are as wide as they are tall. They are now in my barn and they know old granddad will lamb them out next January. The ‘joy’ of grandchildren is the moral of this story.

I tried to convince Jeff and Stephanie that our Suffolk breed would only have two types in the future, as the wether people would soon reach the size of the “middle of the road” sheep. I watched the Suffolk wether-type breeding classes and know that this will happen; my big concern is that over half of them are grey, blue, or black; to me, this spoils their great beauty. The beautiful black head and legs with the white wool has always been a strong selling point for our Suffolk sheep. Getting rid of the black wool will not be easy.

Sedalia is a great place to meet people and of course to see your old friends and make new ones. For all of you who took the time to tell me that you still enjoy my articles, I’m touched. In our fast-moving world, handing out compliments is sort of a thing of the past. For those of you who take the time to write me letters, it’s special to me. If I haven’t responded to your letters, I will in the near future, and yes, I will have my father’s story about his great team of horses once again in this year’s winter issue of our magazine.

I’m going to mention a few people that I always enjoy talking to and feel blessed to have them as friends, even though I only get to see them once a year. The first will be Warren Kuhl who is now in California on a beautiful ranch with a great flock of Suffolk sheep. Warren was at B.Y.U. for many years, has traveled all over the world, and knows more about all forms of livestock than any person I know; it’s a joy just to listen to this man filled with wisdom.

The next two friends are Ron and Nick Annuschat from Okarche, Oklahoma. Ron is 42, Nick is 44, and neither of these hard working men is married. For all you good ladies who would like a wonderful mate, I’ll personally recommend these two young fellows. They come from a large family of six boys and four girls and they brought their ten year-old nephew to help them carry on their tradition. We decided that the three of us might be the only dirt farmers there on the fairgrounds. One fact we knew for sure was that Nick and I were the only ones on the grounds without an ounce of fat on our skinny bodies. Talking to these young fellows was like going back to the 1940’s or 50’s. They, like us, lived simple worked hard and loved the land and livestock. They had a lot of sickness in their family this year, but still had faith that things would get better. They came to Sedalia with perhaps the largest consignment of Suffolks, had Jr. Champion Ewe Lamb and did well in all of their classes, selling all of their sheep like hotcakes. For those of you who enjoy big, pretty show sheep, talk to these outstanding fellows.

While on the subject of men, maybe it’s only fair to mention a few ladies. The first is Donna Mays, our director from Idaho. Donna never gets older and always has three or four beautiful sheep to show and sell. I always enjoy looking at her wonderful hay- this year our hay was better, even if she won’t agree. The next is Susan Shultz. I’ve only met Susan three or four times, but here is a lady filled with charm and old fashioned friendliness. The Suffolk breed needs this dear lady badly- we should all have her personality.

I’ll close my article with George Good, shepherd of Michigan State’s outstanding Suffolk sheep flock, mentor and teacher to hundreds of students the past thirty or more years. The Michigan Sheep Breeders threw George a great farewell party. After a big meal, three of George’s outstanding students including my son George, Mark Chapman, and Al Culham told stories about George and their experience of living and working at the sheep barn for two years. All three of these men are now 48 years old, yet their great memories of George made it feel like yesterday. A few of their stories were a little shocking to me; I’m glad I didn’t know about them at the time. George is not only a great livestock man; he is a person with wonderful morals. He and his wife Bonnie are moving to Wyoming to be near their son and grandchildren, but Michigan’s loss will be Wyoming’s gain. I have known George since he was a kid, and he comes from a great livestock family. His father and uncle were all important livestock people and I hope that the state of Wyoming will find a way to use his knowledge plus being a role model to young adults like he has been in our state.

Hey- I know structural correctness, feet, and legs are important, but let’s drop this subject for a year or two. Our Suffolk rams are the greatest terminal sires of all the sheep breeds. The great beauty and style of the Suffolks, plus their growing abilities are second to none- this should be our biggest focus.