United Suffolk Sheep Association

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October/November 2004

As I write this article, it’s August 24^th. Today’s another rainy, very cool day in Michigan; in fact, it looks like spring. Our lawns could be mowed every three or four days, and fields of alfalfa hay should be cut every thirty days. You good people in the western states would have heart attacks if you ever got the rain we have had this year. The corn and soybeans will have record yields if they ever get ripe, but then, who said that life should be perfect? 

Our good breed secretary, Mrs. Benson, always sends me a copy of the Suffolk News as early as possible so that I’ll make the deadline for the next issue. At times, I wonder if I’m worth the special postage that she has to pay. Before I start my rambling article, I feel that it’s only fair to mention the Paasch family of California. They had a full page ad with pictures of their three great rams that dominated the National Suffolk Sale at Reno. While I do not know these outstanding breeders, I do know that they have been breeding Suffolk sheep for years, are always at the top of their classes, and have their sheep trimmed to perfection. I feel that any breeder can get lucky and win a show or big time sale, but to do it year after year takes a special talent. They should be congratulated by all of us.  

I read with interest the article by sixteen-year old Melinda McAsey of Potter Valley, California. Her article was the first place winner in the Senior division of the National Junior Show which was held at Laramie, Wyoming in early July. The title was “Challenges Facing the Suffolk Industry.” Needless to say, this young lady had done some real thinking on how to increase our membership and get sheep people raising our great breed. Melinda didn’t pull any punches; she put her thoughts on the line like we all should be doing. I agreed with everything that she wrote except for her first statement about politics being played in the show-ring of Suffolk sheep. This may have been true of years past, but not today. I feel that this is merely a false perception and is hurting the showing of our Suffolk breeding sheep believing that judges play favorites. If anything, I feel that our judges are far too liberal and try to give every breeder a break at times. I’m sure that they’re feeling that it gets breeders enthused which may be a good thing. The showing of Suffolk sheep today is a tough situation because we have so many great sheep, and of course, older breeders who have been doing it for years and are very difficult to show against. I also feel that breeders are more honest than ever before on the registration papers. People who cheat on their paperwork do not stick around long in this competitive business. In fact, it makes them look just plain dumb. 

Melinda sure hit the nail on the head when she wrote about the fear of the dreaded Scrapie disease that has hurt the Suffolk business. I’m sure that I promised never to write about this no-account disease, but seeing how she brought it up, I will. I’m sure that the powers-that-be thought this was part of the Mad Cow Disease in cattle, and everything was blown out of proportion. The time and money it has cost us all to get our sheep RR or QR has not helped the purebred sheep business. Using RR rams that were not up to par in the early stages didn’t help many flocks. At this time, we have many great RR rams, so breeding flocks are getting back to normal. 

Melinda’s remark about lack of participation in our Junior breeding shows in the last two years couldn’t be more true. The remains a serious problem in the adult breeding classes as well. As she says, Suffolks no longer rule the sheep barns at many fairs. Melinda has a number of ways to increase our membership. Maybe the best one is if every member of our association would get one new member every year, or even every five years, it would be a boom to our business. I urge you all to read her article; this young, intelligent girl and her peers remain the hope of the future. As Suffolk breeders, we must be more outgoing to these young breeders and their families. We must make them feel more welcome and make the Suffolk business more fun and enjoyable. 

I realize that we are in a modern age, but putting our advertisements on the internet seems like a cold way of doing business. I have the feeling that we may destroy our sheep magazines. These magazines cannot survive without our ads. Breeders love to read them and talk about them. Larry Mead of the old Sheep Breeder told me that sheep breeders may pick up the magazine five times looking at ads before they would read an article. It’s not a very encouraging thought for a person who does a lot of writing. Promoting our business to young people is not going to be easy in this day and age. The competition for our children or, in my case, grandchildren, is fierce. A few years ago, I quoted Debbie Mrozinski, wife of Larry, who judged the big Reno Sale and Show, plus many others. Her remark was that the schools are stealing our children by getting them involved in the dozens of programs that they have. The kids are so busy that they seldom have time to all be together at supper time. Sports are another example. We have sports camps for every sport. Coaches are practically fighting over outstanding athletes. These kids can start at four or five years of age for some silly reason that I’ve yet to understand. Then, of course, we have the churches with their many programs. We also have 4-H and FFA thankfully. If all of these things aren’t taking every minute of our kids’ time, we have computers, plus the not-too-good television and wild music. In short, I feel sorry for these poor kids. They don’t know if they’re coming or going. 

Just maybe, the biggest problem as Melinda mentioned is diversity in breed standards. I’m sure that she is writing about frame sheep and wether sheep. Two types of animals is not good for any species of livestock, especially when breeders hardly recognize each other as being important. The big question is with all of these kids showing market lambs slick-sheared, are they going to show breeding sheep trimmed when they get older? In their busy world, I doubt that they’ll take the time to learn this skill or think that it’s necessary. I have a feeling that in the next twenty-five years, few breeds of sheep will be shown with wool on them, but then why am I worrying? I won’t be around to find out. 

While I’m on the subject of showing sheep, I’ll mention the showmanship classes that seem to be the big event at the fairs in this day and age. Talking against these long, marathon events that take hours and even turn into quiz bowls is like talking against motherhood. When these showmanship classes are judged by young men and women with no real experience in the breeding and showing of livestock, I feel that it becomes almost a joke to someone like me who has walked into the show-ring hundreds of times. How are these people capable of teaching our children how to show or fit an animal? When people walk into a show-ring, it is a time to get serious, not have some silly grin on your face like these young judges tell our kids to have. It’s time that we realize that the greatest showman on earth cannot win with a poor animal. Let’s put the breeding and feeding of our livestock the main factor in these shows. 

It seems that I’m always mowing our yards or clipping our many pastures this summer. I got home a little late the night before our fair, and my son, George, and my grandson, Tommy who is fourteen years old, were loading the nose of our livestock trailer with all of the equipment, plus hay, straw, and grain that they would need for the fair the next day. They, of course, were excited which the beginning of the fair always creates. As I stood and watched them, a million memories went through my mind. I thought of my twin brother, Fred, back when we were fourteen years old. We had the champion steer, lamb and pig. They sold it for more money than we could ever imagine. When we got the checks, we immediately purchased a brand new John Deere tractor, plow, cultivator and corn planter, and we still had a little left over. With all of these new tools, we were off and running and never looked back. As I watched them, I knew that there was nothing that could match the fairs for bonding of families, having fun, and yes, making money. 

Emily, who helps me with my articles, Tommy and I were talking about how he would be taking over for me on our farm a week or two before the fair. We figured that he has two more years of high school and four more years of college at Michigan State. All I have to do is last another six years, then he could come home and take my place, just like the Buckhams have always done. Emily suggested that she would help me write my book, that is, if I still have any brains left. 

As I walked back to the house, it finally hit me that my sons had taken over our farms and that they and their kids were fitting the animals. This exciting and rewarding part of my life was over. I would never again walk int a show-ring. I just had the feeling, in fact I knew, that Tommy was getting ready to take over the thing that I had always which gave me a special feeling. I wondered how the years could have gone by so quickly. I felt a little sad, maybe blue, yet proud that I knew they were going to carry on our tough, wonderful life of farming the land and raising good livestock. 

My dear wife always gives the prayers before we eat, and the older she gets, the longer the prayer. That night, I told her to make it short, to thank God for treating us all so specially, for letting us make a living farming, raising our children and grandchildren, and having the privilege of breeding purebred livestock. Our lives have been a joy.