Katahdin Sheep

New lambs 2012

2012-02-10T11:13:00.000-08:00

Spring came a little early on Sabins Farm this year. We started lambing on February 4th and now have about 30 lambs on the ground. We knew a ram jumped in with the ewes when he was not supposed to. He was only there for a few hours, but voila! At least we know who the culprit was. Mostly twins and just one set of triplets so far.
The ones in the picture are just one day old. They are in the barn with heat lamps, but they should go outside in a few days. They don't mind the cold and it is only about 0 degrees C.

Update on solar power production

2012-02-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

As we have had the solar panels on the loafing barn roof now for just about a year, I thought it was time to review the situation. From about the middle of March last year till the middle of February 2012 this year, we have earned about $9100 on our solar power by selling it back to Hydro1, the local electricity producer. That gives us a payback time of approximately 6 and a half years. This is of course assuming that the province of Ontario does not change the contract in some way. However, we did sign a contract for twenty years, so there would be a huge outcry and protest if they were to break it.
If anyone is still thinking of joining the MicroFIT program in Ontario, the payback amounts are a bit less now, but the costs of panels should be a lot less as well. Some contractors are still charging the old high panel prices, so be careful and check around! Solar power contractors have a high rate of bankruptcy including the one we dealt with. Once the system is up and running, it does not really matter, as skilled electricians should now be able to fix things like electrical shorts and blown fuses at a reasonable cost.We did have this happen a couple of times due to thunder storms causing power surges. It helps to have a couple of spare fuses on hand, and you can learn to replace them yourself.

We did purchase a long expandable handle for a soft horsehair broom so that snow could be cleared off most of the winter. This proved difficult when the snow was preceded by freezing rain.

Starting to sell spring lambs

2011-06-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

The lambs are growing fast this year, mostly due to the heavy spring rains, current warm weather and so lots of grass. We have sold a few already as breeding stock, and hope to put a few ewes and lambs in an upcoming purebred auction this weekend. Contact me if you want details.

Also, we need some really good Katahdin sheep photos to blow up to a large size 11 x 14 or so for our display at various farm fairs this summer. I hate to use ours, as we do not want to be accused of unfairly promoting our own sheep, when we are representing the breed and Katahdin sheep breeders in Ontario.
This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago and you can see all the mud in the pasture.

Top price at Hoards

2011-04-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

We got top price for our heavy ram lambs at Hoard's on March 29th. Live weight price was $1.85 a lb and they averaged 98 lbs.

Sold some young rams

2011-03-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took 4 young rams to Hoards Station livestock market. They were last years ram lambs that we had kept for potential breeding stock, but they weren't really good enough to keep any longer, so off they went to the auction. We got about $175 each for 4 of them. Not bad as even if they had been sold as breeding stock, they would not have been more than $250 each

Lambing and solar panels

2011-03-20T07:22:00.001-07:00

The solar panels are finally up and running and making electricity. We can see on the new meter how many KWs we make in a day. Maximum daily so far about 60 KW, but it is only March. Of course, this is all being subsidized indirectly by the good people of Ontario through hikes in their power bills. All part of McGuinty's green energy initiative. Did you see the program about this on TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paiken?

We are now in the midst of lambing. Lots of ewe lambs so far this year, but we are only half way through. No bottle babies so far.

Another solar panel update

2011-02-19T07:34:00.001-08:00

Well another month has gone by. Admittedly it is still winter but we have had some nice sunny days when we could have been making power....if we were hooked up! Anyway there is slow progress as we have now been approved by Hydro 1 our local electricity provided. We sent in some more forms and a cheque for the yet to appear special meter -cost about $1200. Now another wait while they take another few weeks to open the envelope! What is wrong with those folks at Hydro 1? I could open and read several hundred letters a day. Why can't they with several people on the job?

Anyway, I have just added a link to my wife's artist website, so check it out. There are some sheep pictures.

Update on solar panels

2011-01-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I posted on the subject of our solar panels on the barn roof, so here is the state of play. We now have the panels on the roof and the electrical work is all done and inspected. We are now waiting for Hydro-one to approve and hook us up.

An important piece of information was missing from the instructions from Ontario Power. There is a Form C which has to be filled in by your solar power company and e-mailed into the Hydro-one people. It important to e-mail-not fax, which we did originally-as their system for processing the faxes is not working!. Don't simply wait and hope for the best. You have to be pro-active and phone the Hydro-one people.

Another important point: The MicroFIT number has to be in subject line of the e-mail when you submit the Form C. They do not tell you this either in any written instructions. I assume they use telepathy to communicate!

It is a shame that this is taking so long, as our solar panel providers, ESEI solar, have been wonderful, and very quick and efficient. Their people even worked in the snow to get the panels up on the barn roof.

Sheep prices at Hoards Station

2010-12-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

We took the last of our ram lambs in to Hoards Station livestock auction last Tuesday, the 13th December. The prices were about $2 a pound live weight for 85 lb lambs.
The last sale before Xmas is usually the best of the year, but there were hardly any people there as the weather was cold, windy and snowy, and the usual farmer's market was closed for that reason.
We have been debating with some of our fellow sheep farmers whether it is better to ship lambs to Cookstown north of Toronto. It is a bigger market and the prices are a little better, but is it worth the $7 or so for trucking and then there is shrinkage- loss of weight due to lack of food and water during transportation and waiting to be sold.

Solar update

2010-11-11T08:47:00.001-08:00

Well, we have just got the conditional contract offer from the Ontario Power Authority for the MicroFIT program, so the next step is to contact the solar panel installers and get the panels up on the barn roof.

Going solar

2010-10-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

We have decided to participate in the Ontario governments MicroFIT solar energy program as we have a lovely long sheep loafing barn with a south facing roof-perfect for solar panels. We are getting a 10 KW system which will only take up part of the roof. This is the maximum allowed under the program in order to get the 8O.2 cents a KW hour that Ontario Hydro will pay. This is for a roof-mounted system. A ground mounted one pays a bit less.

An engineer came out yesterday and approved the structure, with a couple of minor repairs where Jim had managed to hit the support truss with his tractor. It needed to be fixed anyway.

We had already applied for a contract with the MicroFIT people. They are backlogged -what's new?- so it could take a few weeks before the panels arrive. Anyone thinking of doing this, please do not put any money down until you have one of these contracts signed and ready to go. If you apply now, you will have to wait until the new year for MicroFIT approval.

We will keep you posted as to our progress with this scheme.

REGION 8 SHEEP MEETING is on Monday 18th Oct at 7 p.m at the primary school near the hospital in Napanee. Sheri will be talking on sheep hoof trimming, horn dis-budding and other topics.

OSMA talk on RIF tags

2010-09-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

It was an interesting meeting at the Region 8 AGM on Monday night. There were at least 16 people present as all the sheep breeders are interested in the new RIF tagging system to be introduced in about a year from now.
The main concern of sheep producers is the high cost. The tags cost just under $2 each, which maybe OK for a cow or steer that is worth $1000, but not OK for a $150-$250 sheep.
Farmers with the largest herds were the most concerned, as most of their sales are to livestock sales barns for meat, and not such a high proportion of high end registered breeding stock.

One estimate of the costs per sheep in just one sale is about $20. This would include trucking, auction fees, OSMA check-off fees and tagging. This does not include the cost of feed, deworming etc.

OSMA check-off fees are also increasing, just to add to the financial burden a little more.
There was some discussion of funding of "borderline" or irrelevant research projects. People at the meeting felt there could be some cost cutting.

If you are concerned about this, please attend the OSMA meeting in Guelph in November.
I expect to be there.

Aussie joke

2010-09-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

I thought you might enjoy this joke (not for kids)

The Ventriloquist:

An Australian ventriloquist visiting New Zealand walks into a Small village and sees a local sitting on his verandah patting his dog.

He figures he'll have a little fun, so he says to the Kiwi

'G'day, mind if I talk to your dog?'

Villager: 'The dog doesn't talk, you stupid Aussie.'

Ventriloquist: 'Hello dog, how's it going mate?'

Dog: 'Yeah, doin' all right.'

Kiwi: (look of extreme shock)

Ventriloquist: 'Is this villager your owner?' (pointing at the Villager)

Dog: 'Yep'

Ventriloquist: 'How does he treat you?'

Dog: 'Yeah, real good. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food And takes me to the lake once a week to play.'

Kiwi: (look of utter disbelief)

Ventriloquist: 'Mind if I talk to your horse?'

Kiwi: 'Uh, the horse doesn't talk either...I think.'

Ventriloquist: 'Hey horse, how's it going?'

Horse: 'Cool'

Kiwi: (absolutely dumbfounded)

Ventriloquist: 'Is this your owner?' (Pointing at the villager)

Horse: 'Yep'

Ventriloquist: How does he treat you?

Horse: 'Pretty good, thanks for asking. He rides me regularly, Brushes me down often and keeps me in the shed to protect me from the Elements.'

Kiwi: (total look of amazement)

Ventriloquist: 'Mind if I talk to your sheep?'

Kiwi: (in a panic) 'The sheep's a f*****' liar

Zone 8 Sheep Meeting

2010-09-12T15:04:00.001-07:00

The next meeting of Zone 8 Sheep Producers Ontario will be held on Monday 20th September at 7. p.m at the St Charles school in Napanee. The school is located just north of the lights at the hospital.
There will be an election of officers for the AGM.

The guest speaker will be Marcus Wand, who will be answering questions on the new RIF tags sheep identification program.

Hastings Ploughing Match 2010

2010-08-20T15:31:00.001-07:00

Once again, we manned the booth for the Ontario Katahdin Sheep Association at the annual Hastings Ploughing match. This was held at the Jarrell farm on Blessington Road near Belleville, so was quite close to us for a change.
We displayed 2 ewe lambs and an adult ram who is very friendly and nicely spotted so he attracted lots of attention, and he loved having kids pet him.
After 11,000- yes 11000 visitors came through on Wednesday we were both exhausted. We could have sold our entire flock of sheep about 10 times over. We did not have any ewes left for sale, even before the show.
We speculate that the reason for all the interest is the fact that a lot of baby boomers are retiring to the countryside, and want to have a hobby farm and a few sheep to keep them active and not bored. Sheep are easier to handle than cattle or horses being a lot smaller.

Of course, there was the obligatory thunderstorm on Thursday afternoon. There was a lot of wind and the roof of the tent next to us flew away. Our sturdy older tent managed to survive the storm without incident.

Region 8 Sheep BBQ

2010-08-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder to everyone involved that the Region 8 BBQ will be at our place on Sunday at 1 pm. No need to bring lawn chairs as we have lots of chairs. It is a potluck. E-mail if you need directions.

Talk on pasture management

2010-05-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

It was a great talk on pasture management at the Ontario Katahdin Sheep Association's AGM held near Midland, Ontario. It was a three and a half hour drive for us to get there, but it was well worth the effort.
Jack Kyle who is a pasture specialist with the department of Agriculture, gave a very interesting and informed presentation. He suggested a formula for figuring out how many sheep could be kept on how much pasture for what length of time.
A good way to tell when to change pastures, he said, is to go out in the morning and see if the bottoms of your pants are wet from the dew. If they are, the grass is about six inches high and it is a good pasture for grazing. If only the shoes are wet, then it is time to switch to another pasture. He felt that most of our pastures are too big and should be divided up with an electric fence. Water should be taken to the pasture with a hose or using a water wagon on wheels, so that sheep do not have to expend extra energy walking back and forth to the barn for water.

Agenda for OKSA meeting Sunday 25th April

2010-04-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Agenda for April 25, 2010 meeting of the O.K.S.A.

We would like to thank our gracious host Tom and Shanna Bourgeois, for letting us invade their farm today.

12:00 pm 12:30 pm
Lunch will be served and is catered by Community Living South Huron.

12:30 pm 12:45 pm
Meeting called to order.

12:45 pm 1:30 pm
Special speaker Jack Kyle who is a pasture specialist. He is speaking early as he has to leave right after.

1:30 pm 1:50 pm
All in attendance will introduce themselves and give a little history about their family and their farm.

1:50 pm - 2:10 pm
Minutes of the last meeting will be discussed. We can bring up any discussion anyone might have pertaining to those minutes.

2:10 pm 2:45 pm
Discussion of new business. Any info members would like to address.
I would like to address members to see who would like their farm and info on katahdinsheep.info as we can have a page for each member for whatever they would like to list.

2:45 pm 3:15 pm
Special speaker Judy Scott Weldon. She is a nationalist and is in communications field. She owns a marketing company.

3:15 pm 3:55 pm
Elections held for the following positions:
President
Secretary / Treasurer
Directors
As well as other positions

4:00 pm
Meeting adjourned
Tracy & Garry Smith Oram-T Farms katahdinsheep.infooramteakatahdinsheep.com

All breeds sheep sale

2010-04-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Sheep Sale at Hoard’s Station Sales Barn(near Campbellford, Ontario) on Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 1 pm.Supported by OSMA District 8 Purebred or Commercial Mature/Yearlings/LambsMale/Female Sellers and Buyers needed!! Entry forms available from: Elwood Palmateer 613-968-8698orChris Byford 613-476-2380 Accommodations in area:Campbellford River Inn, 352 Front St. N- 705-653-1771 or 1-800-984-6665Waters Edge Inn, 149 Queen St, Campbellford, 705-653-4470 or 1-877-838-3343Other hotels in Belleville or TrentonRoom for camping trailers on sales barn property

O.K.S.A Spring Meeting

2010-04-04T07:04:00.000-07:00

The spring meeting of the Ontario Katahdin Sheep Association will be held at one of our member's farm in the Georgian Bay area, north of Barrie, Ontario. If you are a member and need more info or directions, phone Tom or Shanna at 705-835-6103. There will be a lunch at 12 followed by the meeting which should go on till about 3.15 p.m.

The date is April 25th 2010.

The location is quite far north, but it is hoped that it will attract some of our northern members who find it a long drive to the Niagara Pensinsula or Eastern Ontario where meetings have been held previously. It's only fair.

Our young llamas are old enough to leave now

2010-04-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Pedro, shown here is the only male this year. He has lots of lovely wool and would make a great sheep guard. He was born in October 2009.

The black one is a female called Cinderella. She is the same age, but has a different father.

The top one is probably the fanciest one. She is called Miss Hastings as her mother is Miss Canada. Second from the top is a young female called Umbra -so names as she is an unusual taupe colour. Contact us for prices and further details.

Cuba has sheep similar to ours

2010-03-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a short holiday in Cuba, about an hour from Santiago di Cuba which is quite a large city, and not far from Guantanimo.
Goats and sheep are everywhere, although not on the menu at the hotels. I asked why that was, and the Cubans replied that the government provided food for the hotels. They gave them pork, beef and chicken, but not lamb and goat, as these went mostly to the local farmers markets. There is a little private enterprise allowed.

Anyway, the sheep were the Caribbean hair type and looked quite like Katahdins. As they also shed their wool, or do not have much to begin with, they are more suited to the hot and humid climate. They tended to be bit smaller than ours on average, but this was not from lack of grass, but due to the heat.

Eco Day at the Ramada Inn Cornwall, Ontario

2010-02-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder that the annual "Eco Day" chaired by Tom Manley of Homestead Organics will be held on the weekend of 26th-28th February. Contact 613-932-7925.

District 8 meeting

2010-02-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

The next meeting of District 8 will be held at the Napanee Charles school, at the East side of the hospital and North a few yards. It is on Monday 22nd February at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

The subject is "Fencing and shelter for sheep" by Barretts of Stirling.

Sheep Day in Spencerville

2010-02-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

There will be an annual "Sheep Day" in the Drummond Hall in Spencerville Fairgrounds at 8.30 a.m on February 20th. There will be a hot lunch provided. Contact 613-989-2792.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2009-2010

2010-01-16T09:12:00.000-08:00

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2009-2010 -Plan to join us !!!
Most meetings will be held at Westdale Park Public School on Richmond Park Dr in Napanee. Most meetings will start with a social time at 7 pm with business beginning at 7:30. We try to be finished by 9:30 pm.
*January - No Meeting
*February 22 - Fencing and Shelter Options with Richard Barrett from Barrett’s Farm Centre, Stirling
*March 22 -Potpourri of Ideas - Join us with your success tips or dismal failures!! We often learn best from our peers.
*April 17 -Working with Sheep Clinic with Fearnley Davies and Heide Elliott - see below
June 12- 10 am. Pasture Walk with Jack Kyle (OMAFRA Pasture Specialist) at the farm of Mark Ritchie and Cherry Allen at 570 Front Rd.,on Amherst Island (to the left after disembarking from the ferry). Ferry leaves mainland on the ½ hour. Please bring bag lunch - juice will be provided.
WORKING WITH SHEEP CLINIC
You are invited to learn or refresh your knowledge with 2 veteran sheep producers- Fearnley Davies and Heide Elliott. This workshop takes place on Saturday April 17 beginning at 10 am. This will be a hands on workshop showing tagging, tubing as well as offering many tips and tricks to decreasing lamb mortality. The workshop will take place at 2194 Rapids Rd just outside Tweed. For info or directions call Fearnley 613-478-3547 or Heide 613-478-3207. A chili lunch and coffee will be provided. Cost-to be determined but it won’t be expensive!!!
OMAFRA CONNECTS -Your Link to Ontario Agriculture
This is a web service provided by the Brighton office of OMAFRA to residents in Hastings, Prince Edward, Northumberland and Lennox and Addington. Our District meetings are announced using this venue. If you would like to join the list (no cost) then contact sue.yanch@ontario.ca
Our meetings are also announced on the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation. You can access them at www.frontenaccfdc.com

French Shepherds Christmas tradition

2009-12-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

Pastrage (I haven't found an equivalent in English)
Pastrage, or the shepherds' celebration, is a rural Provence tradition. The word pastrage comes from pastre, "shepherd" in Provençal. The celebration begins with the chief shepherd, who chooses the most beautiful suckling lamb and places it in a small wagon decorated with boxwood, ribbons, and candles. (Alternatively, in some villages, the wagon is filled with gifts and the youngest shepherd carries the lamb in his arms.) After the Gros Souper, everyone leaves for midnight mass: a ewe, the lamb's mother, pulls the wagon and the shepherds follow it down to the village, where they announce the birth of baby Jesus. The villagers join the parade with gifts, candles, and musical instruments.
The group heads to the church to offer the lamb and other gifts like fruit and bread to baby Jesus (in the crèche). The priest takes the lamb in his arms and tells the story of the trip the lamb and shepherds had to make to arrive in the village. Thus begins midnight mass.
There aren't many shepherds left today, but you can still see pastrage (or a re-creation) in many French villages, including Allauch, Barbentane, Les Baux de Provence, Eygalières, Fontvieille, Maussane, Saint Martin de Crau, Saint Michel de Frigolet, Saint Rémy de Provence, and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

Courtesy of Laura's French language blog

District 8 meeting

2009-11-20T05:35:00.001-08:00

The next meeting of the OSMA District 8 will be held at the school staff room in Napanee on Monday, November 23rd at 7p.m. Free refreshments.

Contact me for details

Carl Sagan's birthday

2009-11-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

This has nothing much to do with sheep, except like us, they are part of the universe.
To commemorate Carl Sagan's birthday which is November 9th, there is a great song!

Terry Spicer on sheep shearing

2009-10-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

Terry Spicer is giving a talk for District 8 about how to prepare for your sheep shearer's visit. This will be held at the school in Napanee on Monday, October 19th a 7 p.m. Anyone is welcome to attend - you don't have to live in District 8 - just own sheep or be thinking about getting into the sheep farming business.

We have been selling young Katahdin rams for breeding stock and still have some left for sale. We also have a few adult Katahidn ewes and some ewe lambs for sale.

Sorry, we are sold out of guard llamas for this year.

Thank you Mr K.S. from Harrowsmith for the purchase of ths nice white ram.

District 8 sheep meeting

2009-09-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

District 8 of Ontario Sheep meeting was held at the school just north of the hospital in Napanee last Tuesday. It was the AGM and the executive has stayed the same as last year. The guest speaker was Murray Hunt who is the new chairman of OSMA.
There was some discussion as to whether Ontario lamb should be classified as "Special" or whether it should take it's place next to cheap chicken by increasing production. It is obviously better to keep it as a luxury food.

There was further discussion on the added potential costs of the new RIF tags. The abattoirs as going to have to increase their charges to cover their costs in addition to our costs of the actual tags and the scanner/readers.

The next Distrist 8 meeting will be at the same location at the Charles school on Monday October 19th at 7p.m. Contact me if you need directions

Just for fun here are pictures of our new baby llamas -both females.

Expensive sheep

2009-08-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

A sheep sells for price of a small house

As the most expensive sheep in the world, there is one thing Deveronvale Perfection can be sure of – at £231,000, he will never be made into lamb chops.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Published: 3:22PM BST 28 Aug 2009

John Yates, Chief Executive of the Texel Sheep Society, said the industry was shocked by the high price Photo: Tim Scrivener
The Texel shocked the agriculture world after selling for the astronomical sum at a livestock auction in Scotland.
The sale broke the last UK record of around £134,000 for a Texel tup - or ram - in 2002 and even the world record for a sheep in Australia in the 1980s.

But the lamb could make its new owner a good return, and go on to be worth millions after selling his progeny around the world.
The sheep was sold by Graham Morrison for 220,000 guineas - or £231,000 - at the Scottish National Texel Sale at Lanark Market on Thursday.
The February-born tup lamb, bred by embryo transfer, is the offspring of one of the breed’s leading tups, Kelso Oxygen, and a champion ewe, Knock Magnum.
It was bought by breeder Jimmy Douglas of Cairness, Aberdeenshire who as not available for comment on Friday.
John Yates, Chief Executive of the Texel Sheep Society, said the industry was shocked by the high price.
However he said the buyer would earn more over the long run by breeding, after selling the semen around the world.
Tophill Joe, the country's previously most expensive ram at £128,000, is thought to have earned his owners more than £1 million in five years.
"Most people would see it as a ridiculous price for a sheep but, for a sheep breeder, it is an investment," he said.
Mr Yates explained that Deveronvale Perfection not only has the right parentage but "looks good". Most importantly, the width of his loin, the muscle that runs up the back of the sheep and makes lamb chops, is a good size.
Texels are currently the most popular sheep for breeding in the UK because of the quality of the meat, which is another reason for the high price.
"Genetic and livestock breeding is all about uniqueness so if there is an animal with the right looks and the right pedigree you can be sure of a good return," he added.
The embryo transfer technique which produced Deveronvale Perfection saw multiple embryos from the best ewe extracted, and then artificially inseminated and transplanted into another ewe. This ensures the only the best bloodlines are bred from.
Jonathan Long, Livestock Editor at Farmers Weekly, said breeding is becoming more selective and prices could become even more expensive in the future.
"I know it seems like a lot to pay for a sheep and in some ways it is, but we are talking about the top end of pedigree breeding and the potential to make millions."

Hastings Plowing Match 2009

2009-08-13T09:22:00.001-07:00

And I had always thought "plowing" was spelled "ploughing"!

I will be at the Hastings Plowing Match as usual with some of my Katahdin sheep. I plan on taking my very friendly ram, as he is great with kids, and a couple of ewe lambs.
We need to sell some meat as we are running out of freezer space.

I may need some help, so any volunteers would be appreciated.

My wife will be busy manning a table near the centre stage for Harvest Hastings where she will have bags of llama fire, some of her felted fibre art and some llama and alpaca knitting wool.

The Ploughing match is at the corner of Bronk Rd and Harmony Rd about 8 km north of the 401 on HWY 37 and 2km East. It is on Wed and Thursday next week- 19th and 20th August. See you there!

Meeting with Leona Dombrowsky

2009-06-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, a few of the Hastings County sheep producers were invited to Leona Dombrosky's office in Belleville for a meeting. She informed them of some changes in agricultural policy that might be beneficial to sheep farmers, and in return we were allowed to ask a few questions.

One of the main concerns was large losses of livestock due to predators (coyotes, wolves) in the last few years. This was especially bad in Prince Edward County. It was suggested that a $200 grant be made available to farmers towards the purchase of guardian animals such as certain breeds of dogs, donkeys and llamas.

Questions were also raised about the effects of the combined GST/PST tax on farmers incomes.

McGuinty Government Rewards 14 Recipients For Their Innovations
NEWS June 5, 2009

Innovative ideas grown by Ontario farmers were celebrated today at a ceremony in Tweed honouring local winners of the province’s regional awards for innovation excellence. These fresh ideas are contributing to the local economy, boosting the agri-food industry and giving consumers more choice.

The Premier’s Agri-Food Innovation Excellence awards are part of a $2.5-million, five-year program (now in its third year) established to recognize innovators who contribute to the success of Ontario’s agri-food sector.

Local events across the province are recognizing 55 regional award winners, who are receiving $5,000 each for their innovations. Area winners presented with their awards today are:

Durham Farm Fresh Marketing Association (Hampton, Durham Region)
CIPM Inc. (Madoc, Hastings County)
Ontario Water Buffalo Company (Stirling, Hastings County)
Quinte Organic Farmers Cooperative Inc. (Hastings and Northumberland Counties)
Kawartha Ecological Growers (Woodville, Kawartha Lakes County)
Windblest Farm (Lanark, Lanark County)
Wendy’s Mobile Market (Lyndhurst, Leeds & Grenville County)
Paul Goddard (Brighton, Northumberland County)
Ontario Lamb Improvement Breeding Strategy Replicating Breeder’s Association (Norwood, Peterborough County)
County Roots - Food Focus Program, Prince Edward Collegiate Institute (Picton, Prince Edward County)
The County Cider Company (Picton, Prince Edward County)
Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company (Picton, Prince Edward County)
Vicki’s Veggies (Milford, Prince Edward County)
Ottawa Valley Food Co-operative (Cobden, Renfrew County)
Winners of the $100,000 Premier’s Award and the $50,000 Minister’s Award were presented in April at the Premier’s Summit on Agri-Food.

QUOTES
“Ontario’s agri-food sector continues to lead through innovation. With these awards, we are recognizing and rewarding the creative ideas growing on farms and rural communities across this province. Together, we are building opportunities that will make our agri-food industry and economy stronger.”
- Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

QUICK FACTS

In its first three years, the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence has attracted more than 550 applications highlighting on-farm innovations.

Ontario’s agri-food sector is one of the province’s leading industries, contributing more than $33 billion to the economy every year.

Ontario Katahdin Sheep Association AGM

2009-04-09T12:49:00.001-07:00

The next AGM meeting of the OKSA will be held on April 18th 2009. It will probably be held at Neil Mesman's farm at Tavistock, Ontario. If you are interested in attending, please contact Neil at bigskyfarms@xplornet.com
or contact me at jim@sabinsfarm.com
or Tracy Smith oram-t@sympatico.ca. The position of vice-president is up for election.

Lamb co-op

2009-03-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

We held a meeting at our farm last weekend (March 14th) to see if there were enough sheep farmers in our area interested in forming a lamb marketing co-op. The guest speaker was Keith Salisbury who spoke of his experiences in marketing sheep in the Ottawa region. We had a lamb lunch and about 14 sheep farmers were in attendance.

Keith felt that most producers are not getting enough for their lamb if they sell them live at the auction barns (for example Hoard's Station or Cookstown). He suggested that we could do better by getting together and supplying local high end restaurants and small grocery stores. They would need consistant size and quality. The carcasses should weigh 45-50lbs. He went on to describe the cuts of meat that customers wanted- rolled bones shoulders, legs, shanks, chops and rack of lamb. The rest (not much left over except the belly and the neck) could be made into lamburger. Vaccum packing is best,as this enable the customer to see the product. Most lamb sellers at farmers markets do not have the lamb on display and so do not get as good a price for it. Lamb may not be sold ealiy in farmers markets, but it may lead to "farm gate" sales, through the contacts.

He left us to check into local markets and see what we could come up with.

Eco Farm Day 2009

2009-02-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

Today we attended the Canadian Organic Growers Eco Farm Day "The Business of Farming from Field to Fork!" It was held at the Ramada Inn in Cornwall in Eastern Ontario. There were people from all over, including the Eastern U.S.

Topics ranged from "Controlling internal parasites in sheep" or "How to design and build log fences" to the advantages and disadvantages of being a co-op or a corporation. There was even a presentation about how to set up and use a farm website or even write a blog. Fancy that! The presenter said that he couldn't find our website when he Googled Eastern Ontario Organic Farms, but we are not listed as an organic farm as we do not fit all the criteria (and we are too cheap to pay the high fees to join!)If you Google Katahdin Sheep Ontario, we are easy to find.

The speakers were excellent- not a boring one amongst them- and so was the lunch.

The commercial displays were all interesting and informative. We helped with one booth which was involved with marketing "Natural Lamb" There was a lot of interest and we ran out of business cards and brochures (Mental note: bring more next time) There must have been at least 400 people in attendance. It was hard to find a parking spot.

Organic or eco-friendly farming is definitely the way of the future

Katahdin sheep co-op in Eastern Ontario

2009-01-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

Keith Salisbury is trying to start up a co-op with some seed money to be used by March in Eastern Ontario.

He asked me to be the Western representative which includes Belleville.

Keith has asked to have a few minutes to talk about it on Feb. 09 at the Zone 8 meeting in Napanee. We both raise Katahdin sheep and Keith uses a Dorper as a terminal sire. Other interested producers have similar sheep. The main idea of the co-op is to facilitate producer direct sales to store by cutting out the middle man. The producer will only need to deal with the abattoir.

The ideal railgrade (dressed weight) would be 40 to 45 lbs. Live weight would need to be about 90- 100lbs.

For more information e-mail me.

District 8 Xmas dinner

2008-12-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

The sheep roducers of District 8 - not just for Katahdin farms, but open to all types of sheep owners- had their annual Xmas dinner and party at the Wilderness Restaurant just outside Kingston. YOu can see it from HWY 401.

Its a little on the expensive side, but the meals are definitely worth it. I managed to win a "door prize" which was a box of Kleenex decorated with sheep pictures in a nice re-usable cloth shopping bag. Don't forget to take these with you when you go shopping to save from using plastic bags. Leave them in the car all the time and then you will always have them with you.javascript:void(0)

OSMA AGM in Guelph, Ontario

2008-10-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the OSMA (Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency) AGM as I am a delegate from District 8.
As usual, there were some interesting speakers on subjects such as sheep predators. Apparently it is impossible to tell the difference between coyotes and wolves in certain parts of Ontario. Wolves are a protected species in some areas.

Other topics covered were the rising price of corn affecting profit margins of red meat, the state of the sheep industry in Ontario, scrapie, and a presentation from the Canadian Wool Growers' Association.
There were many questions about the finances and budget of OSMA, and most were answered to the members satisfaction. They are still without a general manager as they have been unable to find a suitable candidate.

The lamb at the dnner was a bit tough and not a good advertisement for the industry! It should have been cooked much slower. However the lunch on the following day was great. There were lamb skewers Greek style with Greek salad followed by a wonderful selection of cakes and deserts.

Some of our baby llamas

2008-10-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Canadian Katahdin Sheep Association

2008-10-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

The CKSA AGM is to be held at the Canadian Western Agribition, Regina ,Sask in the small upper lounge in the Winter Fair Building on Friday NOv 28th at 5.30 pm 2008. Come if you are interested.
Also on NOv 27th at 4pm at the Agribition is the market Katahdin lmab show, followed at 6pm by the junior and costume show.
The next day Friday 28th Nov is the National Katahdin sheep show at 10 a.m.
Saturday NOv 29th at 2.30 p.m. is the Katahdin National Sale.

FOr info: Contact jmish@sasktel.net

Katahdin lamb prices

2008-09-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

I just got off the phone from talking to a fellow Katahdin sheep breeder in the Smiths Falls area of Ontario. He tells me he sells the fresh lamb at a local farmers market for $7.50 a lb and that is not for the best cuts even! Apparantly, someone else is at the same market selling "regular" lamb, which has a lot more fat. Customers are simply crossing the street to buy the Katahdin lamb which is obviously so much leaner.
Another Katahdin breeder I talked to recently, tells me that Muslims prefer Katahdins as during the "Halal" kill, (which is similar to the Jewish "Kosher") the meat is less likely to be contaminated by the wool.

As prices at the livestock markets are low right now, it might make sense for us to sell the meat directly to the public. We generally sell the live lambs, rather than having them butchered first.

Did you also know that Katahdin sheep are the only breed where not a single case of scrapie has been recorded? They seem to be resistant, and it does not appear to have anything to do with the scrapie resistant gene types, as even those Katahdins who do not possess the scrapie resistant gene are not getting scrapie after being exposed to it in a provincial study.

Baby llamas

2008-09-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Four new baby llamas were born last week. Two males and two females-all fit and healthy and growing well. One was from a first time mother, but she did not have any problems wtih birthing or feeding. Young llamas are called "crias".

Pictures coming as soon as I get round to taking some!
One is all black, two are black with white socks and "tuxedo" fronts and one is a red brown with a white star.

Hastings Ploughing Match

2008-08-20T06:16:00.000-07:00

Today I am off to man a booth for the Ontario Katahdin sheep Association at the Hastings County Ploughing match. This is a big annual event, with nearly as many visitors as the International Ploughng Match. Actually, I like it better because it is more about farming and less commercial. It is great for kids as well, as there are lots of free activities, contests and give aways.

We take some Katahdin sheep and lambs so come and see us at our booth! Its on August 20th and 21st and is located in a farmers fields on the Campbellford Road, North of Stirling, Ontario.

The heavy horse pulls are great to watch.

Lambs to Hoards Station

2008-08-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Took some Katahdin/Suffolk cross lambs to Hoards Station Livestock Market today. The prices were not as good as usual, as we only averaged $110 per lamb. Some of them were over 100albs so this might have reduced the price a bit. Prices for lambs seem a bit lower this summer than usual.
Hoards Station is a fun place to visit and take the kids. Lots of animals including rabbits,birds, chickens, puppies as well as the usual sheep,goats,cows and pigs. The occasional horses and llamas are there as well.
There is a small market place where you can buy produce or antiques, and the local churches put on a great lunch for less than $10 including coofee and pie.

Weaned lambs

2008-07-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

We weaned the new crop of lambs from their mothers yesterday -actually just the males at this point. They area noisy bunch! They want to go back to their mothers.
The new ram is settling in nicely. In fact , he feels so much at home that he is very demanding about his grain rations!
We are starting to sell some of our 2008 ewe lambs now.

Getting new ram

2008-06-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today we are on the trail of a new ram, as most of our ewes are now related to our present guy (see picture) He is now for sale for just the meat price, as he is 8 years old, but still quite capable of breeding his girls. As you can see he is big and solid, and a nice darkish brown colour. E-mail me if you are interested and live in Ontario.

District 8 Sheep Producers Meeting re tagging

2008-05-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

The meeting to discuss the proposed RIF tagging of sheep in Ontario is to be held at Napanee Lions Hall on Thursday June 5th at 7.00 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

There is a petition circulating, but we have been told to hold off signing it until after the meeting.

Region 8 are also having a tour of the new specialty goat and cheese "green" factory in Prince Edward County, Wapoose, on Saturday May 31st at 10.00 a.m. We are meeting at the cheese factory. Lunch afterwards at the Wapoose Winery.

Tagging sheep

2008-05-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

The sheep breeders associations in Ontario are becoming concerned about the new proposed RRIF tagging system for sheep. Although we agree that an identification system for sheep is important for tracking down sources of infectious diseases etc. we are all concerned about the increased cost to producers. These tags contain bar codes that can only be read by special scanners, which are quite expensive, as are the tags themselves. Sheep farmers with flocks varying from hundreds to even several thousand head of sheep, will face huge increases in their production costs.
District 8 is planning a meeting to discuss this problem. Dates and info to follow.

Meeting of Ontario Katahdin Breeders

2008-04-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went down to the "county"-Prince Edward County to the Smith farm for the AGM of the Ontario Katahdin Sheep Association. Membership is $35 a year. We had a great pot luck lunch followed by election of officers and meeting. We agreed that we would have a booth at the Hastings Ploughing Match again this year. It is held on the 20th and 21st of August. There are literally thousands of people attending this farm show. This year it will be held just north of Stirling.

Sheep lawnmowers!

2008-04-23T05:39:00.001-07:00

I just came across this great cartoon! Very appropriate with the crazy high gas prices these days. Sorry they aren't Katahdin sheep. These obviously need shearing.

2008-03-27T15:00:00.001-07:00

No more lambs now for a few days, but the maple sap is dripping into the buckets. The snow is finally starting to melt.

Happy Customer

2008-03-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

One of my customers is now a believer in the ease of lambing by Katahdins. He said he just went out to the lambing area and there the lambs were! No help required. He called yesterday requesting some more ewes. He was also impressed by the fact that he could easily tell which ewes were due immently by looking at the softening of back end, and the size of the udder.

The calls are also coming in from potential new customers requesting weaned ewe lambs.

The lambs are all doing fine including these spoiled suffolk cross triplets. They are still under the heat lamp. The mother is a full Katahdin.

Lambing

2008-03-13T06:32:00.000-07:00

We have just started lambing 3 days ago. It is a pleasant surprise as according to the calendar, April 02 is the first lambing date. The 2 and 3 day lambs are doing just fine in this -15 overnight weather.

We keep our newborn lambs in lambing pens in the barn for a day or two, then they go into a larger outdoor area where there are round bale self feeders and automatic waterers. The llamas are enjoying their new friends.

The trees around our backyard are just tapped and the maple sap was running yesterday for the first time this year. Snowing-again-today!

Benefits of Katahdin Sheep

2008-03-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Katahdin hair sheep are a new breed of low maintenance meat sheep. They require no shearing, no docking of tails, no crotching for lambing. The size varies frm 120 lbs. to 170 lbs for ewes and 150 lbs. to 250 lbs. for rams.

The flavour is mild without the lanolin influence so the age of lambs can be extended without losing the flavour. The chlorestrol is low about 44 vs about 75 for average lamb.