Sheep growers not complaining
By Blair Koch, Ag Weekly correspondent
Monday, December 22, 2008 1:14 PM CST
TWIN FALLS, Idaho - All in all 2008 was a decent year for Idaho sheep producers said American Sheep Industry Association Secretary/Treasurer Margaret Soulen Hinson.
“The market has softened, but that’s natural given the economy. Producers felt it was a good year,” said the Weiser producer with Soulen Livestock.
Throughout the year, ASI remained focused on disease-transmission issues and the legal dispute between supporters of wild sheep reintroduction into the Payette National Forest and domesticated sheep ranchers who have long accessed the land for grazing.
The Payette National Forest contains ideal range conditions for the 20,000 domestic sheep that graze within the forest every year and wild sheep, which are roaming into Payette domestic grazing allotments from Hells Canyon.
This year, the Forest Service barred domestic sheep from parts of the Payette that connect with bighorn habitat. A legal battle is still brewing, and what happens in Payette could set precedent for the future of the sheep ranching industry, Hinson said.
Hinson grazes some 9,000 ewes on a combination of private, state and federal lands, including the Payette National Forest.
ASI is waiting on clarification as to where bighorns will be protected and grazing restricted. For over 100 years, the industry has depended on access to public grazing leases across the West.
“We see it as what happens in Idaho will set precedent for how these kinds of issues are decided in the West. We need to get a good outcome for the future of the sheep-ranching industry,” she said.
In addition to controlling predator losses and remaining active in the grazing-land dispute, producers faced continued operational cost hurdles throughout the year.
The two biggest challenges faced by producers were high fuel and feed costs, said Castleford producer Mike Guerry. While gas at the pump declined during the fourth quarter, freight costs haven’t decreased at the same rate.
Guerry’s herd totals about 5,000 ewes. The animals are shipped to Arizona for winter grazing, and freight costs associated with the animals’ transport are impacting Guerry’s bottom line.
“Freight costs have increased exponentially and remain very high. Those costs have come down some, but the rate of decrease is lagging in comparison to the prices we’ve been seeing at the pump,” he said.
The country’s recession has led to declining demand for wool products, but the holiday season pumped up the softening lamb market.
With falling demand, the industry has tightened supply. In July, the nation’s sheep and lamb inventory was down 3 percent from the previous year, as reported by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service. At 7.35 million head, inventory was 5 percent lower than in July 2006.
“For wool, it was an average year. Prices have remained stable; they weren’t super great but not in the tank either,” said Idaho Wool Growers Director Stan Boyd. “For the most part 2008 was pretty stagnant.”
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