Tag: wool

Barnyard Animal Extinctions

  • Milking Devon cattle are rare domestic breeds from an earlier day, some dating back to the 18th century. The animals hold genetic information that some people think is too valuable to lose. (Photo by Lester Graham)

When you think of endangered species, farm animals might not top the list. But some types of farm animals are in danger of going extinct.
Certain breeds of common barnyard creatures are no longer considered commercially viable, and are being allowed to die off. But as the GLRC’s Chris Lehman reports, there’s an effort to preserve some rare varieties of
livestock:

Transcript

When you think of endangered species, farm animals might not top the list. But some
types of farm animals are in danger of going extinct. Certain breeds of common barnyard
creatures are no longer considered commercially viable, and are being allowed to die off.
But as the GLRC’s Chris Lehman reports, there’s an effort to preserve some rare varieties
of livestock:


When you buy a pound of ground beef or a pack of chicken legs, you probably don’t
think about what kind of cow or chicken the meat came from. And in most stores,
you don’t have a choice. Beef is beef and chicken is chicken.


Of course, there’s many different kinds of cows and chickens, but most farmers stick with
just a handful of types. They prefer animals that are specially bred to produce more meat
in less time.


That’s all well and good if your motive is profit.


But some people think the move towards designer farm animals is risky.
Jerome Johnson is executive director of Garfield Farm Museum.


(Sound of turkeys gobbling)


Johnson says breeds like these Narragansett turkeys carry genetic traits that could be
desirable in the future. They don’t require as much food, for instance. That could be an
attractive feature as costs continue to rise:


“Some of the high-producing, high-yielding animals today, they may require a lot of
input. In other words, a lot of feed, more expense since so many things are derived from
petroleum, from the diesel fuel that powers the tractors to the production of fertilizer
and the like, and chemicals for herbicides and all… that as the cost of that goes up, it may
actually be cheaper to raise a different type of animal, that doesn’t require that much.”


Johnson also says some common poultry breeds get sick more easily. That’s part of the
risk farmers take when they choose meatier birds. Normally that might not be a problem,
but if Avian flu spreads to the US, some of the older breeds might carry genes that could
resist the disease. If those breeds disappear, that genetic information would be lost.


But some farmers choose rare livestock breeds for completely different reasons.


(Sound of baby chicks)


Scott Lehr and his family raise several varieties of pure-bred poultry, sheep, and goats on
their northern Illinois farm. These chicks are just a few weeks old…


(Sound of baby chicks)


“These are all pure-bred birds. These are birds that have been around a long time. Some
of the breeds that are in there, there’s Bantam Brown Leghorns, Bantam White Leghorns.”


Some of the poultry breeds are so rare and exotic they’re practically collector’s items.
Lehr’s son enters them in competitions. But the animals on their farm aren’t just for
showing off. Scott says they use the wool from their herd of Border Cheviot sheep for a
craft studio they opened in a nearby town:


“There’s quite a bit of demand growing for handspun wool and the rising interest in the
hand arts, if you will… knitting and spinning and weaving and those kinds of things… are
really beginning to come into, I guess, the consciousness of the American public in many
ways. It’s evolving beyond a cottage industry.”


And the wool of rare breeds like the Border Cheviot sheep is popular among people who want handspun wool.


(Sound of Johnson calling to giant pig, “Hey, buddy, how ya doin’?”)


Back at the Garfield Farm Museum, Jerome Johnson offers a handful of grass to a 700
pound Berkshire hog. This Berkshire is different from the variety of pig with the same
name that’s relatively common today. Johnson says these old-style Berkshires have a
different nose and more white hair than the modern Berkshire. They also tend to be fatter,
which used to be a more desirable trait.


The museum’s pair of old-style Berkshires are literally a dying breed. Johnson says the
boar isn’t fertile anymore:


“They were the last breeding pair that we knew of. These were once quite common but
now are quite rare. And we maybe have found a boar that is fertile that is up in
Wisconsin that was brought in from England here a couple years ago that we could try
crossing with our sow to see if we can preserve some of these genetics.”


(Sound of pigs)


Advocates of rare livestock breeds say the animals can be healthier and sometimes tastier
than the kinds raised on large commercial farms. And although you won’t find many
farm animals on the endangered species list, they could have important benefits for future
farmers.


For the GLRC, I’m Chris Lehman.

Related Links

The Fading Custom of Spring Lambing

  • George Good encourages an ewe to come to her twin lambs. Spring lambing was once a significant seasonal moment on the family farm which often had a variety of livestock. Today, most farms specialize in only one or two animals or crops. (photo by Lester Graham)

Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm, springtime seems to bring with it thoughts of baby chicks and spring lambs. But it’s not as common to find sheep on the farm today. Farming is different. The GLRC’s Lester Graham found some spring lambs… and a man who still thinks sheep have a place on the farm:

Transcript

Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm, springtime seems to bring with it
thoughts of baby chicks and spring lambs. But it’s not as common to
find sheep on the farm today. Farming is different. The GLRC’s Lester
Graham found some spring lambs… and a man who still thinks sheep
have a place on the farm:


(Sound of lambs)


It’s chilly and it’s raining outside, but nestled in the straw, three newborn
lambs are snuggling for a little warmth in the barn. George Good is milking
their mother – in farm parlance she’s called a ewe. He’s inserted her teat
directly into a green Mountain Dew bottle. After getting a little of the
ewe’s first milk, he holds the plastic bottle up to the light to see if he’s
got enough. Then he twists on a screw top nipple and picks up a
newborn lamb. It’s weak, kind of floppy, too wobbly to stand on its
own, but it eagerly takes the nipple and the first milk – called colostrum.


“I’m gonna give these lambs a little bit of supplement, you know, to get
them started, about two to three ounces of colostrum so they’ve got some
strength to get up and go. It’s really rich, high energy, and this ewe –
anything she’s immune to, the anti-bodies are in that first milk. So that
gives that lamb a boost to get off and is really healthy.”


Good is dressed to ward off the chill of the day… insulated overalls, stocking cap
and a pale blue kerchief around his neck. His easy going, warm way of
talking belies his quickness as he nimbly picks up another lamb to give it
a bit of the first milk.


Sheep used to be common on family farms. That’s when farming meant
a balance of different kinds of livestock, crops and income, but that’s
pretty rare these days… and this isn’t a family farm. George Good is the
farm manager at the Michigan State University Sheep Teaching and Research Center,
but Good himself was raised on one of those family farms.


“You know, they used to milk a few cows, have a few laying hens, and a
flock of ewes that they’d lamb in the spring, and lambing in the spring,
that’s a good time because it’s just before they go to the crop, to do the
field work, see?”


The lambs were born in the spring, just before it really got busy. Then,
after the crops were planted, it was time to shear the sheep. The wool
meant income that came at a pretty good time. Farming used to be all
about timing. After going all winter with little to sell, spring offered a
chance for some income. Selling lambs for meat, selling wool, and then
raising different livestock to sell at different times of the year. Farmers
would grow hay and wheat to bring in money during the summer, tiding
the family over until the corn crop came in during the fall and with it
more money.


“And I can remember a lot of people telling me – old farmers – that their
flock of sheep really kind of helped to make the farm payments. They
may not have been necessarily focused largely on the flock of sheep, but
it was something that fit in, that was compatible, you know.”


But, today farms usually are not that diverse. They specialize. Livestock
farms often raise just one kind of animal. Hog farms with tens of
thousands of pigs. Cattle farms that concentrate the animals in feedlots.
Or farms that don’t raise livestock at all, just crops. Modern farms
count on the efficiencies of mass production rather than the balance of
the cycles of nature and husbandry.


Good says even sheep farms have to raise hundreds of sheep to make
enough money to support a family, but Good says sheep are great if
they’re thought of as they once were on traditional farms… as a little
supplemental income.


“If you have a flock of sheep or a group of sheep it’s a great family
project. It’s something the wife and children can help, labor-wise, take
care of. They’re smaller. You got the wool crop. If you have some hilly
land or some rough area that you don’t farm, they graze it and you end
up with a nice product to sell. But, the family, the thing about sheep is
the family can really do a lot of the work, your children and your wife
and so on.”


Good notes that there’s been increased demand for lamb from growing
Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean populations in cities such as Detroit
and Toronto. Lamb prices are higher, making sheep worth the effort.
But then, Good seems to be partial to the animals. He gives you the
impression that nursing these lambs has to do with something more than
just profit and product. Maybe it’s just a reminder of how it used to be
on so many family farms.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Related Links

The Fading Custom of Spring Lambing

  • George Good encourages an ewe to come to her twin lambs. Spring lambing was once a significant seasonal moment on the family farm which often had a variety of livestock. Today, most farms specialize in only one or two animals or crops. (photo by Lester Graham)

Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm… springtime seems to bring with it thoughts of baby chicks and spring lambs. Maybe it was those cardboard cutouts on the bulletin board in grade school. But it’s not as common to find sheep on the farm today. Farming is different. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham found some spring lambs… and a man who still thinks sheep have a place on the farm:

Transcript

Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm… springtime seems to bring with it thoughts of baby chicks
and spring lambs. Maybe it was those cardboard cutouts on the bulletin board in grade school.
But it’s not as common to find sheep on the farm today. Farming is different. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham found some spring lambs… and a man who still thinks sheep
have a place on the farm:


It’s chilly and it’s raining outside. But nestled in the straw, three newborn lambs are snuggling for
warmth in the barn. George Good is milking their mother. In farm parlance she’s called a ewe.
He’s inserted her teat directly into a green Mountain Dew bottle. After getting a little of the
ewe’s first milk, he holds the plastic bottle up the the light to see if he’s got enough. Then he
twists on a screw top nipple and picks up a newborn lamb. It’s weak, kind of floppy, too wobbly
to stand on its own. But it eagerly takes the nipple and the first milk – called colostrum.


“I’m gonna give these lambs a little bit of supplement, you know, to get them started. About two
to three ounces of colostrum so they’ve got some strength to get up and go. It’s really rich, high
energy. And this ewe, anything she’s immune to, the anti-bodies are in that first milk. So that
gives that lamb a boost to get off and is really healthy.”


Good is dressed to ward off the chill of the day…insulated overalls, stocking cap and a pale blue kerchief
around his neck. His easy going, warm way of talking belies his quickness as he nimbly picks up
another lamb to give it a bit of the first milk.


Sheep used to be common on family farms. That’s when farming meant a balance of different
kinds of livestock, crops and income. But that’s pretty rare these days, and this isn’t a family
farm. George Good is the farm manager at the Michigan State University Sheep Teaching and Research Center. But Good himself was
raised on one of those family farms.


“You know, they used to milk a few cows, have a few laying hens, and a flock of ewes that
they’d lamb in the spring. And lambing in the spring, that’s a good time because it’s just before
they go to the crop, to do the field work, see?”


The lambs were born in the spring, just before it really got busy. Then, after the crops were
planted, it was time to shear the sheep. The wool meant income that came at a pretty good time.
Farming used to be all about timing. After going all winter with little to sell, spring offered a
chance for some income. Selling lambs for meat. Selling wool. And then raising different livestock to
sell at different times of the year. Farmers would grow hay and wheat to bring in money during
the summer… tiding the family over until the corn crop came in during the fall and with it more
money.


“And I can remember a lot of people telling me – old farmers – that their flock of sheep really
kind of help to make the farm payments. They may not have been necessarily focused largely on
the flock of sheep, but it was something that fit in, that was compatible, you know.”


But, today farms usually are not that diverse. They specialize. Livestock farms often raise just
one kind of animal. Hog farms with tens of thousands of pigs. Cattle farms that concentrate the
animals in feedlots. Or farms that don’t raise livestock at all. Just crops. Modern farms count on
the efficiencies of mass production rather than the balance of the cycles of nature and husbandry.


Good says even sheep farms have to raise hundreds of sheep to make enough money to support a
family. But good says sheep are great if they’re thought of as they once were on traditional
the traditional farm as a little supplemental income.


“If you have a flock of sheep or a group of sheep it’s a great family project. It’s something the
wife and children can help, labor-wise, take care of. They’re smaller. You got the wool crop. If
you have some hilly land or rough area that you don’t farm, they graze it and you end up
with a nice product to sell. But, the family, the thing about sheep is the family can really do a lot
of the work, your children and your wife and so on.”


Good notes that there’s been increased demand for lamb from growing Middle Eastern and
Mediterranean populations in cities such as Detroit and Toronto. Lamb prices are higher, making sheep worth the effort. But then, Good seems to be partial to the animals. He gives
you the impression that nursing these lambs has to do with something more than just profit and
product. Maybe it’s just a reminder of how it used to be on so many family farms.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.