SHOULD’VE BEEN A SHEPHERD
In 1993 country music artist Toby Keith released a number one hit song, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” As a young boy this song quickly became my anthem; a tribute to my dreams of becoming a cowboy. So that is what I did. After I graduated high school, I worked for two of the largest ranches in the state of Ohio, and several years later I built a cowherd of my own. I was living the cowboy dream. But it didn’t take me long to realize that although fun, the romanticized life of a cattleman wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Did Toby Keith get it wrong? Perhaps not. But after a decade in the business, I now realize I should have been singing a different version of this hit song: Should’ve Been a Shepherd.
Here is East Central Ohio, the ground that we operate on has all been strip-mined for coal. Our ground is steep and poor to say the least with very limited water. We started this operation as a cow calf outfit, but quickly realized that we were not utilizing our ground to its full potential. In 2018 we decided to add sheep to our enterprise mix. We instantly realized how much better the sheep grazed our steep ground, and how they thrived on our low-quality feed sources.
I found myself at a crossroads and struggled to know what path to take. Cow-calf pairs just weren’t working for our operation anymore, but what would people think when they heard we were selling all of our cows to run sheep? Was I about to give up my cowboy dream to be a shepherd? I had a list of things to consider and when I laid everything out, comparing cattle to sheep, here is what I found:
Steep Topography- Cattle struggle to utilize the feed on the tops of our steep hills. All water sources are at the bottom, meaning the hilltops would barely be touched by the cows before the bottoms were overgrazed. Sheep, on the other hand, seem to prefer the steep hills over the bottom ground.
Water requirements- We have a severe lack of water. As previously mentioned, water sources are few and far between. The water requirements of sheep are much lower than that of a cow. I have seen our sheep go three days before they go to water even in heat of the summer. Don’t try that with cows. In the winter months when temperatures are below 32 degrees, our sheep don’t drink water (assuming they are not lactating). This expands winter grazing options, as well as eliminating the need to break ice and keep waterlines thawed.
For many cattlemen it is common practice to fence out any waterways in an attempt to keep the water clean and prevent erosion. There is no need for this with sheep. I have found sheep hate walking in water and it is nearly impossible to get them to cross a creek.
Manure Distribution- During the summer months, our cattle would graze in the fields in the cool morning hours, and then lay in the woods during the heat of the day. This resulted in a transfer of manure, and consequently nutrients, from our pasture to a concentrated area in the woods. Sheep, on the other hand, almost always lay in the open and on hill tops. The result is a transfer of nutrients to open ground on top of the hills and surrounding hillsides where we want them to be.
Forage Utilization- Our ground has large amounts of brush and invasive species like Autumn Olive and Sericea Lespedeza. Our cattle ate very little of these woody plants. When we move our sheep to a new paddock, they will often run past the green grass and legumes to get to these woody plants. I have even seen sheep competing for dry fallen oak leaves in the wintertime.
Low Maintenance- Last winter we were hit with an ice storm that left our winter stockpile covered with 2 inches of ice. We were forced to feed our cows hay until the ice melted. We were able to manage the sheep on just woody brows and brush that were above the ice.
Reproduction- Typically a replacement heifer will be bred at 15-18 months old and will calve at 24-28 months old. Her calf is weaned and sold 8 months later. This means it takes at least 32 months for that replacement heifer to produce revenue. A ewe-lamb can be bred at 8 months old and lamb when she is 12 months old. Her lambs are weaned and sold 4-5 months later. So, a replacement ewe lamb generates revenue 16-18 months after she is born. This comparison alone was enough to justify switching from cow-calf pairs to sheep.
Twinning Ability- Our mature ewes almost always have twins or triplets and will typically wean a 150% lamb crop. Couple this with the fact that ewe lambs can have lambs at 12 months old, it doesn’t take long to grow a flock of sheep.
Breeding- In a typical year, our cow herd would breed between 80-90% in a 90-day breeding season. With our sheep, we are averaging a 95% breed-up in 30 days. This results in a one-month lambing season compared to a three-month calving season.
Price Per Pound- My goal as a grass farmer is to turn foraged into the most profitable protein as possible. Most weaned calves in Ohio are selling for $1.30-$1.60/pound. Market reports from our local sale barn for lambs this year have averaged $3.10-$3.80/pound. Cull cows are worth $0.55/pound and cull ewes are worth $1.25/pound. One pound of gain on a sheep is worth far more than one pound of gain on a cow.
When I looked at these areas, the decision became clear. So, after 10+ years in the cow-calf business, we sold every cow we owned and have made the switch to running hair sheep.
Hear me when I say I am not suggesting that everyone sell their cows and buy sheep. However, I think we need to take a closer look at what animals fit our environment and best utilize our recourses. Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, I was guilty of trying to make cows work in an environment that was much better fit for sheep. Instead of matching the livestock to our available resources, I was trying to build an environment around a cow herd so that I could wear a Stetson hat.
