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Opportunities and Challenges

Ben Lehfeldt, ASI President

The sheep industry has been blessed and cursed by challenges through my time as a producer and no doubt from my grandfather and great grandfather’s stories, even longer than that. There is no doubt other agricultural industries have their challenges, but it just seems from our pickup seats that the volatility of our peaks and valleys seems to be much more pronounced in the sheep industry.
Those challenges are hitting us directly in the face right now in the sheep industry. The H-2A labor system is hard to navigate with increasing inflationary pressures and regulated federal wage increases. Not only are the federal mandates an issue, but several states have instituted their own incremental increases on top of these wage rates. As a result, the labor costs are becoming unbearable for many sheep operations. Ironically, some of these operations being hit the hardest are helping their states with fire prevention through grazing.
I believe that there are potential opportunities to deal with some of our challenges. The ASI Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a great success. We had more than 450 registrants and a great amount of information provided by our councils and committees. There were more than 90 first-time attendees, and it was interesting to observe the new directions some of our sheep producers are taking in agrivoltaics. We have used targeted grazing on our operation in Montana for the past 30 years to help with profitability and it is exciting to see how many different ways that sheep are being used across the country. ASI’s release of the new Targeted Grazing 101 book will be a great resource for those producers wanting to take hold of these new opportunities.
The ASI Annual Convention also offered attendees the opportunity to listen to different ways to deal with our imported lamb concerns. We had multiple speakers about both the benefits and potential pitfalls of tariffs and quotas in our lamb meat supply. Thank you Paul Rosenthal for providing an in-depth analysis of both the import situation and the political climate. Being able to share the facts and answer questions from our membership was invaluable.
We are continuing to build on these opportunities by restarting the ASI H-2A Working Group to help ensure we have a consistent message regarding our labor concerns. I have just appointed this group to work on some solutions and a message that can be delivered to our legislators. It is important that this message be ready for any opportunity that arises to help ensure the guest-worker program is viable for our producers.
The group will be meeting via zoom a couple of times before the middle of March in preparation for our ASI Spring Trip to Washington, D.C. Please consider being a part of our ASI producer fly-in. We are planning to be on Capitol Hill on March 25-26. ASI is planning an agency meeting the morning of March 25. Producers are encouraged to meet with their senators and representatives Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday of that week. I believe that this year it will be even more important than ever to participate in our legislative activities. Even if you are not attending the Spring Trip, make sure and be in contact with your legislator as issues related to the sheep industry arise.
Lastly, I want to say thank you to the staff for making the ASI Annual Convention a success. It is not easy pulling several affiliated sheep organizations together. Peter, Rita, Larry, Zahrah, Erica, Chris, Parand, Kyle, Christa, Heather, Amy and Brenda work extremely hard to make these conventions a reality.

Inventory, Trade & Price Update

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released its annual sheep and lamb inventory report as of Jan. 1, 2025, which provided a snapshot of current supplies but also helps paint part of the supply picture for this year.
NASS reported that the flock size increased less than 1 percent (+0.4 percent, or 20,000 head) to 5.05 million head. The last time sheep and lamb inventory levels posted an annual increase was 2016, when the flock increased 25,000 head (+0.5 percent) to 5.27 million head.
At the state level, changes in sheep and lamb inventories were mixed across the United States. Declines in the flock size were reported for Oregon (-3.2 percent), South Dakota (-2.4 percent) and Wyoming (-6.3 percent) to 150,000, 205,000 and 300,000 head, respectively. The flock size in California, Colorado and Idaho remained unchanged from a year ago at 510,000, 405,000 and 235,000 head, respectively. Iowa (+3.9 percent), Montana (+2.8 percent), Ohio (+1.4 percent), Texas (+4.7 percent) and Utah (+3.7 percent) reported gains in the flock size to 161,000, 185,000, 145,000, 670,000 and 280,000 head, respectively.
Additional inventory statistics from the NASS report noted that the total breeding flock increased 10,000 head (+0.3 percent) to 3.68 million head. The increased breeding flock was due solely to a rise in ewes 1-year-old and older from 2.87 million head in 2024 to 2.88 million head in 2025. The remaining breeding flock inventory levels were unchanged from the prior year with rams 1-year-old and older and replacement lambs at 165,000 and 635,000 head, respectively. The breeding flock last reported an annual increase in 2016 of 15,000 head (+0.4 percent) to 3.94 million head.
Total market sheep were reported up nearly 1 percent (+0.7 percent) or 10,000 head to 1.37 million head. The rise was due to reported increases in most of the reported market lamb weight categories. Lambs weighing under 65 pounds increased 1.4 percent (5,000 head), 65- to 84-pound lambs were even with a year ago, 85- to 105-pound lambs rose 1.5 percent (4,000 head), lambs weighing more than 105 pounds remained level with last year, and market sheep increased 1.2 percent (1,000 head) from a year earlier.
The lamb crop posted a 10,000 head (+0.3 percent) increase from the prior year to 3.04 million head. This was due partly to a rise in the lambing percentage from 103.4 percent in 2023 to 105.9 percent in 2024. The lamb crop has not posted a year-over-year increase in two decades, when it rose 5,000 head (+0.1 percent) in 2004 to 4.04 million head. The lambing percentage has not been this high in four years, when it reached 107 percent in 2019 and 2020.

TRADE DISCUSSION
USDA also released December trade statistics, which finalized annual tallies for 2024. Lamb imports in 2024 reached a record of 309 million pounds, an increase of 69 million pounds (+29 percent). Increased lamb imports were seen from Australia and New Zealand last year. Lamb imports from Australia totaled 230 million pounds, up 51 million pounds (+29 percent) from the prior year. Lamb shipments from New Zealand rose 18 million pounds (+31 percent) to 77 million pounds. In 2024, Australia accounted for 74 percent of total U.S. lamb imports while New Zealand accounted for 25 percent, with the remaining 1 percent coming from other countries. Mutton imports posted a 25-percent (11 million pounds) increase from last year to 55 million pounds. The rise in mutton imports were due to higher shipments from Australia (+24 percent) and New Zealand (+30 percent) to 46 and 9 million pounds, respectively.

PRICE DISCUSSION
Average feeder lamb prices (60 to 90 pounds, Three-Market Colorado, South Dakota and Texas) have seen a sharp increase to start 2025. Feeder lamb prices have risen from $256 per cwt. at the start of the year to $345 per cwt. by mid-February, a 35-percent, or $89 per cwt., rise in about six weeks. Prices for 60- to 90-pound slaughter lambs (Three-Market Colorado, South Dakota and Texas) are seeing less volatility to start the year with prices moving seasonally lower from $252 per cwt. in early January to $216 per cwt. by mid-February, a decrease of 10 percent, or $23 per cwt.
Slaughter lamb prices (national negotiated live) have been struggling to gain traction to start the year. Weekly prices have been ranging from $161 to $171 per cwt. through mid-February, which is about $21 to $25 per cwt. (-11 to -13 percent) below the same period last year. The lamb cutout value has been averaging just below $4.60 per pound, which is down about $1.20 per pound (-3 percent) on average from the same period in 2024.

WOOL DISCUSSION
In 2024, gains were seen in exports of raw wool (not in carded/combed wool), as well as sheep and lambskins. Wool exports totaled 5,422 metric tons in 2024, which is up 60 percent (2023 metric tons) from 2023 and the highest export volume since 2018 (6,595 metric tons). On a value basis, wool exports posted a 31-percent ($4 million) increase over the prior year to nearly $17 million. Exports of sheep and lambskins totaled 604 million pieces in 2024, up 3 percent from the previous year. The value of sheep and lambskins reached $6.7 million, up 13 percent ($760,000) from 2023.
Wool prices started 2025 on a positive note compared to where prices finished in December 2024. Since the start of 2025 through the first part of February in Australia, weekly wool prices have been posting gains of about 1 percent to almost 4 percent across most of the microns compared to where prices were at the end of 2024. The Eastern Market Indicator, in U.S. dollar terms, was at the highest point since April 2024. The number of bales offered has been slightly higher at the start of 2025. Strength in the wool prices in the face of a rise in the number of bales offered signals strengthening demand to start the year.

ASI Releases Targeted Grazing 101

Nearly 20 years ago, ASI published a handbook that introduced many in the American sheep industry to the concept of targeted grazing. It’s value to the industry has grown exponentially in the two decades since, and is driving an expansion of America’s flock for the first time in recent memory.
The demand for these services led to the need for a resource to guide new and existing sheep producers who want to add targeted grazing as an income source to their operations. ASI’s newest publication – Targeted Grazing 101: Starting and Sustaining a Grazing Service Enterprise – fits the role perfectly.
Interviews with more than three dozen experienced targeted grazers led to the creation of a 300-page manual that will help aspiring grazers understand what it takes to get started in the industry.
“I think this book will really help people who want to get into targeted grazing,” said John Walker, Ph.D., who worked on the original targeted grazing handbook and oversaw the review process of the new book, as well. “While the first handbook relied a lot on the academic world, the new book draws more on input from people who are out there actually doing targeted grazing on a daily basis.”
Experienced sheep producers who are looking to make the transition into targeted grazing will benefit from the book’s chapters on Getting Started and Keys to Success, Logistics and Business Basics. Those who are new to livestock will find the chapters on Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare and PR helpful in learning to handle their grazing animals. Additional chapters on plants and developing plans to graze plants at the right time and season will prove beneficial to those who lack a background in that area.
“The first book was more Western-oriented, but this book covers grazers from all over the country,” Walker said. “We really wanted to help people who want to get into targeted grazing and give them some basics to consider. It’s really a great resource for people to consult on all phases of the industry. But if you look at all of the grazers who contributed information, stories and photos for the book, they are also a great resource that newer targeted grazers can reach out to for assistance.”
Targeted Grazing 101 lays out the growing interest in the concept in its opening chapter.
“The idea of developing a service business based on using livestock to manage vegetation began to form in the 1960s and was further developed in the 1980s and 90s. Land grant universities like Montana State University organized programs connecting rangeland managers with sheep producers to help control invasive weeds and add value to their operations. In 1994, the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) published The Role of Sheep Grazing in Natural Resource Management in a special issue of the Sheep Research Journal. The first prescribed grazing conference was held in Sparks, Nevada, in 2003 and was attended by over 300 people. Three years later, ASI published Targeted Grazing: A natural approach to vegetation management and landscape enhancement. This ‘Targeted Grazing Handbook,’ as it came to be known, compiled the latest research and technical knowledge on the subject and gave recommendations for targeted grazing of 21 forbs (i.e., broadleaf weeds), shrubs and grasses. Since then, over 90 journal articles (and counting) have been published on targeted grazing.
“Interest has continued to grow. In 2009, the Society for Range Management created the Targeted Grazing Committee, which sends out an e-newsletter to 400 plus subscribers and hosts quarterly webinars. Targeted Grazing: Applying the Research to the Land was published in Rangelands in 2012 and shared case studies of service providers on various projects. A synthesis paper, Targeted Livestock Grazing: Prescription for Healthy Rangelands, was published in Rangeland Ecology and Management in 2019. This review strengthened the use of targeted grazing as a vegetation management tool. Most recently, a 2021 meta-analysis of 70 published targeted grazing studies in 17 countries concluded that targeted grazing significantly reduced undesired plants and significantly increased plant species richness.”
The new book is available in two formats: a hard copy book for $39.95, or as a PDF on a USB flash drive – which includes the 2006 handbook, as well – for $14.95. Both formats are available for purchase at SheepUSA.org/shop.

Annual Convention Shines Light on Flock’s Future

Most homes were still illuminated by lanterns and candlelight when the National Wool Growers Association – the predecessor to the American Sheep Industry Association – held its first convention in 1865. But 160 years later, sheep producers from across the country shared a renewed excitement for the industry’s future as a panel of solar grazers pointed toward new heights for the American flock and its role in developing clean energy for the United States.
Ryan Indart of California, Reid Redden of Texas and Daniel Dotterer of Pennsylvania shared stories of getting their feet in the door of solar grazing in recent years during the 2025 ASI Annual Convention Opening Session on Jan. 16 in Scottsdale, Ariz. They were joined in the panel discussion by Silicon Ranch Corporation’s Loran Shallenberger and David Wen of AES Corporation. Both companies are developing solar assets, while Silicon Ranch has taken the unprecedented step of assembling its own sheep flock, as well. The panel was moderated by Lexie Hain of New York, a solar grazer who founded the American Solar Grazing Association and is now the director of agrivoltaics and land management at Lightsource bp.
Agrivoltaics is the practice of using land for both agriculture and solar energy production, and more often than not at this point that agricultural use is the grazing of sheep. The explosion of solar fields throughout the country has created a whole new job for America’s sheep, and producers like those on the panel welcomed the opportunity to supplement their livestock incomes (from lamb and, in some cases, wool) with grazing fees. While solar grazing has allowed producers to expand their flocks, it has also welcomed newcomers who often found the lack of land an expensive barrier to getting into the industry.
The Western wildfires that dominated the news in recent weeks have also put a spotlight on grazing, and the role it can play in a changing climate. Targeted grazing is a booming industry, as well, and has long been used in states such as California to reduce fire loads.
“The American sheep industry has definitely seen a resurgence in recent years thanks to these grazing opportunities,” said newly elected ASI President Ben Lehfeldt of Montana. “We wanted to further highlight that opportunity at this year’s convention. But sheep producers have always known the value that sheep bring to the lands they graze, whether that’s a solar field, national forest or private land.”
In addition to the discussion on solar grazing at the opening session, ASI introduced a book – Targeted Grazing 101: Starting and Sustaining a Grazing Service Enterprise – focused on paid grazing opportunities and how to get started during the convention. The book is now available at SheepUSA.org/shop.
As mentioned, the association elected new officers during the 2025 ASI Annual Convention at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort. Lehfeldt was elected to serve as president, while California’s Joe Pozzi moved into the vice president slot and Tammy Fisher of Texas was elected secretary/treasurer. Brad Boner of Wyoming will serve as past president after two years at the helm of the association.
Lehfeldt is a fifth-generation rancher, and his family has been involved in the industry for more than 135 years. He previously served as vice president (2023-2025) and secretary/treasurer (2021-2023), and is a past member of the ASI Wool Council. He’s also served as a director of the Montana Wool Growers Association, and on the board of directors for the American Lamb Board and the National Grazing Lands Coalition.
Pozzi was elected as vice president after serving as secretary/treasurer the past two years. He has previously served on the ASI Executive Board. Fisher joins the officer team after previously serving two terms on the Executive Board, as well. Her father, Glen Fisher, was a past president of ASI. They are the first father and child to both serve as officers of ASI.
Read more about the ASI Annual Convention in the pages that follow, and start making plans to attend in Reno, Nev., in January 2026.

Learning The Ropes of Solar Grazing

CAT URBIGKIT
American sheep producers were able to learn the ins and outs from fellow producers involved in grazing their flocks among solar power installations at the recent ASI Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Reid Redden of Texas, Ryan Indart of California and Pennsylvania’s Daniel Dotterer were peppered with questions about how they got started in this industry, how it all works and pointers that producers should consider if they are interested in entering this emerging industry.
David Wen of AES Corporation and Loran Shallenberger of Silicon Ranch Corporation rounded out the panel with perspectives from the solar companies that hire these vegetation managers. Lexie Hain – co-founder of the American Solar Grazing Association – guided the panel discussion, noting that producers weren’t simply grazing sheep in solar installations but are vegetative management specialists for agrivoltaics, the co-location of agriculture and solar energy production.

SOLAR GRAZER PROFILE
Hain began the session with a summary of the industry, noting that both entities involved in an agrivoltaics contract must be profitable enterprises. This is not a “hey, you can graze here for free” situation as energy companies have distinct vegetative management goals and budgets, as do sheep producers. Hain said that a financial analysis conducted by the University of Western Ontario looked at two models for solar grazing, finding that the more profitable model involves a producer grazing with his/her own ewes, rather than buying sheep at auction for solar grazing.
A recent census of this grazing industry found the average age of solar producers is 45 years old, and these producers are solar grazing seasonally or year-round, Hain said. Two-thirds of producers utilize hair sheep, while the remaining third use wool sheep. Most producers own their own sheep, which are grazed across a total of about 130,000 acres around the nation.

SITE CONSIDERATIONS
Indart is a third-generation sheep producer who called his 2018 shift to grazing among solar installations “a game-changer” as his business now produces three products: lamb, wool and vegetative management services. Indart said that the top issues that he considers when assessing the possibility of a project is access to water and proper wire management.
“Realize that you are a service provider, not just a sheep farmer,” Indart said, and there are best practices that should be met by both parties in this business relationship. Indart’s Central California location means that his sheep are used to reduce wildfire fuel loads, saving energy asset managers from the threat posed by wildfires, and solar grazing has become the top revenue stream for his business.
Redden is co-founder of Premier Solar Sheep in Texas and a former sheep and goat extension specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife. Redden agreed that water is the top issue that starts the conversation over suitability of a location for sheep grazing. He pointed out that as sheep producers, “we’re really grass farmers” with important knowledge about vegetative management that is valuable to energy operators.
Dotterer comes from a long line of agricultural producers in Pennsylvania. He said jokingly, “Some people say I have a sheep problem,” but his family is constantly making changes to its operations to survive in agriculture. His top issues for site assessments are proper wire management and predator-proof perimeter fencing since the top predator on sheep in that area of the country is domestic dogs.

THE SOLAR VIEW
Wen of AES Corporation said that vegetation management is costly for the energy industry. With mowers charging $400 per acre per year for providing twice a year mowing services, that’s the rate that solar grazers are competing against. He noted that a medium-sized installation is about 500 acres. Silicon Ranch’s Shallenberger said that in the Southeastern portion of the country, the going rate is about $350 per acre per year, and sheep producers can run their sheep year-round on these sites. Hain noted that the average contract is for four years, but contract terms and rates might vary around the country.
Wen said his company just needs the vegetation management services and isn’t particularly concerned about what species accomplishes the job. He said permit restrictions on solar projects often include provisions to keep vegetation heights to under six inches, and how that is achieved is up to the vegetative management contractor. He noted that if sheep won’t eat something in the installation, the producer might need to use a manual mower to comply with the vegetative management contract.
Water can be a big issue for solar projects, Wen said, as some older installations don’t have water sources, and it might need to be hauled. But with 20-to-40-year lifespans for solar projects, installation of water wells is now more common.
Shallenberger raises cattle in Tennessee but also works with utility scale solar grazing projects in 16 states with Silicon Ranch. He said that a half-dozen years ago he was a solar sceptic at the notion that instead of paying someone to mow, sheep could be used to manage vegetative resources at energy installations. But his views have changed, noting that his company is now committed to agrivoltaics.
Every Silicon Ranch site gets both water and predator-proof fencing, and the company has specifications so that sheep won’t have issues with wiring. He added that in some locations his company will provide handling corrals for sheep and will negotiate for a lower rate for grazing management when installing this infrastructure.
While some companies are looking toward the use of robotic mowers in the future, Shallenberger said, sheep grazing offers the benefit of using managed rotational grazing with its lower environmental footprint and less carbon output than mowers. The possible addition of adding carbon credits through grazing might add more value to energy producers in the future. He noted that the competition for solar grazers is landscapers and mowing companies.

MEAT QUALITY
So how do solar grazers ensure that lamb meat from their flocks is still a quality product for consumers? Each producer talked about different strategies. Redden noted that producers can target their programs to provide grain finishing or supplemental forage to ensure that their solar grazing results in quality lamb products for consumers.
Dotterer said that there is a strong ethnic market in the Northeastern part of the country, so producers can market smaller lambs, giving them more leeway in solar grazing. Shallenberger said some producers pull their lambs away from the solar grazing projects, and that some energy companies allow the producers to plant cover crops or small grains to enhance grazing benefits.

ISSUES
Indart talked about the learning process as he began this business, noting that he did see an initial reduction in production. But with better timing in his grazing system, he’s increased production, and the solar panels provide shade for his sheep flock from the summer sun. Altering his management practices has allowed him to both optimize production and achieve land management goals, he said.
Indart said that the solar installations have drivelines that can snag a sheep’s wool, and he now shears his sheep several months earlier to get his sheep into solar installations where they can have both good grazing land and cover from the panels. When the sheep were covered with four inches of wool, sometimes they would scratch itches on the panels, breaking them, and Indart had to pay for the broken panels. Shifting his production schedule helped to eliminate the problem.
Wen said his company struggles to find enough sheep to graze their installations as many of the nation’s flocks are small. Redden noted that labor is a bottleneck in the industry since finding people who know how to manage sheep at this scale is challenging.
Hain encouraged producers who want to learn more about agrivoltaics to visit the ASGA website at SolarGrazing.org to access a solar site template that features a water well and security fence. ASGA also offers other resources and sample contracts as well as a certification program for professionals in this growing industry.

Council Hears How Lamb Can Thrive

The consensus of panelists during the Lamb Council meeting at the 2025 ASI Annual Convention is that American lamb is uniquely positioned to thrive in today’s meat market – if it embraces the opportunity to share its story to consumers.
As prices rise for competing proteins, American lamb is more competitive than ever in the cost category with beef, pork and chicken. And while imports might win out on price, they can’t compete with the freshness and quality of American lamb. But the only way for sheep producers to take advantage of those aspects in the marketplace is to get out there and tell their stories.
“Groups who skew toward lamb – like millennials – are the same ones that are willing to pay more for a quality product,” said Maggie O’Quinn of Midan Marketing, which works with the American Lamb Board. “But they want to know the farmer’s story, so you’re greatest selling tool is yourselves.”
O’Quinn was joined on the panel by Carlos Barba of Superior Farms and Kentucky producer Jim Mansfield who direct markets his Four Hills Farm lamb through Whole Foods, area restaurants and other outlets.
“My best promotion is providing samples in the store,” Mansfield said. “We’ve seen consumers at the store who say they don’t buy a lot of meat, but what they do buy is high quality. Consumers want to buy something that is healthy. And sustainability is a bigger issue now. But the flavor and quality still have to be there.”
Barba said in-store sampling and programs sponsored by the American Lamb Board have done a good job of getting people to try American lamb, including those who thought they didn’t like lamb. It’s also important to get the product into as many stores as possible, so consumers can find it when they go looking for it, he said.
“We have to take advantage of all of those opportunities to market American lamb,” Barba added. “We have a product that is 6,000 miles fresher than the imports.”
It’s also important to understand that opportunities take time. Mansfield recalls being introduced to Whole Foods buyers at a meeting setup through the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
“Years later, we made our first sale,” he said.
It’s also important to keep in mind that consumers who are concerned with making health-conscience food decisions are also generally concerned with doing what’s good for the planet. And American lamb is the perfect protein choice for those consumers as sheep are heavily involved in a variety of climate-positive projects around the country. That includes targeted and solar grazing.
“Lamb is nature’s multi-vitamin,” O’Quinn said. “Consumers who are on these weight-loss drugs, they need to eat more protein. So, we want to make sure that lamb is in their shopping carts.”

LAMB DASHBOARD
Charlie Potts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service provided attendees with a preview of the agency’s new lamb dashboard, which will provide a wide variety of market reports.
“The goal was to develop a product that you’ll find useful,” said Potts, adding that the lamb dashboard will be available this spring or summer. “It allows you to pick and choose what data you want to see and analyze. We think it will be a good tool for both small and large producers.”
The council also heard a presentation from Patrick Hatzenbuehler, Ph.D., and Brett Wilder of the University of Idaho on potential trade impacts in the lamb industry. Their study found that:
• Achieving a 50-percent market share (with imports) requires an extremely restrictive trade policy, causing significant welfare loss in the economy.
• With declining supply and expanding demand, tariffs have limited and minimal effectiveness in protecting the industry.
• A growing supply coupled with a tariff provides room for breath for the industry.
Visit SheepUSA.org/events-pastconventionpresentations to see a pdf of their full presentation to the council.

Wool Council Looks at Stress Test

During its meeting at the ASI Annual Convention, the Wool Council reviewed the results of the stress test – a comprehensive evaluation examining the resilience of the American wool textile industry to current market conditions. The council also scheduled a follow-up virtual meeting to move forward with an action plan.
In 2024, the council made a motion to conduct a stress test by an outside firm – Market Solutions, LLC – to look at the challenges, major stress points and opportunities in the wool industry. Market Solutions concluded that, “First Stage Wool Processing (in the United States) is a key requirement for (U.S.) spinners, knitters, textile and apparel manufacturers to utilize American wool.”
Biosecurity related to wool – from shearing through export – was also discussed. The Secure Sheep and Wool Supply Plan provides framework for the American sheep and wool industry and was shared by Dr. Danelle Bickett-Weddle. Likewise, Isak Staats of BKB in South Africa shared his experience dealing with wool in an FMD outbreak.
The Wool Policy Forum reviewed ASI policies related to wool, as well as hosted several presentations that touched on various segments of the wool industry from market reports to marketing.
Staats – IWTO Market Intelligence Committee Chair – shared that the global wool market follows the textile fiber market and that markets are cyclical.
“We are at the bottom of a curve – it’s not the first time – but we’re in a good industry,” he said.
ASI Deputy Director Rita Samuelson assisted the audience in understanding ASI funding as well as all wool-related programs – from product development, military, consumer and international promotion to raw wool programs.
Tosha Clark of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service further explained ASI’s six different international programs to support wool and pelt exports.
Bringing it back to the domestic marketing side, Corey Hayes of Get Back Here Dog shared how ASI has taken a proactive and ever-changing approach to domestic marketing. A new shop page was recently created on the AmericanWool.org website and features almost 70 brands using American wool. This year’s Holiday Gift Guide reached almost a quarter of a million people in just 45 days.
The session wrapped up with Mary Jeanne Packer sharing the innovative work being done in New York, including: building a new mid-size scouring line; creating a wool pool that offers premium prices for quality wool; promoting wool to textile schools; creating breed-specific products; and offering wool testing with ASI’s OFDA 2000, which has helped 120 producers in its first five months.
“It’s not about volume, but who you’re impacting,” she said.
The Wool Roundtable also honored longtime ASI Wool Consultant Barry Savage with the annual Wool Excellence Award during a special luncheon on Thursday during the week of the ASI Annual Convention. Savage worked with ASI for more than two decades and brought a wealth of international wool marketing and technical experience with him from previous roles in the industry.

PERC Looks at Ramping Up Operations

With sheep inventory numbers increasing for the first time in many years, producers around the United States might find themselves in a position to expand. But how do you go about it?
A panel discussion during the Production, Education and Research Council at the 2025 ASI Annual Convention looked at how three different producers set about doing just that. In Scaling-Up Production: How To Do It Successfully, Texas solar grazer JR Howard joined Pennsylvania Katahdin producer Dan Turner and targeted grazer Robert Irwin of California to discuss how they grew their particular operations.
For Howard and Irwin, growth was driven by opportunity and demand for their service-oriented sheep operations. For Turner, growth was made possible by the adoption of technology and the addition of new facilities.
“We didn’t have a blueprint to go by,” said Howard, who found himself in a position not so different from many sheep producers through the years. He saw opportunity, but had to figure out a way to make it work for his particular operation. And like Turner, he continued to work a full-time job as his sheep operation ramped up. “I just gave up my corporate job a year ago,” Howard said.
The explosion of solar grazing opportunities allowed Howard to quickly expand his mostly family-run operation. He has also adopted technology, putting drones to use in an effort to keep an eye on the solar sites he maintains.
A longtime targeted grazer with his Kaos Sheep Outfit, Irwin found greener grass in California’s vineyards, and has capitalized on the opportunity while expanding his flock.
“My assessment was that if I ever wanted to have a day off, I had to get to 1,000 head,” he said, adding that a vacation to Australia allowed him to see what it might take to expand. He invested in technology but also in labor, and works regularly to educate his shepherds on animal health issues that could easily derail his flock’s earning potential.
A business owner, Turner envisioned a retirement where he could look out his front window and keep an eye on his flock. But managing 80 ewes was too labor intensive for he and his wife.
“It took two days to collect all the data, so we went to the Shearwell system and we could move all the sheep through in three to four hours. We also built a new barn.”
Turner now runs one of the largest National Sheep Improvement Program-registered Katahdin flocks in the nation. One of his biggest takeaways is that producers can’t be afraid to take on debt as they expand.
“You have to see it as a business,” he said. “Debt is not necessarily a bad thing. Borrow money, but make it work for you. When you’re ramping up, that’s when you’re chewing through cash. You have to borrow for that, but borrow wisely.”
The key to doing just that is to find a lending institution that can see your vision, Irwin said, adding that he had trouble finding financing when he first made plans to expand. In addition, he offered one final piece of advice for expanding.
“You have to have backup plans on backup plans,” he said. “You have to plan for drought and for economic downturns.”

EMERGING TECHNIQUES
Attendees at the council meeting also heard several presentations on emerging technologies that might allow for higher profit margins, healthier sheep and improved predator management.
Moderating the panel presentations, Dan Macon of the University of California Cooperative Extension said the implementation of technology needs to be about more than just doing something because it’s cool. It must improve your economic viability and address bottlenecks in your operation.
South Dakota’s Jeff Clark introduced Synergraze, which has developed a seaweed-based livestock feed additive that reduces methane emissions and feed costs. In addition, it can allow producers to generate carbon offset credits.
Brett Taylor, Ph.D., with the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in Idaho, discussed his facility’s use of the CameraTrapDetectoR, which uses artificial intelligence to rapidly classify images caught on trail cameras. Much like a commercial sheep operation, Taylor said any technology employed at the station needs to be “simple, low-cost, low-energy and, when possible, open source.” He said the station focuses on existing technology and how it can be modified for use in sheep production and rangeland management.
Montana State University’s Brent Roeder also introduced attendees to the use of tracking collars and virtual fencing.
In addition, Danelle Bickett-Weddle, DVM, covered the growing number of resources available to producers through the Secure Sheep and Wool Supply Plan. Producers can access those resources at SecureSheepWool.org.

Screwworms Top Animal Health Agenda

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The American sheep industry is highly focused on maintaining healthy sheep flocks as it proceeds with efforts to monitor and improve health, decrease risks from foreign animal diseases, and develop preparedness and response plans to address emerging threats as producers learned during the meeting of the Animal Health Committee.
Linda Detwiler, Ph.D., of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services said that while the sheep and goat industry in the United States is moving toward the ability to declare that the prion disease scrapie is extinct in this country, there is an alarming threat south of the border with the discovery of New World Screwworm in Mexico.
The New World Screwworm was present in the United States in the 1960s, but has not been detected in this country for decades, according to APHIS entomologist Denise Bonilla. Unfortunately, this screwworm has now been detected in every Central American country, as well as Mexico. The United States has undertaken aggressive efforts to stop this species from migrating further north.
Bonilla provided an overview of the danger posed by New World Screwworm that has been detected in Mexico. USDA eradicated NWS from the United States in 1966 by releasing sterile male insects and is now cooperating with other countries to keep this pest from reappearing north of the border.
NWS can infest livestock, pets and wildlife. It has a 21-day lifecycle in which the fly larvae (maggots) burrow (screw) into a wound, feeding as they go like a screw being driven into wood, according to USDA. These maggots cause extensive damage to live tissue, expanding wounds as more maggots hatch and feed. The larvae have mouth hooks that are used to tear at the host tissues during feeding.
Bonilla explained that NWS are not the same as other maggots that feed on dead tissue, and when it comes to detection, “before you can see it, you’ll smell the problem” as they can enter a small wound, but cause deep, infested pockets of damage under the skin. Left untreated, the damage is usually fatal in 7 to 14 days, she said, although treatment with parasiticides can be successful when detected early. NWS is not contagious from animal to animal. To maintain a barrier zone, the United States, Mexico and Central American countries partner in a program that is currently putting out more than 100 million sterile flies per week from a facility located in Panama.
New World Screwworm flies are about the size of a common housefly, with orange eyes and a metallic blue or green body, with three dark stripes along their backs. Although the flies don’t move far on their own, they can be transferred into new areas with livestock movements.

SHEEP HEALTH STUDY
Dr. Natalie Urie, DVM, with APHIS provided an update on the status of the current sheep study under the National Animal Health Monitoring System. The NAHMS research is now in its data-analysis phase, using data collected from surveys and sampling of sheep flocks nationwide.
NAHMS provides a look at management and biosecurity practices as well as the reported occurrence of common economically important sheep diseases.
The sheep study – last conducted in 2011 – provides an overview of the animal health, nutrition and management practices in the American sheep industry and can be compared to previous studies to reveal changes through time.
Each NAHMS study begins with a written survey of sheep producers across the country and then proceeds to on-farm sampling of representative flocks. Fecal, blood and interdigital swab samples are taken during each voluntary farm visit, and participating producers receive individualized biological reports for their animals. Urie reported that customized flock health management reports should be sent in February to those who cooperated in the study, and the producer will be able to compare their flock’s information to all other operations that participated in the survey.
Urie provided a sneak peek into the survey results, with about a quarter of all participants expecting to have fewer or no sheep in five years. Most of these respondents reported that retirement, lack of a successor, or other personal or family situations were driving factors leading to downsizing.
While Urie cautioned that she was reporting preliminary results that hadn’t yet been finalized, the survey found:
• More than a quarter of participants reported direct sales to consumers or ethnic markets.
• The average number of sheep sold per operation was 127 lambs.
• More than half of operations kept handwritten records.
• Forty-three percent of operations had consulted a veterinarian for sheep health, productivity or management issues.

DISEASE PREPAREDNESS
Detwiler reported on the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, which invested more than $16 million last year in program activities. Top issues for this program in the current fiscal year include training and exercises, biosecurity, state preparedness plans, animal movement decisions, disease traceability, and sheep and goat vaccines.
This program has five projects that target sheep and goat vaccine development, as well as outreach and education on emergency response plans, foreign animal disease management and reporting. In addition, substantial investment is occurring in projects to enhance Foot-and-Mouth Disease preparedness across multiple species.

SCRAPIE
Detwiler noted that the United States has spent about 40 years working toward the elimination of scrapie – a disease caused by a misfolded protein called a prion. This fatal brain disease has an estimated annual cost to the nation’s sheep industry exceeding $10 million, but fortunately hasn’t been detected in the United States since 2021.
With no vaccine and no treatment, the prion can survive in the environment for at least a couple of years. Infectivity occurs “in everything but the baa,” Detwiler said, since it has been detected in milk, blood, placenta, lymph nodes and the brain and spinal cords of infected sheep. Scrapie is an infectious disease with a genetic influence, with some sheep having a genetic susceptibility to scrapie, becoming infective after exposure to the prion. The scrapie eradication program has culled infected animals and selected for scrapie-resistant sheep genotypes.
Currently, 47 of 50 states are free of classical scrapie for greater than seven years, and in 2028, all states will have been scrapie free for seven years.
Dr. David Schneider, Ph.D., of the USDA/Agricultural Research Service’s Animal Disease Research Unit in Pullman, Wash., provided an update to ongoing research on prion diseases in animals. These diseases include chronic wasting disease, scrapie and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
Chronic wasting disease was first reported in captive mule deer in 1967 in the Intermountain West, but in the 1980s was detected in free-ranging deer near the captive facility. Today CWD is found in 35 states and four provinces, with most cases in free-ranging white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk.
Since elk and deer are the natural hosts for CWD, Schneider’s lab administered an experimental transmission to domestic sheep by conducting an intracranial inoculation from CWD-infected cervids. The results were all positive for the disease, indicating that while using unnatural routes and big doses, sheep can be experimentally susceptible to CWD prions.
But would existing testing techniques be able to tell the difference between scrapie and CWD? To find out, this elk-origin CWD passed into the brain of sheep was then passed into mice. In one study, the CWD-positive sheep did not cause disease in these “ovinized” mice after an incubation of more than 600 days.
Importantly, the mouse bioassay could differentiate between elk-origin CWD and the sheep-scrapie prion, but the initial tests took years to get results. Further refinement of the assay using different substrates has narrowed that time down to about a week, and further research offers promise to narrowing the time to a matter of hours.

FUTURE
Rosie Busch, DVM, of the University of California-Davis gave an update on the alphabet-soup of federal agencies working in veterinary medicine. While noting that the likelihood of new antiparasitic drugs for sheep and goats in the United States is low, there is a push for approval of new antiparasitic drugs for small ruminants.
The Food and Drug Administration has indicated that companies may be able to use published literature and foreign data to satisfy some of the requirements for licensing of certain drugs in the United States, so this may be a pathway for additional small ruminant drugs to be used in this country.
Animal Health Committee Co-Chair Jim Logan, DVM, concluded the session by warning sheep producers that in light of the threats posed by foreign animal diseases, New World Screwworm, and bird flu, “If it’s something you haven’t seen before, it’s important that you contact a veterinarian.”
Logan advised producers not to intermingle backyard poultry with sheep and goats, and to keep their waterers separate. He noted that there is a zoonotic component of bird flu, which has also been detected in a lot of wildlife species.

Improving Flocks Using Genetic Data

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Undertaking the longest journey to attend the ASI Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Ariz., was Bindi Murray, chair of Sheep Producers Australia, who explained to Genetics Forum attendees how she has used sheep genetic data to make improvements in her sheep production system during the last 20 years.
Murray’s livestock operation includes 6,500 Merino ewes in her wool operation and 2,000 Merino ewes mated to terminal sires. She practices winter lambing, summer shearing, confinement in the fall, and often feedlotting from summer to winter so the sheep are provided supplemental feed from six to 12 months of the year. Her breeding objects have been expanded to include traits associated with weights at different life stages – fleece weights, fiber length, and staple strength, to eye muscle depth – while also accounting for her father’s interests in maintaining certain conformational traits such as straight legs and minimal body wrinkles. Her participation in genetic research in Australia has led to using three different genetic indexes, where she has been able to track her flock’s progress in meeting her breeding objectives while generally exceeding those of other flocks on the indexes.
Murray’s presentation was followed by a producer panel led by Texas A&M’s Jake Thorne, with producers John Helle of Montana, Jim Malooley of Georgia and Isaac Matchett of Michigan talking about the impact of genetic progress in their operations.
Helle is a third-generation sheep producer running about 4,000 ewes but with an inventory of nearly 10,000 sheep most of the time, keeping lambs until after they are shorn. Helle’s mantra is to always be thinking about the end product and consumer, leading to the startup of the wool clothing company Duckworth. Helle said that Duckworth was the result of intense genetic selection and persistence in raising high-quality wool.
He said several decades ago his family realized that they needed to change their operation in order to cover expenses, especially through increasing the number of lambs weaned every year. After switching from range lambing to shed lambing and incorporating genetic data collection, they were able to substantially increase the number of lambs weaned from their ewes, while maintaining their topline wool production.
“Trusting the data is how we got where we’re at,” Helle said.
Matchett – a fourth-generation farmer who runs 2,000 Polypay ewes – said that he selected the breed that naturally displays the traits he wanted, then used estimated breeding values to make improvements to the flock. Initially, the goal was to increase the number of lambs going to market, but once he reached a 200-percent lamb crop, he moved toward selecting for other traits such as parasite resistance, reducing the body size of the ewes and scoring udders. He’s interested in tracking performance traits as well as things like health events and looking at older ewes to select for sustainability.
Malooley is first-generation ag producer and is director of agrivoltaics at Silicon Ranch, which runs about 2,000 sheep in solar installations in Georgia. Malooley said he has embraced all the tools offered through the National Sheep Improvement Program, but said he hopes the genetic database continues to grow.
All three producers noted that these advances in genetics tracking have improved their operations, but all technology has limitations. Malooley said that none of the technology works at the scale he needs, but felt that the investment was worthwhile so long as the flock continues to improve in traits such as feed efficiency and lambing percentages.
Helle sees a challenge ahead in how to match what he’s selecting for to the environment he’s operating in; thus, “not going backwards, but steady progress forward.”
Helle pointed to mistakes made in cattle breeding when one trait was pushed at the expense of growing animals that are too large. He suggested sheep producers need a more balanced approach rather than moving toward whatever trait is trending.
Matchett agreed, suggesting that genomics have real potential to broaden perspectives, while too narrow a focus might result in an animal that is perfect in one way and lacking in others.
“It’s a game of balance and at the end of the day they still have to be sheep,” he said.
All three producers agreed that current indexes don’t account for all important traits. For Matchett, udder structure and health are non-negotiable traits. Helle pointed to his focus on wool, with indexes not covering things like black spots or belly wool. Malooley pointed to the “stayability” of a ewe, asking if ewes are 6 to 10 years old and still raising twins, “why would you cull them at 6 years of age?”

SHEEP GEMS PROJECT
The traits raised by the sheep producers were some of the very traits being examined by the Sheep GEMS genomics project. Recently retired Ron Lewis, Ph.D., of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln noted that Sheep GEMS is working to identify traits that define robustness and resilience, including traits related to lamb survival, ewe longevity, udder health and gastrointestinal parasite resistance. He noted that udder depth and teat placement are traits found to be heritable and highly genetically correlated in Polypay sheep.
The Sheep GEMS project has enabled producers to capture genetic information from their animals with the intent to simultaneously make genomic predictions of breeding values, verifying parentage and identifying genetic condition status. Lewis said the project has a goal of collecting at least 3,000 genotypes per sheep breed to create the reference population.
Scott Bowdridge, Ph.D., of West Virginia University and Kelsey Bentley, Ph.D., of Kansas State University led the Genetics Forum through fascinating research findings that the post-weaning fecal egg count estimated breeding values may not just select for parasite resistance but might also be predictive of immunological fitness. Bentley’s research indicated that fecal egg count EBVs appear to be associated with greater antibody protection after clostridial vaccination. Her work suggests that sheep with increased resistance to gastrointestinal parasites might be better prepared for challenging environmental conditions containing a variety of pathogenic threats.
So does all this genetic selection pencil out to improvements in a producer’s bottom line? Wisconsin sheep producer Cody Hiemke of the Niman Ranch lamb program said he’s heard producers say that packers don’t pay for increased muscling on lambs, but Hiemke says they do, albeit indirectly if you’re selling lambs based on carcass weights.
Hiemke calculated the impact of selecting for one EBV – additional muscle in loin depth – finding that a 1-millimeter increase in eye muscle depth resulted in a .3161-percent increase in dressing percentage of that lamb, thus increasing the value of the carcass. When a ram with a high EBV for loin depth is used as sire, that impact is reflected in increased yields in the lambs he sires. Spread that out across hundreds of lambs and you can understand the impact.
Hiemke said that selecting for increased muscling benefits producers that direct market or sell on carcass weight due to increased dressing percentage. The direct marketer and packer have additional incentive to select for increased muscle due to improved cutability when breaking that carcass into the box. His view is reinforced by a 2007 study found that increased loin muscle area and depth yielded larger and more valuable carcasses.
Tom Murphy, Ph.D., of the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska, noted that producers should be aware that the muscle trait isn’t just a trait of lambs but can be reflected in heavily muscled ewes that might have additional maintenance costs. Hiemke noted that he’s breeding high-growth rams to lower-growth ewes to seek that balance.
A second producer panel provided further insights on genetic improvements as experienced in the cattle industry. Wyoming’s Brad Boner raises both Targhee range sheep and Angus cattle; Johnny Rogers of North Carolina runs a Red Angus herd along with hair sheep, while Jeff Clark of western South Dakota runs registered Targhees and is a consultant for the cattle industry.
All three noted that while they rely on genetic data, they also still rely on visual selection as well. Rogers said with cattle, the animals need the right numbers in the genetic data, but they also “need to look the part,” as he likes cattle and sheep that are pleasing to the eye and that have good feet and udders to go along with good attitudes.
Clarke said functionality is way more important than any estimated breeding value or genomic test. He said, “We look at the numbers, but base our selection more on what we can visually see.”
Boner said that he also combines the numbers with a visual appraisal when looking at herd sires. With 80 percent of his bull sales made to fellow producers within 100 miles of the ranch, those bulls need to thrive in that environment, he said.
Rogers agreed, stating, “I think adaptation to the environment they are going to perform in trumps everything else.”

ASI Recognizes Award Winners

Award recipients at the 2025 ASI Annual Convention Awards Luncheon in Scottsdale, Ariz., share a common unselfish trait that allowed each of them to contribute to the American sheep industry in their own unique ways.
Peter John Camino has accomplished a lot in the sheep industry in his roles with ASI, the American Lamb Board and the Wyoming Wool Growers Association, which is why he was chosen as the winner of the 2025 McClure Silver Ram Award.
But he surprised a few folks in his acceptance speech when he declared that getting a sheep specialist hired after a 20-year absence at the University of Wyoming was his biggest accomplishment. That declaration speaks to the unselfish nature of the third-generation sheep producer.
“I just want to thank everyone in this room for all that you do for our industry,” he said.
For the second consecutive year, New York’s Keith Stumbo was on stage to accept an award. Only this time, it had his name on it. A year earlier, he accepted the Industry Innovation Award on behalf of his friend and neighbor, Matt Kyle and Kyle Farms. This year, he grabbed the Distinguished Producer Award for himself.
The longtime sheep producer was surprised in Arizona by the two daughters he shares with his wife, Kathy. And back home in New York, they have seven grandkids and one great grandchild who all help out with the family’s Down Valley Farm on the western side of the state.
Stumbo is the longtime president of the Empire Sheep Producers Association and a past member of the ASI Executive Board, Wool Council and Lamb Council.
Utah’s Tom Boyer nabbed the Industry Innovation Award for his efforts to push the industry forward in the area of genetics and genomics. He’s a founding member of Sheep Genetics USA, which took its first breath of life in 2020 just about 100 yards across the Scottsdale Plaza Resort parking lot from where Boyer received his coveted award.
“You’re going to see marvelous things out of that organization,” he said. “Thank you for this great honor.”
James Miller, Ph.D., wasn’t able to attend the ASI Annual Convention to receive his Peter Orwick Camptender Award, so he asked fellow researcher Joan Burke, Ph.D., to accept on his behalf. Burke bragged on her longtime friend when she admitted, “He never turned down a chance to speak to producers.”
In his 32 years as a veterinary parasitologist, Miller worked tirelessly to research parasite control and educate producers throughout the
Southeastern United States – where his research was vital to keeping flocks healthy and thriving.
Matt Reese was honored with the Shepherd’s Voice Award for his efforts to chronicle the sheep industry in Ohio. He’s also a sheep producer on a farm where his family also raises rabbits and chickens.
In addition to ASI awards, the National Lamb Feeders Association and National Sheep Industry Improvement Center recognized volunteer leaders for their service. NLFA presented a shepherd’s crook to outgoing president Reed Anderson of Oregon. NSIIC handed out plaques to retiring board members Burton Pfliger of North Dakota and Leo Tammi of Virginia.

Resource Management Council Hears Policy Updates

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With the ASI Annual Convention held the weekend prior to the Trump administration taking office, Kaitlyn Glover of the Public Lands Council told attendees at the Resource Management Council that revoking or changes to the previous administration’s policies that were detrimental to the livestock industry are expected. Those changes might take a little time as the new administration settles in, but they are coming.
Glover said that while there was a lot of chaos at the end of the last Congress, it was the most grazing-friendly Congress that she’d experienced in a long time. While draft changes to the Farm Bill would recognize grazing as a front-line management tool as well as a recognized conservation practice, that bill didn’t make it across the finish line. New membership on the House Committee on Agriculture might open the door for new ideas in this Farm Bill, Glover said, rather than carry over from the previous committee.
Glover also noted that actions and policies to benefit public lands livestock producers need to happen in the next two years, because once congressional members are in the midterm, she doesn’t expect much action.
She was hopeful that the U.S. House or Representatives will pass the forestry bill introduced by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), and indeed just a few days after the ASI meeting, Westerman’s Fix Our Forests Act passed the House. The bill specifically prescribes utilizing livestock grazing for wildfire risk reduction.
Headway was being made with Rep. John Rose’s (R-Tenn.) Black Vulture Relief Act, as it passed out of the House Committee on Natural Resources in December. Unfortunately, the bill didn’t receive further action before the last Congress adjourned, Glover reported. The bill would authorize livestock producers and their employees to take black vultures to prevent death, injury or destruction to livestock.
While last year was a heavy regulatory year with agencies being flooded with one- or two-sentence comments in opposition or support of a proposed agency action, Glover said, PLC remained focused on providing letters with substantial comments representing the interests of sheep and cattle producers in Western states. Through these united efforts, the greater sage grouse has been kept off the list of endangered species, the Biden administration threw out its proposed old growth amendment, and efforts aimed at requiring greenhouse gas emissions reporting for livestock have been averted.
One of the issues that needs to be watched is the Biden administration’s proposed listing of the monarch butterfly as a threatened species, Glover said. The proposal – currently open for public comment – needs to be carefully structured to allow for agricultural practices while not prompting regulatory actions from other agencies that would target pesticides and herbicides.
In other council news, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services continues to provide services to domestic sheep producers in at least 34 states, according to Deputy Administrator Jessica Fantinato. She recently replaced the retiring Janet Bucknall as head of the agency. Much of this agency response includes responding to damage from coyotes, lions, black bears, domestic dogs and black vultures, as well as ravens and red fox.
Black vulture depredation damages cattle and sheep, while also posing threats to aviation. Fantinato said Wildlife Services has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in expediting permits and has optimized the methodology for roost dispersal of these birds.
Similarly, producers are experiencing increased attacks from golden eagles and bald eagles, and in response Wildlife Services has hired an avian predator biologist to help address depredations caused by ravens, vultures, eagles and caracaras.
Fantinato noted that Wildlife Services has altered its operations to reflect the Congressional prohibition on the continued use of M-44s. The prohibition on this spring-activated predator control device was part of the integrated animal damage control program in 10 states, but unless Congress passes a bill that removes the restrictive language that was added to the 2024 appropriations bill, the agency may not use the devices.
The federal agency continues its work on the development and utilization of non-lethal conflict management for livestock protection and beaver damage management, Fantinato said.

Talking Cotton at Caywood Farms

The industry tour at the 2025 ASI Annual Convention was a trip to Caywood Farm in Casa Grande, Ariz., where they grow cotton and forage crops. Nancy Caywood Robertson – a third-generation farmer – led the tour and exposed participants to a variety of similiarities in the wool and cotton industries. Attendees also had the opportunity to pick their own cotton as a souvenir.

Guard Dog Fund Contributions

CHARTER MEMBERS
John & Nina Baucus, Sieben Ranch Co. – MT
Brad & Laurie Boner – WY
Ryan Boner, M Diamond Angus Ranch – WY
Stan & Ann Boyd, Boyd Livestock Services, Inc. – ID
Robert & Becky Boylan, Boylan Ranch – SD
J. Paul & Debbie Brown, Reata – CO
Bob & Mary Buchholz, Buchholz Ranch – TX
David B. Burkhart, Burkhart Sheep Farms – OH
Peter & Jackie Camino, Camino & Son – WY
Jeanne Carver, Shaniko Wool Company – OR
Colorado Wool Growers Association – CO
Joe & Tonya Coplan, Coplan Farm – SD
Mike & Jennifer Corn, Corn Ranch – NM
John, Quinci & Florence Cubiburu, Cubiburu Livestock – CA
Tom & Reneé Davis, WYO Davis FLP – WY
Renee & Lonnie Deal, Sperry Livestock – CO
Edward & Lo-Ra’ Dick, Breezy Flats Sheep Farm – TX
Adric Dietz, Noelke Ranch – TX
John & Mary Eagle, Eagle Suffolks – ID
Stephen & Lisa Elgorriaga, Bonita Land & Livestock Co. – CA
Lynn & Donna Fahrmeier, Fahrmeier Katahdins – MO
Vernon & Terri Fairchild, Fairchild Shearing, LLC – ID
Dallas & Whittney Fairchild, Fairchild Sheep Shearing, LLC – ID
Guy & Pat Flora – OH
Garden State Sheep Breeders – NJ
Michael A. & Vicki Guerry, Guerry, Inc. – ID
Julie Hansmire, Campbell Hansmire Sheep, LLC – CO
Mike & Mary Ann Harper, Mike Harper Livestock – CO
John & Tom Helle, Helle Rambouillet – MT
Ryan & Beatriz Indart, Indart Ranch – CA
Kelly J & Kay C Ingalls, Round Grove Ranch Co. – OR
Innes Ranch, LLC – WY
Lee & Peg Isenberger, Isenberger-Litton Livestock – WY
Aaron & Katie Jones, CF, LLC – MT
Dave & Shannon Julian, Julian Land & Livestock – WY
Clint & Maureen Krebs, Krebs Livestock, LLC – OR
Skye & Penny Krebs, Krebs Sheep Company – OR
Terri Lamers, Steve Snyder, Todd Snyder & Jackie Thompson,
Snyder Ranches, LLC – CO
Randy Larson, R Larson Sheep Company – UT
Bob, Marie, Ben & Jamie Lehfeldt, Lehfeldt Rambouillets – MT
David & Bonnie Little, Little Paris Sheep Company – NV
Jim Magagna, Magagna Bros. Inc. – WY
Ryan & Kelli Mahoney, R. Emigh Livestock – CA
Jack & Kathryn McRae, McRae Brothers Targhees – MT
Pierce & Betty Miller, VIP Ranch Co. – TX
Mark & Martha Moench, Thousand Peaks Ranches – UT
Frank & Elaine Moore – WY
Wm Moore, Jr. & Frankie Addington – WY
Wes, Esther, Alex, Katherine, Caleb & Holly Moser,
Triple Creek Farm – IA
New Mexico Wool Growers, Inc. – NM
Mike, Kelly & Katy Nottingham, Nottingham Livestock – CO
Jack & Cindy Orwick – SD
Brian & Gayenell Phelan, Superior Farms – CA
Liz Philp, Philp Sheep Co. – WY
Larry & Madge Pilster, Pilster Ranch Corporation – MT
Carol Postley, Fairmeadow – FL
Joe Pozzi, Joe Pozzi Livestock – CA
Doug & Susan Samuelson, Warren Ranch Company – WY
Cindy, Jeff & J.C. Siddoway, Siddoway Sheep Company – ID
S. Martinez Livestock – WA
Jack & Sharon Smith, Cedar Livestock Asc. – UT
Karla Stewart – TX
Bill & Jamie Strauss, Strauss Ranch – TX
Angelo, Karin, Anthony & Dani Theos, Theos Swallow Fork Ranch – CO
Gary & Lori Visintainer, Visintainer Sheep Co. – CO
Tom & Karin Watson, Silverdale Farms – OR
Clark & Ruth Webster, C & R Fams – UT
Patty & Brandon Willis – UT

SUPPORTING MEMBERS
Larry Allen, Allen Livestock – CO
Auza Ranches – AZ
Clinton & Loretta Bell – VA
Bob & Sherry Benson – IN
Brian & Carolyn Bitner, BRB Livestock – UT
Jack & Ross Blattner, Blattner Suffolks – ID
Matt & Lisa Borchgrevink, Corral Creek Livestock – MT
Broadbent Family, JRB, LLC – UT
Patrick Burke, Burke Ranch – SD
Cody & Dylan Burns, Dolan Creek Cattle, LLC – TX
Curry & Bonnie Lou Campbell, Campbell / Mayer Liveoak Ranch – TX
Center of the Nation Wool, Inc. – SD
Steve & Pam Clements – SD
Tom, Ron & Cynthia Crane, Crane Family Ranches, LLC – CA
David & Theressa Dalling, Dalling Sheep, Inc. – ID
Douglas & Julia Davis, The Homestead Ranch – SD
Denis Ranch – TX
Krista & Dennis Doyle, Doyle Farm – OH
Alicia Dredge, Jouglard Sheep Co. / CD Ranches – ID
John & Bernie Dvorak – MN
David & Janet Earl, Upper Creek Ranch – UT
Jeff Ebert, Ebert Sheep Farm – KS
Ted & Renae Edwards, Edwards Ranch – WY
Thomas & Leah Edwards, TLE Ranch, Inc. – WY
Ben & Stella Elgorriaga, Elgorriaga Livestock, Inc. – CA
Martin & M. Teresa Etchamendy, Etchamendy Sheep Co. – CA
Ernie & George Etchart, Etchart Livestock, LLC – CO
Nick & Kimberly Etcheverry, Eureka Livestock – CA
Joe & Lillian Ethridge, Comanche Trail Ranch. L.P. – TX
Lorin & Waneta Fawcett, Joseph O. Fawcett & Sons, Inc. – UT
Linda & Tammy Fisher, Askew Fisher Ranch – TX
Gerry & Gwen Geis, Geis Brothers, LLC – WY
Kevin & Bobbi Geis, Geis Brothers, LLC – WY
Helen Glass, JL Glass Ranch – TX
WM & Sherie Goring, W.F. Goring & Son, Inc. – UT
Keith & Linda Hamilton, Hamilton Ranch, Inc. – WY
Dan Hampton, Hampton Sheep Company – WY
Bob & Kate Harlan, Bar SX Ranch – WY
Tom & Joni Harlan, Harlan Livestock, LLC – WY
Marlin Helming, Helming Hampshires – CO
Dwight Heser – MT
Kurt & Carol Heupel, Heupel Farms – CO
Larry & Angie Hopkins, Little Eagle Creek Valley Farm – IN
Matt & Sandra Jarvis, Jarvis Sheep Co. – UT
Claire Jones, Bar 7 Ranch – TX
Gary & Gail Jorgensen, Legacy Lamb – KS
Chris Kokkeler – OR
Rodney & Sharon Kott – TX
Dean & Kathy Lamoreaux, Lamoreaux Sheep – UT
Marianne & Kris Leinassar, F.I.M. Corp. – NV
Louis (Spud) & Thea Lemmel, Lemmel Ranch, LLC – SD
Dan & Kim Lippert – MN
Carol Martinez, Martinez Livestock, Inc. – WA
William Mast – OR
Max & Joyce Matthews – SD
Janet & Michael Mawhinney, Blaker Ridge Farm – PA
Ken & Oogie McGuire, Desert Weyr, LLC – CO
Ken & Phyllis McKamey, McKamey Ranch Co. – MT
Matt & Dan Mickel, Mickel Bros. Sheep Company – UT
Maxwell & Kelsey Miller, DJ Miller Ranches, Inc. – OR
Jim & Georgia Moore – WY
Ron & Elizabeth Moss – ID
Joanne Nissen – CA
North Dakota Lamb & Wool Producers – ND
Will & Laura Nuckolls, Nuckolls Ranch, Inc. – WY
John & Connie Olagaray, Five-O Ranch – CA
Dave & Holly Ollila, Flying O Sheep – SD
Bob & Jennifer Orwick, Orwick Ranch – SD
Pete & Rama Paris, Paris Livestock – NV
Dan & Kay Persons, Rafter P Ranch – MN
Burton & Pattie Pfliger, Roselawn Legacy Hampshires – ND
Doelene Pitt, Pitt Family Columbias – UT
Martha Pool Elder, Tisdale Ranch – TX
Jewell Reed – WY
Warren & Carla Roberts, Open Heart Ranch – CO
Ward & Lynn Rouse, Rouse Farms – OR
Thomas & Carol Schene, Schene Enterprises, Inc. – CA
Louis Schmidt, Schmidt Ranch – CO
Schreier Farms Tracy Minnesota – MN
Maurice Short, M and K Short Ranch – OR
Bill & Margie Sparrow – NC
W. Keith & Kathy Stumbo, Down Valley Farm – NY
Dean & Paula Swenson – ND
Randy & Amanda Tunby, Tunby Ranch – MT
Utah Wool Marketing Association – UT
Luanne & Mike Wallewein, Timber Coulee Columbias – MT
Washington State Wool Growers Auxiliary – WA
Sandy & Brenda Webster, Webster Livestock – UT
Ray & Jeri Willoughby, Willoughby LTD Ranch – TX
David & Sara Winters, David W Winters Livestock – TX
Paul J. Wipf, Cascade Colony – MT
Charles & Deborah Wray, Portland Prairie Texels – MN

CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS
Martin Albini – CA
Almost Appalachian Farm – KY
Albert Bisek, Hidden Knoll Farm – MN
Ronald & Norma Bromley – VT
Robert & Sarah Calvert, Calvert Farm – PA
CRP Ranch Partnership – TX
Debbie & Jim Cummings – PA
Anne & Rob Davis, Davis Family Livestock – CO
Pete & Sarah Gnatkowski, Hall Gnatkowski, Inc. – NM
David & Susan Hermann – IN
Sharon Holman, Pfluger Holman – TX
Kathy & Tony Meyer, Final Frontier Farm / KY Wool Works – KY
Michael & Leah Miller – OH
Michelle & Dana Missler, Bittersweet Family Farm – OH
William & Susan Shultz, Bunker Hill Farm – OH
Richard & Jeanne Sparks – MT
Rex A. Streets – MT
Marilyn Volpe & George Borkow, Sheep Ranch – ID
Bill, Jr. & Karon Wheeless, KBAR Ranch – TX
Bobby & Sherri Zesch, Bar Z Zesch Ranch – TX

ASI Awards Shearing Grants

Once again, ASI has awarded grants to developing shearers and shearing mentors in an effort to address shortages of professional shearers all across the United States.
For the fourth consecutive year, the ASI Wool Council has awarded grants of $1,500 to assist developing shearers with a variety of expenses, including travel and equipment. Developing shearer grant recipients will receive $500 upon acceptance and $1,000 at the completion of the program.
Those selected for shearer grants in 2025 include: Philip Bulak, Isaiah Manus, Jared Moser, Angel Papineau, Austin Pethan, Katherine Pierce, Blade Thomsen and Karin Witthar. Recipients expect to shear sheep in more than 15 states this year.
The program is designed for shearers with some experience, specifically those who can handle shearing at least 10 sheep per day, and who are working to become professional shearers.
Priority for grant selection is given to those who can shear 25 head or more per day. Nearly all of this year’s recipients fall into that category. Ideally, recipients would also have an interest in shearing full-time as they develop their skills.
In addition, two shearing mentors were chosen to receive $1,500 grants, as well. They will receive funding after finding work for and helping train a developing shearer. The mentors chosen for grants in 2025 include: Will Kleinert and Anne Shroeder.