NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
October 28, 1999
From lambing in February to marketing semi-loads of fed lambs by computer, finding every last dollar of profit in his sheep is a daily challenge for Brent Stroh.
"If we can find ways to cut costs or boost our price, we'll try it," says Stroh. "We'll try any way we can to make a dollar." Stroh will receive the Master Sheep Producer's Award from the North Dakota Lamb and Wool Association at the group's annual sheep convention in Mandan Oct. 30. He farms near Tappen.
"Brent does an exceptional job of staying on top of every part of his operation," says Roger Haugen, North Dakota State University Extension sheep specialist and member of the award committee.
Stroh has a herd of about 450 ewes with his father, Alton, who was named North Dakota Master Sheep Producer in 1985. They also feed about 750 to 900 lambs each year.
"Sheep have been really good to us," Stroh says, "especially in light of grain and beef prices the past few years." Stroh raises organic grain, wheat, oats and some buckwheat, and has 150 beef cows.
Stroh's ewes lamb in early February. The lambs are weaned in confinement at about seven to 10 weeks of age.
"Lambing that early allows us to market beginning at the end of June and into July and August. By marketing before the traditional peak, we're able to get about $10 per hundredweight more," Stroh says.
In cooperation with his father and his brothers, Brian and Brett, Stroh is able to assemble semi-loads of lambs. The sheep are marketed electronically through a Wisconsin company. A description of the sheep is sent to buyers, and the buyers bid electronically. Sheep are shipped direct.
"We usually top the Sioux Falls market and our sheep have gone to Chicago and Colorado and as far away as California," Stroh says. "Marketing this way also helps us save on commission and freight."
Stroh is a director of the North Dakota Lamb and Wool Association and has been active in the start-up phases of the Dakota Lamb Growers Cooperative. "We're hoping the cooperative brings some stability to the lamb market in the area," he says. "The concept is good and having another outlet for us to market our sheep to would be a plus. It's never easy to get these things started, but we're hoping the payoff will be worth it."
That optimism carries over to his perspectives of the region's sheep industry.
"There is a lot of opportunity in the sheep business for someone that's just starting out," he says. "The start-up costs are very low. It's possible for the smaller producer, the guy with 50 ewes, to make some money. Some of these little barns make the best lambing barns. And if you don't have a barn, lamb your ewes in May right out on grass." He stresses that patience is probably the key trait of a successful lamb producer, especially at lambing time. "But after lambing, sheep don't require any more attention than beef cattle," he says.
It's a surprise to Stroh that more sheep producers don't feed out their lambs. "It's a good idea to finish those lambs to 120 or even 140 pounds," he says. "Those fed lambs bring the same price per pound as a feeder lamb, so adding pounds pays, especially with cheap feed."
He stresses that it's not difficult to feed lambs. "At weaning, those little lambs take right off and go," he says.
"From a very early age, I've been around sheep with my brothers and my dad," Stroh says. "So raising them seems really, really easy."
Stroh and his wife, Barb, have three children, David, 5, Sarah, 4, and Alec, 5 months.
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Sources: Roger Haugen (701) 231-7645
Brent Stroh (701) 327-4526
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629