From the Monte Carlo to shed lambing at Powder Flat
We have had a busy couple of weeks. Pat and I went to Las Vegas for the annual Family Farm Alliance meeting. Its members represent farmers who raise irrigated crops and manage agricultural water in the western states. Pat has been the President for the past two years and was re-elected for another term. It is a very effective group whose members lobby for issues related to farming and water in the West. You can access their website at http://www.famiIyfarmalliance.org. I especially recommend that readers interested in water issues look at the White Paper. Pat presented this to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board (Board) in Washington, D.C. He has also testified before the House Subcommittee on Water and Power. If the link doesn't work, just type it in.
Early lambing
Hampshire ewe with lambs
Powder Flat, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
photo by Sharon O'Toole
At home, we are well into our early lambing. We raise our own Rambouillet and Hampshire rams, and the lambs who grow up into those replacement bucks and ewe lambs are born now. At Powder Flat, our desert headquarters, we have sheds and an infrastructure to take care of those ewes and lambs. We also have a very good crew of Peruvian employees, Oscar, Antonio and Pedro, who are watching out for them. (This explains why we were able to go to Las Vegas for several days in the middle of lambing.)
Shed lambing is one of the most intense times of years. It requires that someone check the ewes at least every two hours during the night, as well as the day. Days are also filled with cleaning pens, helping lambs who need it, moving the ewes with older lambs to outside pens, and generally paying a lot of attention. It is a lot of work, but the benefit to us is that we know exactly what we have for bucks for the commercial herd. They are acclimated and have the traits for which we have selected. (Mrs. Leggett, my seventh and eighth grade teacher, taught that one never ends a sentence with a preposition. I can still diagram a sentence, too.)
Waiting to lamb
Powder Flat
photo by Pat O'Toole
Lunchtime
Powder Flat
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Old Barn at Powder Flat
photo by Sharon O'Toole
