At the recent 2013 Sheep Symposium, Integrating Advanced Concepts into Traditional Practices, held at Montana State University, D. P. Anderson gave his perspective on what has been happening to US lamb prices over the past year in a presentation called “ADVENTURES IN THIN MARKETS, CONTRACTING AND CONCENTRATION: TODAY’S LAMB MARKET”. Although the Ontario market is different than the United States market, the US price has an influence on the prices received here in Ontario. To read the full article, go to page 49 in the pdf or page 36 of the actual proceedings document.
In a presentation called “SHEEP, BLACK SWANS, AND THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE”, J. W. Walker has an interesting perspective on the ongoing decline of the United States sheep inventory and potential reasons why despite ongoing efforts the decline has not been halted. He believes that labour is one of the major reasons why sheep production has not increased even in times of increasing prices and that baby boomers may be a potential source of unused labour that could contribute to sheep production in the United States in the future. To read the full article, go to page 55 in the pdf or page 41 of the actual proceedings document.
Other topics explored at the Symposium were: Impact of Research, Applying Genomic Selection, Sheep Parasites, Factors that Affect Prolificacy, Maternal Environment Impacts Fetal and Offspring Outcomes, Alternative Feeds: A solution for a temporary crisis or a permanent solution and Alternative Grazing Strategies for Industry Diversification and Rangeland Improvement. The proceeding document which can be accessed at either of the links above which covers each of these presentations. The actual slide presentations can also be viewed at the Sheep USA Symposium Proceedings.
