Well, the first meeting of the 2012-2013 year is in the books. We
had a light turnout for the first meeting which means quite a few of you
missed a very good handout outlining what you do and do not have to pay
sales tax on in the Commonwealth. There followed a lively discussion
about other taxes such as excise tax on farm equipment and others. Your
Blogger has some handouts for those of you who missed the meeting and
will bring them to the next one. It you check the date of the next
meeting, you will note that it is scheduled for election day and the
sense of those at the meeting was that we change it. Watch here for an
update.
On Thursday the 27th of September, Andrea and
I were in New York City to participate in the Campaign for Wool event
that was originated by HRH Prince Charles a couple of years ago. This
year marked the outreach of that program to cities around the world and
the 27th was NYC's day to shine. The event was held in the historic Bryant Park in the middle of Manhattan. The entire park was taken over for the event and America's sheep producers were represented by 30 head of sheep fenced inside a four foot high transparent fence. From a personal perspective, this was the best promotion of wool from sheep to end product that I have ever been involved with. The link for a quick follow up published the day after the event is: www.epklink.com/campaignforwoolus
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Welcome Fall
Whew, the summer really got away from me. I spent time in Montana and Wyoming on Sheep Industry business......while including a brief visit with Mother who is 94 and still knows who I am!
At the summer meeting of the American Wool Council, I was able to prevail in my proposal to explore the development of a tool that could help us in the shearing shed, read Barn for those of us in the east, to sort our clip thereby ensuring we get our "best" in the "best" bag, not quite in the not quite bag, etc. If we have learned nothing in the last twenty years, it should be that the more uniform our clip is the higher the price. At the bottom end of this example is the producer who puts tags, bellies, top knot and all else in the same bag and receives very little in return, thereby deducing there is no good market for the wool. The lesson should have been that the $0.10/pound represented the value of the worst part of the clip. Separate it into separate bags and get 10 cents for the tags, more for the bellies and skirtings, and even more for the best part of the fleece. The tool I envision would go even farther, it would let us differentiate between a few micron ranges to allow us to get more for the finer wool than those a bit less fine. North Dakota State and Montana State Universities are working with me and I hope to have a prototype to see by late January.
The summer Fair season is winding down, the Big-E is in session as I type this and for some of us, only one or two competitions are left. The rest of us are finishing up prep for breeding and getting ready for colder weather and winter.....brrrrrrr.
The fall set of meetings starts at Greenwood Hill Farm on October 2nd and the topic reviews sales tax requirements and tax issues in general.
At the summer meeting of the American Wool Council, I was able to prevail in my proposal to explore the development of a tool that could help us in the shearing shed, read Barn for those of us in the east, to sort our clip thereby ensuring we get our "best" in the "best" bag, not quite in the not quite bag, etc. If we have learned nothing in the last twenty years, it should be that the more uniform our clip is the higher the price. At the bottom end of this example is the producer who puts tags, bellies, top knot and all else in the same bag and receives very little in return, thereby deducing there is no good market for the wool. The lesson should have been that the $0.10/pound represented the value of the worst part of the clip. Separate it into separate bags and get 10 cents for the tags, more for the bellies and skirtings, and even more for the best part of the fleece. The tool I envision would go even farther, it would let us differentiate between a few micron ranges to allow us to get more for the finer wool than those a bit less fine. North Dakota State and Montana State Universities are working with me and I hope to have a prototype to see by late January.
The summer Fair season is winding down, the Big-E is in session as I type this and for some of us, only one or two competitions are left. The rest of us are finishing up prep for breeding and getting ready for colder weather and winter.....brrrrrrr.
The fall set of meetings starts at Greenwood Hill Farm on October 2nd and the topic reviews sales tax requirements and tax issues in general.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
February 2012
It has been a very busy time here on the Farm. The Holidays brought 15 people to the dining table for most of a couple of weeks, all family and all welcomed. Our Sheep Association met on the 3rd of January at a church in Holden. The food, as always was great and our program for the night focused on "what to do with your wool". Andrea Colyer, Barbara Haberline and Chris Humphrey led the discussion and everyone chimed in with their own solution to the marketing of wool.
The February meeting was held at the Sunset Farm in Hubbardston and our host Chris provided the meal for all. We had nearly 40 members in attendance to eat and take part in the program conducted by Lemay & Sons, Rick and Paul Sr., of Goffstown, N.H. as they taught the assembled how to properly cut up a market lamb. Rick had made a video of all of the cuts that would be available and he provided a very interesting talk taking all of us through the process. After the video, Lemay's provided a lamb carcass, one half completely cut out, wrapped and frozen and one half uncut. (Picture below) Everyone left with a deep appreciation for producing well muscled lean lambs for the table and a great understanding of the process of getting from the barn to the table. A big thanks to Chris, Rick and Paul Sr.
The February meeting was held at the Sunset Farm in Hubbardston and our host Chris provided the meal for all. We had nearly 40 members in attendance to eat and take part in the program conducted by Lemay & Sons, Rick and Paul Sr., of Goffstown, N.H. as they taught the assembled how to properly cut up a market lamb. Rick had made a video of all of the cuts that would be available and he provided a very interesting talk taking all of us through the process. After the video, Lemay's provided a lamb carcass, one half completely cut out, wrapped and frozen and one half uncut. (Picture below) Everyone left with a deep appreciation for producing well muscled lean lambs for the table and a great understanding of the process of getting from the barn to the table. A big thanks to Chris, Rick and Paul Sr.
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