Ag Day was easily one of the best ever for those of us in the sheep business. Our President, Gordon MacPhee was the master of ceremonies and managed to work in a mention of our Federation, the Worcester County Association and the Baaay State Blanket program. The Governor, Deval Patrick, was in attendance and paid some special attention to our blanket and we managed to get one of our small samples and a brochure in his hands. We also sold a couple of blankets at the event. The Lamb sliders being served in the Hall of Flags were popular and all of the legislators and staff on hand that day enjoyed themselves. Great job Gordon!
Spring has sprung and all of the excuses I had for waiting to get started are no longer valid. We are working to get pastures growing, mending fences and watching as the lambs discover how much space they have to run, jump and learn to head butt! We are getting lots of calls for an Easter lamb and/or legs for the holiday along with the occasional request for things not asked for before......pickled tongue comes to mind.
The last Saturday of April marks the start of the "Festival" circuit with the annual "Sheep Shearing Day" at Gore Place in Waltham, MA. The massive Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is the next weekend and corresponds to the Mother's Day weekend this year which will surely add to the size of the crowd. The following weekend is the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Contoocook, NH, and then on Memorial Day weekend, the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival in Cummington, MA rounds out the month of May. If you have never been to any of these events, you should go if even only to see all of the talented people out there with new ideas for our wonderful wool fiber. Speaking of our wool, Barbara really needs to know if you are going to participate in the blanket program this year. We are looking at some promising marketing efforts to help sell them, try to stick with us!
Those of you who have been attending our meetings, will recall that I have mentioned on several occasions the effort by certain groups to remove all grazing on federal lands in the west. Western federal lands are akin to MDC and other protected usage lands controlled by the Commonwealth and local governments here in the east. As an example, more than 70% of the state of Nevada is owned by the Federal government. For as long as there have been livestock operations in that part of the country, federal land has been used, under permit, for grazing. In a case involving the Payette Mountains in Idaho and the grazing of domestic and the possible mingling of wild Big Horn Sheep, a federal Judge has ruled that a large part of these grazing permits are placing the Big Horn sheep in danger from domestic sheep diseases. One sheep family in Idaho whom I know personally is now downsizing nearly 40% of their operation to meet the ruling. Oh, and that is 40% of nearly 8000 head of fine wool sheep. It has been clear to me for some time that the agenda here has little to do with the Big Horn sheep and all to do with removing all domestic grazing from federal lands. The end result meets the organizers goals of reducing the meat intake for the American public but does not account for the starvation of the rest of the world when we no longer are able to help feed them. Enough said! Get outside and enjoy the sun, you know, that warm bright orb in the sky!
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