1. Wisconsin Wool Works! Celebrates Ten Years
2. WSBC Seeks Field Day Host
3. Wisconsin Wool Winners Compete in National Contest
4. Festival Website Gets New Look
5. New Events Planned for 2008 Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival
6. March 29 Marks Start of Wisconsin Ram Test
7. Wild and Woolly — It’s Photo Contest Time
8. Help Needed
9. Save Fleeces for Festival Wool Show
10. Scholarship Applications Due to WSBC on June 15
11. Indianhead Sheep Breeders Plan Spring Sale
12. Wisconsin Forming Southdown Association
13. Scottish Blackface Breeders Form New Organization
14. Mid-West Stud Ram Sales

   With ten years of reaching out to consumers, Wisconsin Wool Works! is still going strong.  Wisconsin Wool Works! was established by the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative to both educate consumers about wool and wool products and to provide fiber artists and producers with an opportunity to market their handcrafted items in a retail setting.

   Wisconsin Wool Works! operates both during the 10-day Wisconsin State Fair and during the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival.  The State Fair effort operates from a mini shop within the Sheep Barn daily from July 31 through August 10.  The Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival is slated for September 5 through 7 at the Jefferson Fair Park in Jefferson.  Look for Wisconsin Wool Works! in the Country Store along with over 110 other commercial vendors.

   At a turning point as it enters its second decade, Wisconsin Wool Works! organizers are looking both for new volunteers and leadership for the program.  They also are welcoming consignments for 2008.  Past consignments have included such items as roving, spun yarn, knitted hats and mittens, shawls, pelts, wool quilts, felted accessories, ornaments, lanolin hand creams and gift items.

   For more information about consigning or volunteering, contact Wisconsin Wool Works! Manager Carol Black at 920/623-3536 or carol@ewesfulgifts.com.

WISCONSIN WOOL WORKS! – Carol Black, who has served as manager for Wisconsin Wool Works! for ten years straightens a display at last year’s Wisconsin State Fair.

   The Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative is looking for a host for its Ninth Annual Sheep Production Field Day.  The one-day summertime educational event typically draws people from around the state interested in a variety of production topics.

   In order to move the event around the state from year to year, Chairman Bob Leder said he would like to see the event hosted in the southern part of the state in 2008, although he doesn’t rule out other locations.  The date of the event will be determined once a host is confirmed.

   If interested in hosting the field day, contact Bob Leder at 715/752-3459 or rpleder@frontiernet.net.

NATIONAL CONTESTANTS – Chelsea Norquay (left) and Ruth Degner represented Wisconsin at the National Make It With Wool Contest.

   Wisconsin was well represented at the National Make It With Wool Contest.  With financial support from the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative, Chelsea Norquay of Monticello and Ruth Degner of Watertown represented the state at the national contest, held in Las Vegas in January. A total of 30 junior and 28 senior contestants from throughout the U.S. competed on the national level.

   The American Sheep Industry and the American Sheep Industry Women are the major sponsors of the national Make It With Wool contest, and Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative sponsors the state program.  

   Plans are under way for Wisconsin’s 2008 Make It With Wool Contest, which will be held September 6 at Jefferson County Fair Park in Jefferson during the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival.  Wisconsin’s garment competition includes age divisions from preteens through adults.  Wisconsin also sponsors a quilt and afghan competition and a novelty category for items such as scarves, mittens, shawls and hats made of 100 percent wool and fibers or wool blends. 

   The wool for all garment entries must be tested at the Montana Wool Lab to ensure it meets minimum wool content requirements; contestants are encouraged to send a wool swatch and $3 to the state director for testing prior to constructing the garment.  Information about Wisconsin’s Make It With Wool Contest can be found at www.wisbc.com or www.wisconsinsheepandwoolfestival.com or contact Battenberg at batten2@tds.net or 920/699-2233.  

   Shortly after you receive this issue of The Wisconsin Shepherd, the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival will go online with its new website.  In addition to a vibrant new look and improved functionality, the website will allow online registration for over 50 Wonders of Wool fiber-arts classes, the Sheep 101 workshop and on-site camping, as well as downloadable forms for shows and competitions.

   “The new site will provide for online registration and payment for several activities as a pilot,” notes Amy Jones, WSBC vice president and chairman of its communications committee.  “If online registration goes well this year, we hope to expand it to other areas of the festival next year.”

   The website can be found at www.wisconsinsheepandwoolfestival.com.

   The seventh Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival will take place Friday through Sunday, September 5 - 7 at Jefferson Fair Park in Jefferson.  While seven years has put the Festival on firm ground in the hearts and minds of Upper Midwest shepherds, fiber artists and others, the event continues to grow, evolve and feature new activities.

   “If you held a mirror up to the Festival, what you would see is what the sheep industry is in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest,” says Festival Chairman Bob Black.  “We have programs that appeal to both commercial and purebred shepherds, youth, owners of working stock dogs, fiber enthusiasts and people who love country living.”

   In 2008, the Festival and the Midwest Shetland Sheep Breeders Association will host the North American Shetland Sheep Association’s national show and annual meeting.

   The Festival also will be home to the North American Mule Sheep Society Show, as well as displays and educational sessions designed to acquaint producers with the grass-based three-tier breeding system for commercial sheep that has long been in place in the United Kingdom.

   Three new events are specifically designed for youth.  A sheep-judging contest will be held to test participants’ skills in evaluating various types of sheep, and organizers have added a “Will ‘Ewe’ Teach Me to Felt?” and “Make A CD Drop Spindle (And Learn How To Spin On It)” workshops to complement a similar beginning knitting workshop.

   Youth will have an extra incentive to participate in the Festival with the addition of a Youth Sweepstakes.  Participating youth will get points for placing well in designated Festival educational events, such as the Skillathon, and sheep and fleece shows. Participants receiving the most points will win cash awards and prizes.

   For the second year, the Festival will feature an intense, full-day Sheep 101 program on September 5 for shepherds of all levels of experience.  Experienced shepherds and other professionals will speak and provide hands-on experience on an array of topics.

   For the second year, private treaty sales of rams will take place at Ram Test Alley.  On September 6, producers will sell ram lambs and yearling rams that have been performance tested through the Wisconsin Ram Test and the Badger Sheep Improvement (BSIP) and National Sheep Improvement Programs (NSIP).

   This year’s Festival will continue to feature long-standing events, including working stock-dog demonstrations, dog trials, shepherd educational sessions, a fleece show and sale, the state Make It With Wool contest and style show, over 50 Wonders of Wool fiber-arts classes, “sheep to shawl” demonstrations, Hall of Breeds displays, Silent and Shepherds’ Auctions, sheep lead-line classes, a used-equipment auction, photo and poster contests and handspun skein competition.  Sheep shows will feature open and junior sheep shows for wool and meat breeding sheep, as well as market lambs.  And over 110 vendors will offer everything from wool roving and spinning wheels, to sheep feeders and feed.

   Detailed information and registration/entry forms for the 2008 Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival will be featured in the summer issue of The Wisconsin Shepherd and on the website, www.wisconsinsheepandwoolfestival.com.  For those wishing to receive a Festival catalog, contact Jill Alf at 608/868-2505 or wisbc@centurytel.net. 

   Meaningful performance data enables producers to make the best possible breeding decisions for their flocks, and the Wisconsin Ram Test can assist in obtaining that data.

   The Wisconsin Ram Test provides a common environment through which large- and small-scale producers can compare the growth rates and carcass merit genetics between their own rams or with rams of other flocks.  In addition to providing rate-of-gain information, the Test gathers loin-eye and back-fat ultrasound measurements and scrotal circumference measurements.  It also tests for genetic resistance to scrapie at Codons 136 and 171.

   Rams tested through the Wisconsin Ram Test are eligible to be sold through private treaty at Ram Test Alley on September 6 at the 2008 Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival.

   The Wisconsin Ram Test is a cooperative effort of the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative and the University of Wisconsin – Madison Animal Sciences Department.  The test takes place at Nelson Crest Farm, owned by Nils and Nancy Nelson, west of Janesville.

   January-born lambs are scheduled for delivery to the Ram Test station on March 29.  February-born lambs should be delivered on April 26, and March-born lambs are set for delivery on May 24.  Call ahead to make arrangements for delivery times.

   Lambs should be shorn within a week of delivery to the Test station; commercial shearing costs will be passed on to producers who deliver unshorn rams.  The cost of testing is $110 per ram.  Ram Test and WSBC membership fees must be paid at the time rams are delivered, and the Test is available to all sheep producers, regardless of their state of residence.  

   For more information, contact Test State Manager Nils Nelson at 608/876-6928;  Dave Thomas, University of Wisconsin – Madison sheep Extension specialist, 608/263-4306 or dlthomas@wisc.edu; or Todd Taylor, University shepherd, 608/846-5858 or toddtaylor@wiscmail.wisc.edu.

   The Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative invites shepherds, fiber enthusiasts and others to enter its Wild and Woolly Photo Contest.  The contest is open to everyone, including non-WSBC members and regardless if they raise sheep.

   Entries must be postmarked by August 15.

   The initial screening of photos will be based on clarity, content, composition and appeal.  Visitors to the 2008 Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival will vote for the winning photos.

   Enter 8x10” color or black-and-white non-mounted photos in the following categories:  Scenic, Kids and Sheep, Any Other Sheep or Wool Photo, and Photo Taken by Youth (for youth aged 18 and younger).  Photographers may enter in more than one category, and they may enter more than one photograph in each category.  A $5 fee must accompany each entry, with checks payable to WSBC, and premiums will be awarded to top photos based on the number of contest entries.

   Write the following information on a 3x5” card and attach it to the back of each photograph:  Title of photo, contest category, and the photographer’s name, address, phone number and e-mail address.  Entries in the Photo Taken by Youth category also must include the age of the photographer.

   All entries become the property of WSBC and the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival to be used or reproduced at their discretion.  A selection of finalist entries will be published in The Wisconsin Shepherd, the entities’ websites and 2009 Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival catalog as space allows.  Entries will not be returned.

   All entries should be mailed to Jane Metcalf, 2679 N. County Road M, Milton, WI  53563.  For more information, contact Metcalf at 608/868-3268 or tjmetcalf@centurytel.net.

   The Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative is seeking volunteers willing to help build the Youth & Education Fund through actively soliciting contributions and donations to the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival’s Silent and Shepherds' Auctions. The Youth & Education Fund provides up to four $500 scholarships annually to post-secondary students from WSBC-member families, provides financial assistance to shepherds' clinics around the state, underwrites education and communication to Wisconsin producers, and supports education about the industry and its products to the public at large. Interested? Contact Jill Alf at 608/868-2505 or wisbc@centurytel.net.

   WSBC also is seeking to hire a new editor for The Wisconsin Shepherd.  Editor Jane Metcalf is stepping down from the position after seven years.  The editor is responsible for writing and editing The Wisconsin Shepherd and sending press releases regarding WSBC events to various media outlets.  Interested candidates should contact WSBC Vice President Amy Jones at 920/253-5473 or circlejsouthdowns@hughes.net.

   With spring being the time of year when many sheep producers shear their sheep in anticipation of lambing, organizers of the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival wool show and sale urge shepherds to consider setting aside fleeces for the competition.  The show will be held on Saturday, September 6 at the Jefferson Fair Park in Jefferson. 

   “No matter what type of wool you have, there will be a class for it,” says Mary Wallace of Cambridge, who serves as the Fleece Show and Sale chairman. 

   Classes range from commercial (not-covered) white fleeces and double-coated wools (like Icelandics) to longwools and very fine fleeces, natural colored and white wools.   

   A new option in 2008 is a silent auction for fleeces entered in the show.  The silent auction will be held immediately after the wool show on Saturday and last one hour.  Many potential buyers have expressed interest in a wool sale on Saturday, and organizers hope the silent auction will fill that need.  It will provide another venue through which producers can sell their fleeces.  There will continue to be a wool sale on Sunday as in past years. 

   For more information, contact Mary Wallace at 608/884-4301 or whitedove@jvlnet.com.

   In 2008, the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative expects to award up to four $500 post-secondary educational scholarships.  June 15 is the application deadline.

   To apply, the student or a parent must be a WSBC member, and applicants must be carrying or have carried sheep as an FFA or 4-H project.  The student must be a high-school senior graduating in 2008 or a college student who is 21 years old or younger.

   Scholarships will be awarded on the above criteria, plus on career goals, high-school activities in agriculture, community service and participation in breed or other sheep-organization activities.  One letter of recommendation and a school photo are required with the scholarship application.

   Scholarship application forms are available on the WSBC website—www.wisbc.com—or from Scholarship Chairman Eric Meudt, N6041 State Road 89, Delavan, WI  53115; 608/883-9936 or ericandjenny@meudtshowlambs.com.

   The Indianhead Sheep Breeders Association will hold its annual Spring Sale on April 6 at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls’ Mann Valley Farm.  Conducted by Auctioneer Jon Mork, the sale will feature 60 head of high-quality club lambs and purebred breeding stock from some of the top breeders in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

   Viewing and weighing of sheep will begin at 11 a.m.  A youth clinic will be held at noon, and the sale will begin at 1 p.m.  The sale will feature a silent auction of donated items, and a food stand will be available.  ISBA youth members will receive a complimentary feed pail or halter with a lamb purchase.

   The UW-River Falls Mann Valley Farm is located west of River Falls, 2.5 miles west of Main Street on County Highway MM and north on South Glover Road.

   For more information, contact www.indianheadsheep.com or Linda Mullendore at 715/268-9190 or mully@amertytel.net.

   After a decade of growth of the breed in Wisconsin, Southdown breeders and enthusiasts are invited to a meeting on March 30 at 1 p.m. at the University of Wisconsin – Arlington Agricultural Research Station’s Headquarters Building, Arlington, to discuss formation of a Wisconsin Southdown Association. The agenda will include determining purpose, organizational structure and goals of the new organization.

   In the last few years, Wisconsin has consistently ranked in the top five states for the most Southdown sheep registrations and transfers.  Southdowns have become the most-shown breed in most Wisconsin youth and open shows during the last five years, organizers report.  In 2007, more National Champion Southdown Sale and Show ewes were bred in Wisconsin than in any other state.

    “As I have been talking to breeders and youth in the state during the last year, there is much interest and excitement to form this Association and continue the momentum we have going for the breed in Wisconsin,” says Barbara Bishop, Region 2 at-large director for the American Southdown Breeders Association.

   For more information, visit www.wisconsinsouthdowns.com or contact John Jones, American Junior Southdown Association Region 2 ambassador, at (608) 253-5110.

   The Scottish Blackface Breeders Union is a new organization that has been established by a group of progressive breeders.  The purpose of the group is to promote the breeding of Scottish Blackface sheep, which is a breed that has been developed over centuries to utilize rough and coarse grazing ground and to produce grass-fed market lambs of the highest gourmet quality. The organization emphasizes the breed’s role in the production of commercial breeding ewes.

   Scottish Blackface ewes are ideally suited to grass-based production systems, especially in these times of high grain costs. They are extremely hardy and thrifty and thrive in northern climes where other breeds struggle to even survive, organizers report. 

   The Scottish Blackface Breeders Union will work closely with other compatible breed organizations that have a specific interest in grass-fed market-lamb and sheep production.  The members of this new Union strongly believe that the promotion of the pairing of a Scottish Blackface ewe with a Bluefaced Leicester or Border Leicester ram to produce the Scotch Mule commercial ewe will add an invaluable dimension to the U.S. sheep industry that has been overlooked in the past.  The Mule ewe can be a great asset to the sheep industry here in the U.S.  Over half of the commercial ewes in the UK are Mules.

   The Scottish Blackface Breeders Union website—www.sbbu.org—has a comprehensive description of all aspects of the breed, and it lists members who can answer questions.

   For more information, contact Graham Phillipson of Richland Center at 608/647-7118 or littledalefarm@apmt.com.  

© WISBC