Because of the National Southdown Sale at the Midwest Stud Ram and the upcoming All-American Junior Show, are so close in time the editorial staff has extended the deadline for the Summer JOURNAL until July 10. This extension is for both content and ad material. Placing and information from the All-American and the National Sale can be used for ads.
Austin JimBob and Gabriel Lewis of Lime Springs exhibited the Supreme Champion Ram and Ewe over all breeds at the 2009 Iowa Jr. Extravanganza Show in Adel, Iowa on June 14th. Breeds exhibiting at the show included Southdowns, Hampshires, Suffolks and Dorsets.
At the Illinois Southdown Experience, Reed Baer Exhibited the Champion Ewe and Jarrad Kull showed the Champion Ram
Wisconsin Southdown juniors had a great start to the show season. Of the 133 junior breeding sheep representing 8 breeds at the Wisconsin Spring Preview held June 6, the 13 junior Southdown exhibitors had the largest show with 41 head. Supreme Champion Ewe honors went to John Jones, Rio, and the Reserve Supreme Ram was exhibited by Kelsi, Dathan, and Kailen Smerchek, Rosholt.
The 2009 Spring Southdown Journal was plced in the mail June9, 2009. You copy should be in the mailbox soon. For those of you that cannot wait, it is also on line. On our Home Page is is linked at the rght center of the page. For those with slower internet connection the Journal is broken into 4 parts and is under News / Journal. If you have a hard time downloading but you are eventually successful, save it to the hard drive of your computer. You can then view it at your leasure.
The 5th Annual Iowa Sheep & Wool Festival will be held June 13 and 14, Dallas County Fairgrounds, Adel, Iowa. For Web LINK or contact Randy Lewis, rlewis@fthr.com The event has a number of sheep activities in addition to a junior show.
The Illinois Southdown Experience will be at Eureka, Illinois the morning of June 13. For information, contact Mike Mc Elvain, mcelvain@gte.net. This is a show for the fun of showing sheep. For more information go to LINK
The Ohio Southdown Classic held it average with the past several years at $782 on 170 head. Its strength was shown in the sale of all 13 yearling rams and all ewes. With the exception of a few higher priced sheep, the strength of this sale was in the middle and lower part of each class. The full results can now be seen at
http://www.southdownsheep.org/pdf/09ohiosouthdownreport.pdf
Jeff Repasky and Northern Star Livestock had an outstanding sale. They won both ewe champions and the champion ram. The champion ewe of Northern Star, from the fall class, sold to Dereck Wilson of Pennsylvania for $7500. The reserve champion ewe, a Northern Star yearling, sold to McGuire Farms for $2700.
The champion ram, a Norther Star fall lamb, sold to Pleasant Springs Southdowns for $3250 and the reserve champion, a Splendorview yearling, sold to Scramlin Southdowns for $550. In the yearling ram class Howard sold for $2000 and Oldenberg for $1000. 13 yearling rams averaged $700. Fall rams sold even better with 12 head averaging $1068. Northern Star sold for $2200, Pleasant Springs for $1175, Colorado State for $2100 and MB Genetics for $1000. The junior champion January ram from Willwerth sold for $1000 and Norther Star for $1700. 15 January rams averaged $583. The February ram of Jim Davis was reserve junior champion and sold for $300. 6 February rams averaged $350.
43 yearling ewes averaged $902. High sellers were Norther Star $2400, Pleasant Springs $2400 & 1600, Hopkins $1050, Oldenberg $1600, Greets $1000, Hayward $2000 and Poverty Point $1200. Fall ewes averaged $1145 on 17 head. Greets sold for $1900, Poverty Point $1200 MB Genetics $1050 and Northern Star for $1300. The first palce January ewe of Fielder sold for $1800 with A&M Ranch at $1400, Oldenburg $1300, Howard $1000 and Northern Star at $1400. 36 January ewe lambs averaged $607. Both junior champions came from the February ewes. Champion on Oldenburg sold for $2000 and reserve from Pleasant Springs for $1900.Other highs were Forsee $1050, Sink $1200, Fielder $1700 and Oldenburg $1800. 28 February ewes averaged $717. Over 50 Futurity nominated ewe lambs sold and 20 were qualified.
American Southdown Breeders E-Letter
American Southdown Sheep Breeders 100 Cornerstone Road, Fredonia, TX 76842
Phone: (325)429-6226 Fax: (325)429-6225 Writer/Editor: Gary Jennings
E-mail: southdown@ctesc.net Web site: http://www.southdownsheep.org
Ohio Sale
The Ohio Sale is in progress as I write this letter. You will find a
complete sale report as quickly as the official report is released to the
Association. It will be posted on the website of the ASBA at
www.southdownsheep.org <http://www.southdownsheep.org/>
AJSA Ambassadors
The Junior Association is well represented by outstanding young people that
you will see helping at National events and representing our youth across
America. They are Heather Meyers from Rough and Ready, California; Daniel
Howard from Edmond, Oklahoma; John Jones of Rio, Wisconsin; Kelsey Bowman of
Blandinsville, Illinois; and Elizabeth Goblet from Berne, New York.
These Ambassadors have an ambitious schedule of events and activities that
they will be working on this year. Your support of their activities and
events will be greatly appreciated. You may be contacted at some point in
time for your support. Better yet, when you see one of the Ambassadors, stop
them, and they can explain their events, activities, and needs.
Ohio Southdown Association
Speaking of support, the Ohio Southdown Breeders' Association made a very
generous donation to help the Ambassadors this year. This state Association
has always put youth first and continues to do so. Many thanks for the
continued support of Ohio Southdown breeders.
Ric Wallace
Our good friend, Ric Wallace suffered a stroke on April 4th. He is in a
hospital in Cincinnati at the present time. My last report showed signs of
improvement, but the road to recovery will take time. His family has set up
a website for updates at www.caringbridge.org/visit/ricwallace
<http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ricwallace>. It would be great to drop
Ric a card at the following address: Ric Wallace, Drake Center, 151 W.
Galbraith Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45216-1015. Our thoughts and prayers are with
the Wallace family.
Texas Southdown Sale
One of the regional sales each year is the Texas Southdown Breeders'
Association sale that is held in Abilene, Texas. The sale will be on
Saturday, May 16th at the Taylor County Expo Center. The show for sale
order will be at 9:30 a.m., and the sale to follow at 1:00 p.m. This sale
has a strong state futurity program, which brings out some of the best ewe
lambs in Texas each year.
Don't forget the business meeting of the Texas State Association that will
be highlighted by plans for the upcoming 2010 National Junior Show to be
held in Lubbock, Texas.
We hope to see all of our Texas Southdown friends at the sale and meeting.
Kassidy Wilkirson of Menard, Texas exhibited the Grand Champion carcass lamb at the 2009 Houston. The carcass competion is comprised of the 1st and 2nd place lamb form each class. That includes blackface, fine wood, fine wool cross aqd Southdown. Her lamb was the first place heavy weight wieghing 128 pounds. Three of the top 10 lambs were Southdowns. It is good to see that the Southdown carcass has again come to the top. In the past, this was a commen event. Is it the begining of a new trend?
Response to the first Southdown E-letter sent several weeks ago has been
overwhelming, with numerous addresses coming in daily. The individuals
receiving this E-letter have more than tripled from the first letter!
If this is your first letter, welcome, and we hope you enjoy your experience
with Southdowns!
Ohio Sale Update
Eaton, Ohio, will be the site of the first major Southdown sale of the year
on May 8th & 9th.The sale catalog for the Ohio Southdown Classic is now online. Check out
the consignments at <http://www.southdownsheep.org/pdf/09SouthdownClassic.pdf>.
As you browse through the entries and study pedigrees, we hope you plan to
attend the sale and invest in the fresh genetics that will be offered.
Quality sheep have always been a good investment.
National Sale
Not to take away from the fast approaching sale in Ohio, but don't forget
the National Sale this year will be in conjunction with the Midwest Stud Ram
Sale in Sedalia, Missouri. The dates to remember are the show for sale
order on Tuesday, June 23rd as well as the National Sale, which should begin
at approximately 10:30 on Thursday, June 25th. Don Hopkins of No. Scituate,
Rhode Island will have the honor of sorting the sheep for sale order.
If you don't have a motel room and are planning a trip to the National Sale,
it would be good to reserve a motel room as soon as possible. Motel rooms
can be a premium in the town of Sedalia! I would recommend that you either
contact the Sedalia Chamber of Commerce at 660-826-2222 or go to
<http://www.CityofSedalia.com>. The Chamber of Commerce can assist you in
finding a room reservation. The website also has a listing of most motels
and phone numbers.
Since this is the National Sale, and consignors and buyers are expected from
coast to coast, the Southdown Association will be hosting an informal
gathering. The exact time and date will be announced soon.
What was in your Easter basket?
I just received word today about a new addition to the Bowman family in
Illinois. Jami Bowman, who we all know as Jami Meisenheimer, granddaughter
of Gale and Joy Cole, had a wonderful addition to her family on Easter
Sunday. Born to Jami and Patrick Bowman was a son, Ty Patrick Bowman, 7
lbs. 8 oz., 20 ½" long. I'm sure that Brad and Betsy, Gale and Joy and all
the Cole family had a memorable Easter. Everyone is doing well, and they
finished lambing the same day!
The first e-letter of the Southdown Association was published and sent on April 6, 2009. If you did not receive this, send your email address to southdown@ctesc.net and you will receive future emailings. This is the first edition:
The 2009 All-American Junior Sheep Show is going to be held at Darke County Fairgrounds in Greenville, Ohio from July 3-5, 2009. The All-American is the premier junior breeding sheep show in the country. The breeds participating this year are: Polled Dorsets, Horned Dorsets, Hampshires, Southdowns, Cheviots, Shropshires, Oxfords, Montadales, Shetlands, Columbias, Natural Coloreds. Also, the All-American welcomes a new breed Dorpers to the show and the 2009 National Junior Tunis Show will be featured. Several meat breeds will feature slick shorn classes this year at the All-American. Judges for this year’s event will be Evan Snyder, Yukon, OK and Eric Bruns, Powell, OH.
For further information, see the full Press Release
Even though we are in the midst of lambing and winter, it's never too early to plan on being a part of a fund raiser for the 2009 All-American show. This year the very popular show will be held in Ohio, so what is more appropriate than express our support during the Ohio Sale weekend.
A spaghetti supper will be held Friday evening, May 8th from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the Poultry Building, which is located right behind the large arena. Cost will be $10 for adults and $6.00 for youth 12 and under.
This again will be part of the big Ohio Sales held annual on the second weekend of May, in Eaton, Ohio at the Preble County Fairgrounds.
Hope to see you there!
The Journal will be in the mail by December 24. Only paid members will receive a copy. This edition will be sent by magazine rate instead of 3rd class and should result in prompt delivery. If you have paid your dues (either junior or regular) and have a problem receiving yourJournal or if you need to change your mailing address, please to contact Gary Jennings at southdown@ctesc.net. Anyone may view the Journal on line.The next deadline for ad and content submission will be May 13, just in time to promote you success in Ohio!
A new web page has been added titled "Association Information". It will provide the membership access to information about the Association on a business sense. The minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting, the Annual Meeting and the Organizational Meeting are now listed. The policy and procedures manual will be posted shortly.
The ewe lamb division of the 2008 Futurity ended in a tie. Nick Fowler of Ohio and Jenna Langer Wisconsin both had a final total of 76 points. They will share the honor but, the right to have the trophy for a year goes to Nick because he had the highest point total at Louisvile. Fowler's lamb came from B & B howard of OklahomIa and Langer's lamb was from MB Genetics of Wisconsin.
Nick Fowler was able to win the yearling ewe Futurity outright by a whole point over Emily Johnson of Illinois. This is the second time both the lamb and yearling have been won by the same individual. Fowlers point total on his Splendorview yearling was 88 with Johnson at 87 on her Oldenberg yearling.
Acomplete listing of the results can be found here.
Heather Meyers is a second year student at California State Uuniversity Chico majoring in Communications and Graphic design and with a minor in Agriculture Business. Heather has served as the Western Region Ambassador for the past two years. She continues to breed and show her Southdown's on the west coast, and will be working to get more county fairs to have Southdown Market lamb divisions through out California, a long with her Ambassador duties.
Heather would like to thank the Scholarship committee for her scholarship award.
A limited number of the very popular Southdown sculptures are now for sale in the Association office, just in time for Christmas.
The sculptures are done by artist Carol Herden of Iowa, and have been very well received by all those that have seen them.
The Southdown ewe is $95.00, the Southdown ram is $100, and the Southdown family of a ewe and two baby lambs is $150.00. There is also a charge of $12.00 per sculpture for shipping.
If you have further questions, please contact the Association office.
Unfortunately, Jessica could not be there in person to accept her scholarship in Louisville but her mother, Deb Hopkins, was more than happy to accept it on her behalf. Jess is in her Senior year of college at The University of Connecticut with a pathobiology major. She has taken on a lot of extra curricular responsibilities with the UConn Block & Bridle Club. She was chairman of their recent sheep show in the Little International and is the event organizer for the upcoming NESA conference that is going to be held at UConn in February for the Northeast Colleges.
Jess has retired from showing in Junior Shows but certainly has enjoyed her experiences both locally and nationally participating in shows these past few years. The Southdown sheep family has become hers also and she has enjoyed meeting all the people. She served as the Southdown National Ambassador, and really enjoyed the experience and leadership skills she obtained. She plans on continuing supporting her family in the Southdown operation. Jess helps out when she is home and I know would like to get to more events to assist with the sheep.
Jess, has made her family very proud and some of the credit does go to all of the Southdown activities she has been involved in over the years, both in and outside of the showring. Thank-you to the ASBA for this scholarship and supporting the young people in the Southdown breed who are trying to continue their education and find their place in this every changing world we live in.
This is the first of 3 features on the Southdown Scholarship winners.
David Baer, 18, of Carlock, Illinois was named one of three recipients of the American Southdown Breeders’ Association Scholarship Award. David, son of Brad and Rhonda Baer is a freshman at Illinois State University studying Agriculture. He is interested in Agronomy and Agriculture Business. David is a 2008 graduate of Normal Community West High School, Normal, Illinois where he was active in FFA. He held several chapter office positions and was active on livestock, meats and soils judging teams. He was the winner of the C.J. Custer Award two out of four years. The C.J. Custer Award is a scholarship award given to the best livestock and/or dairy judge of the chapter. David is a 10 year member of 4-H where he has held offices of President, Vice President and Treasurer. He attends the North Danvers Mennonite Church and is a member of the Angels Without Wings Youth Group (AWW). David has participated in four mission trips with the AWW – Central Mexico, New Orleans, the Appalachians in Kentucky, and Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota. He works for the local BP gas and service station and is a volunteer firefighter for the Carlock Fire & Protection District.
David has been involved in the family MillerDowns flock since he was a toddler. He started his own flock as a 4-Her with two ewes and has grown it to 30 ewes. They are maintained with the MillerDowns flock. He is involved in every aspect of the operation from breeding, lambing, selection, feeding, to health management and facilities management. David is in charge of the haymaking operation for the flock and has developed a custom haymaking business from his experience.
David plans on using his scholarship to help pay for tuition and books this next semester at ISU. He would like to thank the ASBA and especially the Youth Development and Education committee for selecting him as a recipient and for their support of his college education.
Darrell Howard was unanimously selected as President of the American Southdown's Association. LC Scramlin was selected as Vice President. Our Association has become a substantial business venture with income and expenses exceeding $100,000. The continuity of the association financial leadership involves the Vice President preparing the budget. This has proven successful as our Association, in these difficult times, has a cash balance in excess of $100,000.
A new webpage has been added titled "Association Information". It will provide the membership access to information about the Association on a business sense. Currently, the Constitution, the 2008 registrations and the annual report of the Secretary are linked on that page. In the future, the Association policy and procedure manual will be added along with minutes of the association board of director meetings.
Several honors and recognitions always are presented during the annual meeting at Louisville. Submitting them in a bulk summary does not do the recipient justice. Southdown News will report in future postings on the three scholarship recipients, the Southdown spirit award and the Futurity results. Speaking of the Futurity, it is not possible for it to have been any closer. This year's results even included a "scorecard playoff". (The golfers of our group can explain what that means.)
As you have your morning coffee, check the Southdown News for additional Louisville updates.
The champion Southdown Ram at the 2008 North American International Livestock Exposition was selected on November 21 as the Supreme Champion Ram winning the honor over 20 other breed grand champions. In addition to winning the open show championship, "New Generation" also was the Junior Show champion. The ram was bred and raised by Norther Star Livestock of Prior Lake, Minnesota and exhibited by Krystal Repasky.
Supreme ewe was a Montadale.
Tyson Rule, of Alliance Lamb, reported some very good news. Most of you know, from the article in the fall JOURNAL, that Terry Wyatt delivered 13 mature Southdown rams to Iowa. Alliance Lamb is in Harlan, Iowa. That is North of I-80 and is closer to Omaha than Des Moines.
The 13 Southdown Rams were put on 700 ewes in July and August. 500 hundred settled in the 45 day time frame. By comparison, the other rams, mostly Hampshire, settled 200 of 1300.
Additionally, the Southdown rams have maintained their excellent condition and, in some, cases, even gained a little. Alliance is now considering breeding purebred, terminal Southdowns, and/or using Southdown bucks exclusively on black face ewes. They are very impressed with the Southdowns.
On another very positive note, Alliance, via Tyson Rule, invited several prominent "western" commercial sheep producers to the facility. They all came away with a whole new idea about Southdown bucks. They were very impressed with their size and vigor. Currently, Terry Wyatt is working on a visit with these "western" commercial sheep producers.
Terry plans a comprehensive presentation at the Annual meeting in Louisville.
President, Lee Pettey, has mailed a letter to the membership about the newly discovered blood line of Southdowns that have been exposed to the Spider gene. They orginate from sheep sold at auction sales that warranted the animals free of the Spider gene. The link to the letter is listed on the Home Page. For those that missed that link, you can see the letter HERE
At the very competitive Big E Livestock show in West Springfield, Massachusetts, a Southdown fall ram lamb was selected as the Supreme Champion ram of the breeding sheep show. The Big E is one of the premeier fall shows in America and historically attracts top entries from across the country.
Our congratulations to Northern Starr Livestock for their supreme champion which they bred, owned and showed.
Checking to results from Keystone shows that Southdowns had supreme champion ram. Results can be seen here.
This is a heart warming story out of the August 6, 2008 edition of Farm World. Newsprint does not scan well, but half the story is the photos. The on line article can be viewed at: http://www.farmworldonline.com/News/NewsArticle.asp?newsid=6498
The photos can be seen by going here. Sorry about the size of the file but the black dots from the newsprint make it unavoidable
The Northeast Southdown Breeders Association started the Southdown sale with a donated ewe from RyKY Ranch selling for $400 to Kevin and Casey Rhodes. The Yearling ram from A.L Hayward Southdowns was Supreme Ram and sold for $1800.00 to Northern Starr Livestock services and the Brinkmans. The early spring ram of Hopkin's Sotuhdowns sold for $675. The Supreme Ewe was a Hopkin's fall ewe lamb selling for $1200.00. A Legacy Farm yearling ewe brought $725.00 and two late spring ewes; one from Splendorview Farm and one from A.L. Hayward Southdowns, each brought $700.00. The Southdown sale saw an average of $541.25 with a gross total of $10,825.00 for 20 entries, making it the higest sale average and breed total.
The American Southdown Breeders' Association is offering three scholarships to junior members who are pursuing an education after high school. The ASBA board of directors approved increasing the scholarship amounts from $500 to $600 during their July meeting at the 2008 National Southdown Show and Sale in Richmond, Indiana.
Applicants must be age 21 or under as of January 1, 2008, be enrolled and in good standing at a college, university or technical/trade school, and intend to enroll in classes at that school the next semester. The scholarship application is available HERE and in the Junior forms on this web site.
The 2008 Southdown National Sale was active with bidders despite the inability of the internet to work. Prior to the sale it became apparent that bidders would need to use cell phone numbers to contact the sale and bid. Many did bid and buy during the sale.
The Junior Champion ram of Colorado State University topped the sale bringing $3100. The Champion ram of B & B Howard sold for $2750. The reserve ram of MB Genetics sold for $1600 and, althought current possession was sold, a 1/2 interest was retained by the breeder.
The Champion ewe was the late ewe lamb of B & B Howard selling for $1600. The reserve ewe was from MB Genetics, a yearling, going for $1200. Other high selling ewes, were the early ewe lamb of B & B Howard for $1100, the fall ewe lamb of Northern Star for $1100, the late ewe lamb of Oldenberg for $1000 and the B & B Howard yearling for $1250. Full results can be seen HERE
The event is being presented by the Indiana area breeders with the Sink Family in charge. Thursday evening was highlighted by adult and youth bowling and Friday, following the sale, a lamb meal was enjoyed by everyone. Saturday many of the purchases from the sale will join over 300 sheep entered in the National Junior Show.
Excitment is building for the National Sale and Junior Show this week in Richmond, Indiana. The show for the sale order wil be at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday and the sale will be Noon on Friday. Buyers that cannot attend can bid and keep track of the sale on the internet. The link is listed on the bottom of the from page. Those that watched the Midwest Sale on the internet know that it is a convient and easy way to bid on sheep.
Major junior events are planned. The Ambassador applications deadline have been extended to the 9th of July and can be brought to the Junior event and submitted. Bowling on Thursday night is being sponsored by the Sink Family. The National Junior Show will be Saturday and there are over 300 entries. Ther is plenty to do for junior members that did not enter sheep in the show. In fact, shep purchased in the National Sale can be shown the following day in the National Junior Show. The facilities are excellent, the fun is contagious and a family event that will be remembered for many years awaits all Southdown enthusius.
We are having a small problem with the main web site. The final Ohio Sale results can be viewed here.
