Nebraska 4-H "Aspects of Ag" - Sheep

Mike Kamm Author

08/31/2021 Added

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Nebraska 4-H "Aspects of Ag" - Sheep Calvin Devries, Nebraska Extension Educator

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[00:00:13.650]Hello. My
[00:00:14.210]name is Calvin Devries and I specialize in the 4H youth development
[00:00:17.240]program for Lancaster County.
[00:00:19.400]And today I'm going to visit with you a little bit about sheep. And sheep are a
[00:00:23.540]livestock species that is a ruminant animal.
[00:00:26.330]So an animal that is similar to both beef and goats,
[00:00:29.150]having a four compartment stomach,
[00:00:30.920]including the rumen, reticulum omasum and abomasum.
[00:00:35.870]And that rumen is going to act as the storage and holding compartment for the
[00:00:40.310]fermentation process while digestion is occurring.
[00:00:44.420]But they also have a reticulum
[00:00:46.250]which is a honeycomb structure to aid in that digestion process,
[00:00:49.880]which would be the second compartment. That third compartment is the omasum.
[00:00:54.350]So when our livestock animals are drinking water, the omas
[00:00:57.560]acts as the stomach that absorbs water for that
[00:01:01.820]hydration and the abomasum finally is going to be that true stomach where final
[00:01:06.410]digestion occurs.
[00:01:08.510]So these four stomachs are specialized to digest certain nutrients,
[00:01:12.410]such as roughages, for an example, and these could include,
[00:01:17.390]grass hays, alfalfa,
[00:01:20.210]some lower quality forges such as even corn stalks.
[00:01:24.200]But to supplement that diet, to grow gain carbohydrates and
[00:01:27.950]some protein and other nutrients, certain feeds may be able to be created,
[00:01:32.810]such in pellet form,
[00:01:35.030]which would include ground soybeans for that
[00:01:38.420]high protein diet that we would like to see for our growing animals.
[00:01:42.350]And we would get our
[00:01:45.050]energy from corn that is in the diet shown here.
[00:01:49.610]And in this species, there are three types.
[00:01:53.330]So there are wool breeds,
[00:01:55.280]which are specialized to produce wool and fibers to create clothing or
[00:01:59.960]blankets that we may, use in our everyday lives.
[00:02:03.170]There are also meat breeds and meat breeds are species of sheep that are
[00:02:08.120]produced for producing meat products for us to eat. And as consumers,
[00:02:12.850]similar to beef and pork and chicken.
[00:02:16.310]And there are also dual purpose breeds,
[00:02:18.770]which are able to produce both meat and wool in
[00:02:23.660]this species. Did you know
[00:02:25.310]sheep are raised all over the state of Nebraska. While we might be known for other
[00:02:29.960]crops and agricultural industries,
[00:02:31.820]such as the Cornhusker state or the beef state, we are also producing sheep.
[00:02:36.920]And on average, we produce around 83,000 sheep
[00:02:41.300]per year on an annual basis.
[00:02:43.580]But our top state out of all 50 states and sheep production is the
[00:02:48.530]state of Texas. And in 2018, on average,
[00:02:52.850]there was about 740,000 sheep produced within...
[00:02:57.590]Meat,
[00:02:58.340]wool and dual purpose breeds within that state and 25%
[00:03:03.340]of that whole population of sheep.
[00:03:05.710]And in the whole country comes from the states of Texas and California,
[00:03:10.150]25% of all sheep produce come from those two states.
[00:03:14.800]As compared to other livestock species,
[00:03:17.380]there is about 1 billion produced all over the world and compared
[00:03:22.330]to pigs, there are about 2 billion.
[00:03:24.190]Pigs and cattle are around 1.4 billion with chickens
[00:03:29.170]averaging about 19 billion.
[00:03:31.150]So sheep are right around that 1 billion number.
[00:03:35.530]And in China, Turkey and Greece,
[00:03:38.620]those are our three top countries in the agriculture industry where
[00:03:43.540]we produce milk, similar to what dairy cattle would produce
[00:03:48.460]for milk for us as consumers.
[00:03:51.190]Lambs have a finishing weight of about 130 pounds once they reach market at about
[00:03:56.110]five to six months of age and lamb harvested during that time is referred to as
[00:04:01.000]lamb. Sheep that are harvested over a year of age,
[00:04:05.230]their meat is referred to as mutton,
[00:04:07.870]and it has a little bit different flavor.
[00:04:12.460]And meat from lamb is very tender and juicy and
[00:04:17.170]very flavorful with a very low calorie count,
[00:04:20.440]which is also going to be high in protein, iron, and zinc.
[00:04:24.670]Compared to other
[00:04:27.070]meats that are consumed in the United States, on average per person
[00:04:32.230]that is going to be much lower as compared to other products such as beef and
[00:04:37.000]pork and chicken. On average,
[00:04:38.860]there is about one pound consumed for every person or less per
[00:04:43.840]year than other countries, across the world.
[00:04:48.070]It might not be uncommon for about four pounds of lamb to be consumed.
[00:04:52.810]And within that species,
[00:04:55.660]other byproducts that we would get from this species would come from our wool
[00:04:59.500]breeds,
[00:05:00.070]which produce fibers that can be spun to create items such as a wool
[00:05:04.750]sweater or use during weaving projects to create examples like blankets.
[00:05:09.580]But in this process wool needs to be clean and cleansed
[00:05:14.110]before it will be part of these wholesome products that we enjoy.
[00:05:17.920]So there is a very extensive,
[00:05:21.040]carding process that is used to remove all of the foreign materials that
[00:05:25.900]might exist within that wall or any imperfections.
[00:05:30.250]So if we really break it down and what actually comes from a lamb,
[00:05:34.150]lambs have a dressing percent of around 49 to 52%.
[00:05:38.960]That means around that 49 to 52% comes from
[00:05:43.330]muscles that are left after the animal has been harvested.
[00:05:47.290]So that's going to result in all sorts of wholesale cuts that
[00:05:52.000]are used. For examples like the loin, the shoulder and the leg,
[00:05:56.320]and within those are further divided into retail cuts,
[00:06:00.710]which we might commonly see at the grocery store or a meat counter,
[00:06:04.760]such as a loin shop or a loin roast,
[00:06:08.360]or maybe some lamb chops for an example.
[00:06:12.110]But, so let's think about what,
[00:06:13.550]where does that other remaining 50% come from that is going to be
[00:06:18.530]maybe some by what we refer to as byproducts.
[00:06:22.190]So those are going to be our non-consumable products that we can still use to
[00:06:26.780]create goods. And those materials would come from the intestines,
[00:06:31.400]maybe the horns, hooves and bones to create
[00:06:35.270]materials such as meat casings, instrument strings,
[00:06:39.650]some shampoo conditioners, marshmallows,
[00:06:43.160]maybe even jewelry from those horns, hooves and bones.
[00:06:47.180]And within the wool breeds,
[00:06:49.280]some lanolin is extracted from the wool to create
[00:06:53.540]lotions with the final wool product
[00:06:56.720]creating those wholesome goods, such as a blanket,
[00:07:00.230]maybe a sweater that we know and enjoy.
[00:07:03.950]Thank you everyone for joining today and learning a little bit more about this
[00:07:07.730]ag industry of sheep. Remember there are both meat breeds,
[00:07:13.310]wool breeds, and dual-purpose breeds.

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Nebraska 4-H "Aspects of Ag" - Sheep

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