Just Hanging Out!

Wild Rose Farm Ewes Resting 

The weather has been going from hot & sunny to hot & T-storms over the last week or so.  We've managed to get the grazed sections of pasture mowed, but it has been too wet to plow the garden area. Hmmm … not sure when we'll get any veggies, herbs, & flowers planted! The ewes and lambs have started to get out for grazing so we'll have some pictures of them soon.
We paid a visit to the Great Lakes Fiber Show over Memorial Day weekend to drop off and pick up our processed wool items. I'm starting to clean and put together the old Sears & Roebuck 6 harness Hearthside Loom out in the studio … it looks like I'll have to order a couple of reeds and then figure out what the first project will be. This will be fun (I keep telling myself)!

Wild Rose Farm Fleeces For Sale @ Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest!

Our skirted fleeces sold well at the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest. They are sold with a washed sample lock and the ewe's micron test ... there was a lot of interest in the Rambouillet micron tests this year. The hand spinners were comparing the tests and the "% of Fibers > 30 Microns". Fibers greater than 30 microns are the indicator of the comfort of the wool, since 30 microns is where the famous "itch factor" creeps in & becomes important!  I am planning to go to the Lawrence County Wool Pool next week to drop off fleeces that we don't need for processing this year. This pool pays the day of the pool and they will be grading each fleece out of the bag.

Fleeces for the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest!

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #561 - Skirted Fleece

Here's one of the Rambouillet fleeces that we will be bringing to the 2019 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest this weekend.  All of the fleeces will have the ewe's micron test report with them in case you're as geeky about that as we are!

#561 Rambouillet Ewe Washed Fleece Sample

I grabbed the little sample in the top picture and swished it quickly with warm water & plain old Soft Soap over the kitchen sink … you can see the crimp in the sample. Rambouillet fleeces clean up well if pulled out in lock formation and washed by hand.

Wild Rose Farm Ram Heads Down the Road!

Speaking of crimp & micron tests, we sold our Rambouillet ram about a month ago to some folks who were specifically looking to get some finer "half-blood" wool from their commercial flock. He sired all of our Rambouillet lambs last year and this year and has a 21.5 micron fleece. It was good to have a ram go to another flock where he can help improve a future wool clip!

Wild Rose Farm Dorset Ewe #117 & Twin Ram Lambs

And who doesn't want to see another picture of lambs? Attentive Dorset ewe #117 has a nice set of twin ram lambs this year. They were sired by our performance tested Dorset ram. We'd like to se them go to a small commercial flock for breeding … they're filling out nicely now. 

Field Trip For Wool Growers!

Wool Intake Warehouse At Mid-States Wool Cooperative

Last week, I went with a group of sheep & wool producers on a field trip to Mid-State Wool Growers Cooperative in Canal Winchester, Ohio. The trip was set up by the Washington County Sheep & Wool Growers to help foster our relationship with the wool pool buyer. We got a great tour of the facilities from intake, through grading, and on to the shipping floor filled with packaged wool.

Stanley Grading Fleeces - Mid-State Wool Growers

The wool sacks are emptied by producer lot number and are fed up a conveyor where each fleece is individually graded and weighed. Each fleece travels in an individual basket and is conveyed to the appropriate graded bin … all tracking is computerized and the total is summarized for each producer.

Wet Wool Backlog - That's a Problem, Folks!!!

Conditions this year have led to an unusually large amount of wool that is wet and that's a big no-no! Anyone who has sheep sheared knows that they aren't to be sheared when they're wet. All steps must be taken to preserve the sheared fleeces in a dry state. These bags will be laid out over the weekend with fans blowing on them to dry them out, but the wool will likely be down graded due to the poor handling.

Discussion At Mid-States Graded Wool Bins

We had two young students on the tour and they asked some really good questions - both are sheep owners! The final stop was the shipping floor where the wool is weighed & the core testing is done. The wool core samples are sent to Yocum-McColl Testing Lab in Denver where they are evaluated for yield and micron test results. Each bale can then be shipped to the buyer, usually in semi-loads or half semi-loads.

Fine Wool Packed & Waiting For Core Test Results

Bottom line after our tour? Any wools that are 27-28 microns and higher are discounted in the current domestic wool market. Merino & Rambouillet wool @ 19-21 microns was valued at $1.20/lb. Columbia & Targhee type wool @ 22-23 microns was valued at $1.00/lb. Polypay & Corriedale type wool @ 24-25 microns was valued at $.80/lb. Then the price really dropped at 27-28 microns for $.30/lb. The Hampshire, Suffolk, & Dorset type wool @ 29-33 microns was paying at $.15/lb.
We're not even getting into the longer luster wool breeds favored by hand-spinners. Wool is a specialty item for a select group of shepherds. Targeting hand-spinners can get earn $5-$50/lb. for good clean & skirted fleeces.  The fine wools have a market as a commodity through the wool pool returning between $1-$2/lb. to the sheep producers.  That wool goes into the domestic, "next to the skin", Made In America socks & clothing that is so popular now.  The middle grades of wool are having a hard time finding a buyer … Oh yeah, natural color or black wool was 2 cents/lb. on the commodity market.
Interesting …  

Wool on the Hoof Available!

We have several sheep available at Wild Rose Farm. Check out our ad in the Farm & Dairy. After using our horned Colorado registered Rambouillet ram for 2 years, we are offering him for sale. He is a twin & will be 4 years old in February. He has a really nice fleece - his test from Yocum-McColl Wool Testing Labs was 21.5 microns. Here he is after being turned in with the ewes last fall --- he is a proven ram offered very reasonably @ a hundred and a half. We'd love to see him go to a good flock! We also have one of his horned ram lambs available for sale. Either one of these rams would be a great way to get fine wool into your flock. This picture on the left is the only picture that we have of him at the moment. He can be registered & is offered at the same price as our more senior ram.

Since buying a new Rambouillet ram this summer, we are focusing on building up our Rambouillet ewes and are also offering 4 Dorset two year old ewes for sale. These ewes all had lambs this spring and are ready to breed now .... offered at a hundred each .... excellent to start a small flock or add to your flock. Micron test results are available on these 4 ewes. Here is one of the ewes that is for sale: The First Lamb is Here. The others are like her and all were born as twins.
Finally, we have 4 Dorset x Rambouillet crossbred twin ewe lambs for sale. Our crossbred ewes have very nice fleeces - they are popular with handspinners. These ewe lambs were born in early May and were sired by our registered performance tested Dorset ram (who was sold in late winter to a small flock in Butler County).
We'd be happy to answer any questions about these sheep!

Tests Are In!

Just in from the testing lab - micron tests on Wild Rose Farm #328 & #329, our yearling registered Rambouillet ewe lambs pictured on the July 26th post! Ewe #328 has an 18.6 micron test and #329 has a 20.2 micron test. These are the first micron test (or average fiber diameter tests) results that we've gotten from lambs sired by our Andrew Schafer "Colorado" ram. We'll send more details regarding standard deviation, coefficient of variation & %>30 microns to Andrew via email. Can't wait to see their staple length at next shearing.
By the way, yearling ewe #328 is a full sister to the polled Rambouillet ram lamb pictured on our July 28th post with his 11 year old dam, Wild Rose Farm #802. He is for sale and will be weaned soon.