Dakota Lamb Growers Cooperative

FOR SALE: Guard dog puppies. They are about 5 weeks old.  If anyone is interested contact Dallis 605-515-0266 or Tammy 605-515-0267. (posted 3/27/23)

FOR SALE: Great Pyrenees. Contact Alex at 605-520-3776. (posted 3/20/23)

FOR SALE: ShearWell Stock Recorder, used 2 seasons. Asking $2,100. Contact Lisa at 605-885-7275. (posted 2/27/23)

FOR SALE: Ewe Lambs. Ultrasound to start lambing the 1st of February. Shorn, poured with Ultra Boss, and breeding shots. Big XBred Ewes Dorset/Suffolk/IleDeFrance. Bred to Suffolk/Dorset rams. Call or text 605-885-7275. (posted 1/10/23)

FOR SALE:  Anatolia Shepherd, Akbash, Great Pyrenees cross puppies for sale.  Raised with sheep and cat friendly. Call or text Daniel Trygstad at 605-530-4444 (posted 9/9/22)

FOR SALE:  Suffolk Ram Lambs, and 1/2 Finn / 1/2 Dorset ram lambs for sale. All born February through May 22. May have a select few yearlings for sale also. Jeff Young, Norcross MN. Cell # 320-808-4079.

FOR SALE:  Border Collie Puppies ready to go mid-June.  Issac Radermacher, Belgrade, MN, 320-290-6956.

FOR SALE:  Anatolia Shepherd, Akbash, Great Pyrenees cross puppies for sale.  Raised with sheep and cat friendly. Asking $250 but willing to negotiate.  Call or text Daniel Trygstad at 605-530-4444

FOR SALE:  Ile de France Rams and Ewe Lambs. Visit our website hasbargenlandcattle.com to view current sale offerings.

FOR SALE:  Livestock Guard Dog Pups. They will make your life easier and your predator’s lives miserable. From generations of on-the-ball LGDs who earn their keep. Contact Cindy Wolf at 507-450-5453. 

FOR SALE:  Ram Extra – Siremax Composite Terminal Sires. Best of the best. That’s why we retained these to use on this end as single sires and backups. Contact oneillfamilyfarm54@gmail.com or 507-458-6244. 

Greetings Fellow Shepherds,

What a beautiful fall it has been.  Harvest seems to be wrapped up in most areas.  A bigger concern for most of us is the lack of moisture.  A slow measurable rain before freeze up would by beneficial to all.

For most producers, our 2022 lamb crop is gone, or almost gone, and a new crop of lambs will be dropping soon.  What a complete difference in market prices from a year ago, and we aren’t talking about favorable prices either.  For those producers who don’t have a contract with Superior Farms and rely totally on the cash market it hasn’t been so good for them.  Cull ewe market had remained somewhat favorable all year long and there’s still demand for good quality breeding stock. Center of the Nation sale prices were holding steady as well as other seedstock producer sales.

There still seems to be growing demand by young producers looking for a way to come back to the farm.  They are looking for something that they can work into without a huge capital outlay. These new shepherds will need some guidance and would love our seasoned shepherds to share some of their wisdom.

August and September reports have shown that approximately 70% of the lamb consumed during those months was imported lamb.  The industry has struggled with heavy old crop lambs since spring and everyone is patiently waiting for the rest of them to be moved through the kill floor.

Our industry, like other industries, has endured record high input costs.  It appears there doesn’t seem to be cheaper feed or interest rates anytime soon.  These high input costs, along with weather related events, have reduced and impacted feed supplies for producers which made it even more difficult to be profitable in 2022.  As we enter into a new season with many holidays that desire lamb, hopefully we can see some kind of significant increase of prices for our market lambs, whether it’s for cash market, on a contract, or non-traditional ethnic markets.

May you find all the tagged ears in your flock alive and well.

Greetings Fellow Shepherds,

Well the calendar says its spring yet mother nature has provided winter conditions for many of our producers. From very dry conditions in some areas, to very wet in other areas. We need to continue to pray especially for those areas and producers who have endured severe droughts which continue to contributed to lack of feed and water.

Prices for market lambs and slaughter ewes have seemed to hold stable recently. Cash lambs have been $1.90 – $2.10, with excessively heavy lambs being sharply discounted. Cull ewes were around $1.50 – $1.90 six weeks ago, but have dropped to $0.85 – $1.25 currently. With Easter holiday celebrations done it will be interesting to see what lies ahead for us with the lamb market going into the summer months. I would expect to see lighter carcass weights being delivered again this year as we see record high feed prices and input costs. “Will the consumers be able to, or willing to, pay these high prices for a great protein source like our lambs” is a question that keeps coming up. I hope consumers continue to eat our lamb and that they share with others how tasteful it is and rather unique.

As many producers finish up spring lambing, they now turn to the next work season of planting and seeding. Hopefully all our producers can receive necessary moisture they need for their crops and grass to grow and flourish this season. With the later planting and growing season we are experiencing this year many are going to feel rushed and stressed. Please take the extra time to stop at all stop signs. Keep your eyes peeled for our youth that may be learning to drive a car or to operate farm equipment for the first time.

Hopefully in the days to come we may each watch our young lambs frolic and grow. Let’s all take time to enjoy the beautiful sunny days and especially the wonderful sunsets. May God bless and comfort each and every DLGC member this growing season.

May you find all the tagged ears in your flock alive and well.

Greetings Fellow Shepherds,

It’s amazing how some things can change dramatically and some changes move much slower.  Parts of our region have gone from very dry to actually being almost too wet this fall.  The moisture has been quite a surprise in many areas and some subsoil moisture has been restored.  With snow on the way for some of us in the next few days, hopefully you have finished up the outside work for now.

The lamb market has slowly changed.  We still have very strong prices on slaughter ewes, which is great for those moving ewes that don’t produce well enough to offset these high feed prices.  Fat lambs have remained strong for the 4^th quarter.  Superior Farms had once said perhaps we could maybe see $2.00 fat lambs as a new normal. Anyone’s guess is as good as the next, and hopefully it’s true as we continue to see higher input costs in agriculture.

Greetings Fellow Shepherds,

Well what a year it’s been.  From hot and dry weather for us in the Midwest to lamb markets that hit record prices.  Some producers have had tough decisions to make on whether they should keep replacement ewe lambs with these high prices or if they should sell them and wait another year by not culling many ewes.  Yet cull ewe prices have been so strong that many producers have cleaned house with their flocks and shipped those ewes that are not meeting their standards, and with feed prices being so high that might be the best economical decision.  We get many calls about this market and how long it’s going to stick around.  Visiting with people in the industry, they seem to think that $2.00 cash lambs may be the new normal.  History has told us different with a hard crash after such high prices.  When we hit that high earlier this summer there was some resistance from the consumers.  We have since fallen off of our highs about $0.30 – 0.35.  Seems as though we may have stabilized for now.  Only time will tell what will happen. 

FOR SALE:  Ram Extra – Siremax composite terminal sires. Best of the best. That’s why we retained these to use on this end as single sires and backups. Contact oneillfamilyfarm54@gmail.com or 507-458-6244. (posted 11/11/21)

FOR SALE:  Livestock Guard Dog Pups ready to go by the DLGC annual meeting (12/9).  They will make your life easier and your predator’s lives miserable. From generations of on-the-ball LGDs who earn their keep. Contact Cindy Wolf at 507-450-5453. (posted 11/11//21)

FOR SALE:  Ile de France rams and ewe lambs. Visit our website hasbargenlandcattle.com to view current sale offerings. (posted 11/11/21)

FOR SALE:  4 female Anatolia shepherd, Akbash, Great Pyrenees cross puppies for sale.  16 weeks old , raised with sheep and cat friendly. Asking $250 but willing to negotiate.  Call or text 605-530-4444. (posted 11/11/21)

FOR SALE:  11 mid-sized round rye straw bales.  $40/bale.  Contact Dan Meseberg at 605-880-8859. (posted 9/1/21)

FOR SALE:  Nice registered Polypay ram lambs. Ready to go to work.  Montrose SD. Priced at $500-550. Contact Robert Hoiten at 605-771-9874 (posted 9/1/21)

FOR SALE:  9 week old male akbash, pyrenees, anatolian shepherd mix puppies.  Raised with sheep, cats and children.  Call Dan at 605-530-4444.  (posted 4/1/21)

Continue reading →

The 2020 Annual Meeting will be held “VIRTUALLY” Thursday, December 3rd at 7:30 p.m.  Zoom connection details can be found on the ‘Members Only’ page.  You can also contact Phyllis at dakotalambgrowers@gmail.com for details.

Burton, Kerwin (Pierre, SD)
Cotton, Benjamin or Adam (Hillsboro, ND)
Hagens, David or Diana (Steele, ND)
Hartman, Curtis (Hebron, ND)
Jarrett, Sigrid
Kleinsasser, Randy (Buchanan, ND)
Kuntz, Cheryl
Perry, Robert or Elizabeth (Marion, SD)
Peterson, David Duane
Pfliger, Richard (Bismarck, ND)
Reimnitz, Gladys (Mitchell, SD)
Schlosser, Paul or Sarah (Kindred, ND)
Stadheim, Lynn (Hettinger, ND)
Veal, Larry (Meadow, SD)
Stein, Theo or Rebecca (McClusky, ND)

     Greetings fellow shepherds and ranchers. Well 2020 continues to be an interesting and trying time for many producers. From weak lamb markets to dry hot weather in some regions to devastating storms and wet weather in other area. Yet one thing is for certain in these troublesome times that God will prevail and win the battle even though we may not quite see the light that is shining bright at the end of the tunnel.
     Well I hope all of you were able to utilize the first round of CFAP payments that were paid out. CFAP 2 was released on 9/18/20 and sign up begins on 9/21/20. It’s well deserved to our fellow shepherds and ranchers.
     In the last one to two weeks we have seen an increase in lamb prices. Ewes and ewe lamb prices remain very strong despite weak lamb prices. We continue to see more young producers entering into the business as well as some rejoining again. Relatively cheap feed, and ample amounts, in most regions has been a great blessing for producers. Simple things like utilizing scales this year have been very effective and useful in not overfeeding lambs.
     We have endured the bankruptcy of Mountain States Rosen yet we have one new plant coming online soon (9/21/20), Colorado Lamb Processers. We also have had the Hasbrouck family and Double J Meat Packing purchase the old Ranchers Lamb plant in San Angelo, TX. So maybe we will see these plants start running soon in an efficient and profitable matter.
     Dakota Lamb Growers is currently working on a new contract with Superior Farms. We the board members are working hard to ensure the producers receive a delivery contract that fits their individual operations. We have had tons of interest in joining DLGC this year from new and previous member who have been inactive. The more lambs we can produce the better chance of an increase in the contract. We still must think about the consumer and what they desire. Without them we have nothing
     As we enter into fall, things tend to get busy and rushed. We have breeding season going on and harvest continuing. I ask and stress that we try hard not to get rushed and forget things that are very important such as ‘stopping at blind corners’ or ‘running stop signs’. Or, even ‘forgetting to close the gate’ behind you. Nobody wants to get home and later receive a call that your livestock is out. We all want to make it home for dinner with family every night. Put safety first producers.
     As I close this article I want each producer to know that you are not alone if you are experiencing some form of hardship or heartache. Reach out to a fellow DLGC producer and ask for help or a shoulder to lean on. We are here for you guys. We are only a phone call away if you have any questions. If we don’t have the answer, we will search and dig to find the answer. May God bless each and every one of you. May God’s love be bright and radiant and shine down on you. I pray each of you find your ear tags in your flock alive and well and that this harvest be plentiful and bountiful for each and every one of you
With love and hugs. Sincerely,

Greetings to my fellow ranchers and shepherds. For most producers, you are probably nearing the end of another lambing season and some are already preparing to wean lambs. I hope that this year was better than 2019 weather wise. We experienced a little bit more mild spring and not so much snow here in northeast South Dakota.
As we entered into a new year we were watching market ready lamb prices steadily climb. As these prices were rising, little did we know that Covid-19 would be sneaking up behind us, and would economically change the way consumers eat lamb. We soon would find the cash market going from $1.70 on March 1st to $1.01 by April 1st. Suddenly restaurants and hotels are closed and lamb consumption going way down. People would find themselves temporarily laid off and facing tough financial decisions on essential spending.
As to where this market is going to go is anyone’s guess. I would hope producers would stay current with marketing lambs as they reach selling weight. Delivering overweight lambs is something this suppressed market can’t handle. Our wool industry is experiencing the same thing. All wool trade has come to a halt and some producers may experience a wool value of $0.00. Many producers are storing their wool in the barn for better days to come.
I believe this economy will turn around and become great again. When you ask? That I don’t know. We are survivors and ask God for the strength and wisdom we need to get through these trying times. I ask that each producer find another producer or multiple producers to reach out to and share your time with whether it’s just to listen, or to lend a hand where help is needed. May God bless each and every one of my fellow lamb producers. Take care and enjoy your spring.