Greetings Fellow Shepherds,

What a blessing to see warm sunny days along with much needed moisture to soften the long overdue drought that many producers have faced.  For most of us it was a long cold winter with an abundance of snow and wind.  It has been very harsh on our fellow ranchers and farmers, as well as their livestock.

As we start planting and enter the grazing season, I hope all had a bountiful lamb crop.  Prices have finally rebounded on all weight ranges of lambs. We have seen cash prices in Sioux Falls Regional range from $1.70 to as high as $1.80 range.  Hothouse lambs in the 85-95 lb range have been $2.25-$2.65.  There appears to be many of these 65-95lb lambs moving since March in the Midwest going into the hothouse market.  It makes a person wonder if there’s going to be a shortage of fat lambs come midsummer into fall in the Midwest.  USDA has no way of tracking these hothouse lambs and as a result leaves the kill plants not knowing where those young lambs go and how many lambs there really are here in the Midwest being finished for traditional slaughter weight.

We all continue to battle with record high input costs.  We are seeing our Parker Pellets anywhere from $600 – $1,000 a ton.  Corn remains to be from $5.85 – $6.35.  Demand for good quality ewe lambs seems to remain steady to good prices.  Last year’s prices have left some producers choosing to exit the business, yet we don’t know if they kept their equipment and will be back again some day.

As we enter into a new growing season for our lambs and crops we continue to face daily challenges in our lies.  For some they seem to be more challenging than others because of weather related events, market prices, and health issues.  I encourage our shepherds and producers to continue to reach out to each other, or someone you may trust, to open up to each other.  We are in a season where we need to continue to have an open mind and heart for our fellow shepherds and be compassionate when hearing others struggles.  No fellow shepherd should feel as they are alone in the desert or wilderness.  I’m going to attach my cell phone number  below for anyone that may ever need to visit.  Dakota Lamb Growers Coop is more than a Coop.  We are family and the Board continues to work and strive for what they feel is best for its producers.

As we begin to wean our lambs and plant/sow our crops, please remember to take the time to look at our livestock properly, and take the extra time to watch out for equipment moving down the road as they don’t always see us.  Stay safe and be careful.  May God bless and protect each of our producers.

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

Riley Braaten, President  (Call or text me at 701-640-8335)