‘Exploding demand' for grass-fed meat is saving lamb market and giving dogs jobs

[AdamSmith]

Once I get sick of writing about software I think I will go raise sheep.

‘Exploding demand' for grass-fed meat is saving lamb market and giving dogs jobs

Demand for lamb is regaining strength, along with a growing consciousness about the provenance of animals. But to stay in business, sheep farmers need dogs to guard their flocks from predators like coyotes

Guardian sheep from predators. Photograph: Jason Wilson for The Guardian

Friday 12 June 2015 09.00 EDT Last modified on Friday 12 June 2015 09.05 EDT

The relationship between shepherds and their dogs is one of the longest-running stories in human history. But in the US, that story paused for a while and almost looked like it might come to an end. Since the second world war, by and large, Americans have stopped eating sheep.

In 1945, there were 55 million head of sheep in the US. By 2013, there was around a tenth of that number. The decline in the demand for wool led to some of the liquidation of the sheep flock, but so did changing food tastes. Americans used to eat upwards of 4lbs of lamb in any given year, but now two out of three don’t eat any at all.

The consumers who still eat lamb are a now a small niche market, incorporating immigrants from countries where lamb is a staple and foodies in search of pasture-raised authenticity. Demand is slowly regaining strength, along with a growing consciousness about the provenance of animals and the conditions they’re raised under.

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Michelle Canfield, sheep farmer, with Bronte (right) and Moses . Photograph: Jason Wilson for The Guardian

For farmers like Michelle Canfield, who since 2008 has run a small herd of sheep near Snohomish, Washington, it brings both opportunities and constraints.

First, she runs “shedding sheep”, which drop their hair, meaning she doesn’t have to pay to shear them. Hers are Katahdin Hair Sheep, first developed in Maine and prized for their prolific lambing and easy-care characteristics.

Second, the absence of a USDA-approved slaughterhouse close by means that if you want to eat her sheep, you have to take them away and get them butchered yourself. She doesn’t have a problem selling them – Seattle is close by, she says, where “the Muslim market is huge” (she says it is thanks to the number of migrants who have moved to work in the tech industry).

As much as any other foodies, this highly educated clientele “want their grass-fed, natural, local meat, but they want to do their own slaughter, and make sure it’s Halal”.

This “exploding demand” for strictly grass-fed animals means that she has to leave the flocks out in the fields full time, including overnight. In turn, the animals are vulnerable to predators, particularly in lambing season. The most dangerous, persistent and clever predator of lambs is the coyote.

Canfield tried llamas as guardian animals, and they worked for a while, but the coytoes worked out how to get around them at the same time her border collies did. She started to take losses.

Lockjaw traps are illegal, and poison is fraught with risks, so she needed another solution.

This is where Moses and Bronte came in. Both dogs are around eight years old, weigh in well over 100 pounds and are off-white in colour (so they can be distinguished from predators). Each is descended from two different ancient lines of livestock guardian dogs.

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Moses (left) and Bronte resting in the grass. Photograph: Jason Wilson for The Guardian

Bronte, the Maremma, was the first dog Canfield adopted . Maremmas are an ancient central Italian breed, created to protect the flocks of Abruzzo, Tuscany and Lazio, a job they still do in a country where wolves are present and protected.

Bronte had been raised in the traditional manner of guardian sheepdogs, in a barn with sheep to whom she was bonded. She loved Canfield’s flock, but she had to learn to cool her exuberance. “She tried to play with them, she’d want to wrestle with them, even the lambs.” She was challenging and wilful. “She went feral for a while and I had to retame her with food.”

It worked, and now Bronte attends to the flocks dutifully and gently. She looks and acts a little like an oversized Golden Retriever, one who “perceives the sheep as her primary peer group”.

To keep her company, and to help at the times when they needed to split up the flocks, they got Moses, a Kuvasz. They are a Hungarian breed whose precise origins are lost in time, but who are said to have arrived with the Magyars in the Carpathian Valley some 4,000 years ago.

Kuvasz almost disappeared in the second world war, when many were killed by German or Russian soldiers for protecting their families. There were revived, and now they are another part of the array of working dogs available to livestock ranchers.

Moses was a failed show dog; he was too reactive and grumpy for the ring. When Canfield acquired him, she quickly realised what the problem was: “He’s terribly far-sighted. He was growly at dog shows because everything up close was just a jumble of stuff. He’s worked out well here.” The fact that he has learned to be a guardian despite not being raised as one is a tribute to Canfield’s training.

While other breeds of guardian dogs might be more assertive and aggressive, these two mostly get the job done with their booming barks. A bark is enough to warn Canfield (“I’ve learned to tell which kind of bark means trouble”) and is also enough to scare off a coyote. They haven’t yet had to physically tangle with a predator.

Looking to the future, Canfield worries about wolves. “We’ll see how quickly they make it out here”, she says. Reintroduced in Idaho and the still-protected apex predator, wolves are slowly making their way west of the ranges. They’re already in western Oregon, and one day, perhaps, they will show up in her corner of Washington.

Perhaps the same conflicts that have played out in eastern Oregon and Washington between conservationists and ranchers will play out closer to the big cities of the Pacific Northwest, or maybe by then new techniques and new dogs will provide a solution.

For now, these two dogs are happy sleeping, living and eating with their flocks. Soon, Canfield will introduce a new puppy who will learn from them – which is how a tradition as old as domestication itself will be renewed.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/12/demand-grass-fed-meat-saving-lamb-market-giving-dogs-jobs

[MsGuy]

That's a neat article, AS.

Thanks.

[AdamSmith]

Besides the main points, I was interested to learn of those two dog breeds. Had never heard of either one.

[MsAnn]

Second, the absence of a USDA-approved slaughterhouse close by means that if you want to eat her sheep, you have to take them away and get them butchered yourself. She doesn’t have a problem selling them – Seattle is close by, she says, where “the Muslim market is huge” (she says it is thanks to the number of migrants who have moved to work in the tech industry).

As much as any other foodies, this highly educated clientele “want their grass-fed, natural, local meat, but they want to do their own slaughter, and make sure it’s Halal”.

Huh?

[Suckrates]

Grandma dont care what her guys eat; they can eat dirt for all I care. As long as their meat is BIG, it works for ME !

[MsGuy]

Besides the main points, I was interested to learn of those two dog breeds. Had never heard of either one.

For me the dogs were the main point.

Who eats lamb?

[MsGuy]

, but they want to do their own slaughter, and make sure it’s Halal”.

Huh?

For nearly all purposes halal is the same as kosher. In the absence of a certified halal butcher, most Muslims have no problem eating kosher meat.

And yes some do the job themselves but most take their goat or lamb or whatever to someone in the community better set up to handle the messy part.

[MsAnn]

For nearly all purposes halal is the same as kosher. In the absence of a certified halal butcher, most Muslims have no problem eating kosher meat.

And yes some do the job themselves but most take their goat or lamb or whatever to someone in the community better set up to handle the messy part.

lol...Messy being an understatement...My dad used deer hunt. My uncle was a butcher and they would bring the animal home, hang it from the rafters in the garage, and butcher it. I was 8 years old, it wasn't pretty, I still have nightmares. Thus my comment..."Huh?"

[AdamSmith]

Aw, butchering wasn't that bad. My grandparents kept hogs. Each winter on hog-killing day I loved to go into the smokehouse and handle the job of sliding the kidneys into these little oiled-paper sacks to be taken to some market somewhere.

Bet you thought it was going to be a story about chitlins.

[MsAnn]

Aw, butchering wasn't that bad. My grandparents kept hogs. Each winter on hog-killing day I loved to go into the smokehouse and handle the job of sliding the kidneys into these little oiled-paper sacks to be taken to some market somewhere.

Bet you thought it was going to be a story about chitlins.

lol...this explains many things. Bacon is one thing, Venison on the other hand...

[lookin]

Each winter on hog-killing day I loved to go into the smokehouse and handle the job of sliding the kidneys into these little oiled-paper sacks to be taken to some market somewhere.

What the hell is AdamSmith up to?

He's packin' up his kidneys and goin' to town.

[MsGuy]

What the hell is AdamSmith up to?

He's packin' up his kidneys and goin' to town.

That's funny.

[RA1]

Once again, how can Semitic people have so much in common and hate each other so much. It just ain't natural.

3 million Kiwi's can't be all wrong. They live among 30 million sheep. They have to do something with them. You can only have sex so many times before you get hungry.

Chitlins are the only food that actually smells bad even when frozen.

As far as I know, humans are the only animal you can eat without killing them.

Best regards,

RA1

[MsGuy]

As far as I know, humans are the only animal you can eat without killing them.

You must not have grown up in the South.

[RA1]

While it is true that I did not grow up in the great state of Mississippi, I did grow up in the "Mid-South", a common name for the MEM area. In addition, during my "formative" years I did sojourn into the great state of Mississippi on many occasions, seeking and learning the lore therein. I do know how to properly pronounce the name, Miss sippi and a Highway Patrolman once stated that I must be a Miss Sippi boy. No, I was not a highly chased after criminal, merely a subject caught in a "speed trap".

Therefore, even though I resemble your remarks I do not resent them.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest CharliePS]

The Kuvaszok are a rare breed, but they have been recognized by the AKC for many years, and there are usually a couple of them at the larger dog shows. There is nothing particularly distinctive about their appearance, so I have never seen one win anything. The Maremma is not an AKC recognized breed, but it is showier, so I expect that it won't be long before they achieve some popularity here.

I grew up in suburban New York and always lived in large metro areas, except for one year in rural Czechoslovakia. My hosts invited me to the annual pig slaughter, a festive event, and I spent a whole day in a slaughterhouse, helping to make various kinds of victuals. For months afterwards, the slightest smell of bacon, ham, etc., turned my stomach.

But I do love lamb.

[MsGuy]

I grew up in suburban New York and always lived in large metro areas, except for one year in rural Czechoslovakia.

Exchange student? Peace Corp?

Fulbright scholarship to study the mating customs of Chech adolescents?

Don't leave us hanging like that!

[Guest CharliePS]

Sabbatical year as a volunteer with Education for Democracy, teaching and advising in eastern Europe following the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

[MsGuy]

+1 for Charlie.