What Happened to the SHEEP!!

[@jamipowell275]

Thank you for highlighting sheep. I had sheep for 10 years. Sheep are not stupid, but they're very easily scared and also suspicious of everything. If you feed a sheep well and get the right breed they taste SO good. Much better than any meat in the supermarket. I also used my sheep's wool. Wool is amazing. I really love sheep and hope they make a comeback

[@diannaleigh9914]

Is wool actually scratchy?

[@jamipowell275]

@diannaleigh9914 it depends on the kind of breed of sheep and also how it is processed. Cormo sheep have extremely soft wool

[@proudwhitesettler7746]

My Dad, a lifelong rancher, used to tell my brothers and me that a cowboy was just a sheepherder with his brains knocked out.

[@royvaughn7693]

He was bout rite I believe...my Ole man had a similar saying bout me starting Colts

[@ericbuck7045]

Also most sheep ranchers had a couple cows so you couldn’t call them sheep men!lol

[@mariankay6482]

I follow a channel called Sandi Brock. She raises sheep in Canada and is lambing, right now. If you want to see just how needy sheep are, go watch 1 or 2 of her lambing videos! They are so cute and sweet! She has been saving her wool and she markets it, after spinning and dying and such, on her channel. They are also ag farmers. Her husband works the land and she works the sheep but when it comes time for planting & harvesting, it's all hands on deck. Go watch and see just whay she goes through to get those lambs to 100 lbs to take to market. It's a great channel!!!

[@robdavidson4945]

I grew up on ranches in Idaho, Oregon and Montana. At 6 years old we lived on the Chief Joseph Ranch at Darby, Montana. It was raising sheep, purebred Herford cattle and a couple race horses. Dad tasked me with bottle feeding the lambs. That place is now on TV show Yellowstone, never seen it. Later in Idaho I raised sheep for my 4H project for a couple years. Once people moved away from from wearing wool and eating mutton. Most of the sheep ranches went bust or started raising cattle. The Idaho Governor Brad Little is a sheep rancher his grandfather Andy Little came to Idaho in 1890 and eventually became one of the largest sheep ranches in the world. Wool is a green renewable product. I'm glad folks are starting to see it's value and it seems that the sheep business should make a come back in the USA.

[@keekers]

My mom just purchased acreage in Sprague River. She has been considering sheep.

[@gabeortiz984]

My in-laws still run a big sheep operation out here in Wyoming but it’s true to say that running sheep here is Wyoming is not a big as it once was. Keep up the great content. Love what you do.

[@kathleenredick275]

Sheep are wintered in Oregon and summered (I think) in MT. In OR, you see many of the sheep herds with livestock dogs for protection. It's amazing to watch the dogs work.

[@haroldmcfatter3656]

I can relate to this story, I was raised on a goat, sheep, and cattle ranch in the Texas hill country. We got put out of the sheep and goat business in the mid 1960"s. It was bad! We ate lamb, and sheep frys all the time. I really miss those days!

[@montana4939]

You put out some of the best and interesting information about Montana and we so enjoy your channel. Thank you for taking the time . Peace be with you and Merry Christmas .

[@petegrant4111]

Thanks very much for this episode, Mr Marxer lives about a mile up the road from me👍🇺🇸🦅🥩

[@This1isaJesusFreak]

Awesome topic! My family and I just started keeping Katahdin sheep last year. They are stupid, they are needy, but there is something very special about them ❤.

[@TheAdventureCowboy]

I love this conversation and am grateful to have been present to hear it in person. Looking forward to what you do with the rest of that footage. 🤠

[@DustyReinsStories]

Thank you for revealing this terrific insight into what has happened to sheep production for flesh and fiber in Montana since the late 1800s when my great-grandparents immigrated from Germany and settled just southeast of Greycliff. My great-grandfather was a butcher by trade.

[@brendafickenscher7398]

Here in southeast Colorado, I am one of the few who raise sheep - Navajo Churros. In 4-H, I had Suffolk, Colombian and Hampshire - they scattered when escaping their pens and pasture. However, the Churros are more like deer or antelope - they have better instincts of surviving, the ewes have taken on coyotes to protect their lambs, we don't vaccinate (not much issue with disease), very quiet (smoke in the grass), very hardy and don't require as much feed or water. I feed them in the winter, use apple cider vinegar in our alkaline water, salt and Enduraferm minerals and Basic H and pumpkins to deworm. They stay together as a herd, too. I run them on 3 or 4 strand barbwire fences and cell graze with poly wire .

[@jeandaliajr]

My Father came across the pond from the Basque Country of the Pyrenees Mountains back in 59, was hired as a sheep herder. Merry Christmas, Semper Fidelis

[@tinoyb9294]

Interesting talk, Trinity!

[@nancysmith-baker1813]

I rewatch this , they changed are pallets. Are parents and grand parents where healthier .they are all parts of beef and lamb .look how many sheep , they where eating sheep and using wool . I love wool too .miss it . Thankyou for this interview.

[@robin5382]

Wool is the warmest and natural material there is. Even if you get it wet, it will keep you warm. You probably already know that. Being from North Dakota, my grandmothers were knitters. I just learned this past week that muskox is 8 times warmer that sheep's wool. Learn something new every day. Thanks for the video.

[@wanda5-w4m]

One of my favorite books is by W. Philip Keller - A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 it explains a lot about shepherding, sheep and how God is our shepherd. I think you would like it.

[@maxcorder2211]

I was a guest on a ranch in northern Wyoming. The owners of the ranch had at one time owned a large herd of sheep that they kept in the high country in the summer. In the fall there would be a roundup of sheep to bring them down to lower country. One year there was an early blizzard that killed the entire herd.

[@406regen]

A sheep is no harder on the land than cattle it just depends on management a poorly managed cattle herd can ruin the ground as fast as sheep.

[@CrossTimbersSon]

It’s interesting to study the history of animosity between ranchers and sheep herders. The famous Cowboy artist author Will James, had Jack Connolly of Connolly brothers Saddlery build him a saddle that was lined with carpet instead of sheepskin lining on the skirts, because of his distaste of the Sheep-Man.

[@BU10AS]

Yep, always ride with those who praise your accomplishments.

[@tomwerner389]

I'm a travelling stockman and sheep shearer here in Australia and find this interesting. Australia's sheep numbers have dwindled from 220 million to 60 million in the last 30 years for all the same reasons you mentioned. The diet is changing too from lamb and mutton to beef.

[@LifeintheWest]

Interesting that it is happening there too.

[@chamisanell3499]

I learn something every time. Thank you Trinity. This was great.

[@richardmonson8657]

Good video. Here in the Shields Valley, sheep were king as well in earlier times. There are still remnants of that industry around if your know where to look. Keep an eye out at some ranch homesteads and you might see an old sheep wagon or two. A very interesting visit is the Bair Ranch Museum just outside of White Sulphur Springs, MT. Mr. Bair ran as many as 300,000 sheep at one point, the largest sheep ranch in U.S. Lots of history and artifacts. A good visit if one gets a chance.

[@chrisstevenson2622]

I’ve talked to people in Montana and Wyoming and the Cattlemen’s Association had and and still does playa big part in why sheep aren’t in Montana or Wyoming.

[@montanawarren8462]

He's right there dumb and they ruin the land & the pasture they pull it up by the root

[@montanawarren8462]

The word was up north of the Blackfoot reservation close to Babb the Sheep would come down but they wouldn't allow them off the highway (they told me that a cow wouldn't drink water after a sheep had been there plus they ruined the pasture by pulling the grass up by the root the same as a horse and with 40 acres to one cow that sounds reasonable to me) & a sheepherder a year WAS killed up in the that part of Babb to keep them out of there.... I do remember the Sheep going down the road you couldn't get by them to get South again

[@xcgates]

I've only got a few acres, and am very happy to be raising a small flock. Some family and friends are good to eat it, but most are hesitant to try it. 5 ewes isn't much, but it's something

[@kathleenredick275]

They are more economical than cattle for a small 'farm'. 👍

[@dalerose1694]

Our role sucks most of the year. I prefer my sweaters and coats to be wool and I eat lamb 1-2 times a week And pay a good price to be able to do that

[@rogerramjet7236]

Very interesting Trinity. Love the information on your channel. Merry Christmas to y'all.

[@arthurbrumagem3844]

Been to the big horns in Wyoming when the sheep were trucked up the mountain to the sheep herders .

[@murraymaunder991]

In New Zealand 60,000,000 sheep are farmed

[@patriciamuskevitsch8359]

Great information, thanks

[@OleRustyTractor]

We operate beef and sheep, sheep. Are pretty profitable but your management has to be top notch

[@milesbliss3256]

Great video. Love the history of the USA

[@maxcorder2211]

The son of your guest wrote a great book about his dad’s life on the Matador.

[@TheAdventureCowboy]

Actually Ray himself is the author of that book. It's called "Cowboy in a Corporate World by Ray Marxer". I am his son that you are referring to, so I can say this definitively.

[@maxcorder2211]

​@TheAdventureCowboy Sorry for the confusion. I have the book and was just thinking I need to read it again. I've been on the Matador hunting a few years ago. I loved the remoteness. From Somers.

[@TheAdventureCowboy]

@@maxcorder2211 I did write a long Facebook post that inspired the book and write plenty of other stuff, so it's understandable. 🤠👊

[@claraguzman6842]

Interesting. Thanks.

[@DebEvans-gr9vm]

Trinity, a great lesson 🙏.❤

[@chrissypearson5597]

Eating Lamb right now fron NZealand, grass fed... Love it. Its prudent to eat different meats, as the profile change is good for the human body!, Eat meat, be happy, healthy!

[@clintdouglas5756]

Good one keep it up thanks

[@Chopperdoll]

Very interesting.

[@BlackSeranna]

I know a person who raises Navajo sheep. Here are smart, savvy, and they are good mothers. Not like the sheep we got from Europe.

[@johnparkhurst825]

If i could prepare sheep meat so it was as good as beef, even allowing time to acquire a taste for it , I'd be all about raising sheep. Pretty hard to replace a grilled cheeseburger.

[@dalen.tenney5210]

I'd love to have a sheepskin parka and a sheepskin vest, but they seem to be so expensive!! What, are sheep that hard to find??!!!

[@trishcraig723]

Lots of mutton and goat in the Mexican markets here in Central IL. Only high dollar chops at supermarkets.

[@davidd6635]

Labor intensive might be a key factor. People will likely need to get hungry before they'll get their hands dirty with work. Everything seems to cycle, so maybe the 'want' of wool and muton, will create a supply. Or, people can just get it from China and other countries around the world that are willing to get their hands dirty, to follow with America being a consumer nation.

[@Mendezfarriercompany306]

There is a reason why God used sheep as a picture regarding spiritual things

[@406regen]

Depends on management i raise hair sheep, no shearing, no hoof trimming, no docking tails, and with in a regenerative rotational grazing system no shots or vary little the ones needing shots get them and then go to the auction barn.

[@darbydonaho536]

Very interesting!

[@austin3853]

Similar to the decline in sheep due to demand, the decline in the horse population in the US has also fallen drastically fallen. Technology has reduced the need. 21.5 million horses in the US in 1900 Now, it's 7.2 million

[@jerryfischer3988]

Just sold my last 2 horses last year. 31 years of my adult life having horses. Sure miss them just couldn't afford to keep them any more 😢

[@wakranich3488]

Wild horses?

[@wakranich3488]

@@jerryfischer3988 Why? Feed? I owned an "easykeeper" older mare in the 70's. She ate hay & grass mostly w/a little grain in the winter. She had front shoes in summer & snowshoes w/spikes in winter if needed.. We did have a neighbor that let her graze in knee deep grass in summer too, which she loved.. Shots too, OC Ten years later my young OTTB made up for any $ that I saved years before..but still not $$$. He had all 4 shoes & grain year round. Shots too. I bought a used saddle & bridle for him & blanket, etc. My mare had only bridle for a while (I prefer bareback) then a used saddle later..

[@wakranich3488]

@@jerryfischer3988 So sorry to hear that. I've owned two & they were family..

[@bendav]

I'd like to see more wool used and mutton on the menu, but most people I know don't like the taste of mutton - especially versus beef. Wool clothes I had when younger was scratchy and uncomfortable, but modern technologies have apparently helped make a softer and more comfortable cloth. Another problem is I can buy a cotton, polyester, or blend t-shirt at the local big box store for less than $10 while a similar wool version is $50+. With those kind of differences (price and taste), I don't see the sheep population as a high growth opportunity...

[@jerryfischer3988]

Our wool sweaters are going on decades old, still in great shape and are very warm

[@LifeintheWest]

So true. Oil based products can be produced cheaper than the same thing in wool. Price plays a Huge role in using something that is sustainable vs unsustainable in the long run.

[@chrissypearson5597]

Is Mutton.. Lamb?, lamb is a delicious meat, taste is good as beef

[@jerryfischer3988]

@@chrissypearson5597 lamb is a young sheep mutton is a mature sheep

[@LifeintheWest]

@@chrissypearson5597 Lamb is young sheep, Mutton is older sheep. Don’t know the exact age that this term changes.

[@stevewalters4565]

Polypropylene is one of the best insulated clothing materials. That is a synthetic material. It’s also the absorbent part of a diaper. Carpet backing is another use. I’m an operator at a polypropylene chemical plant. Just a couple of examples. Many different types of chemical poly materials. Drys faster than wool.

[@davidbiser7231]

I would assume it's cheaper to produce synthetics than wool. Probably a by product of petroleum industry. Or some by product of another industry. Then they use the government to push the product either by lobbying or friends in government.

[@buddywicket5544]

Love wool not so many with the mutton. But I understand that land could use it more

[@Uncletoast52]

Lamb chops with the right lemon glaze. Yum

[@darrollgrant87]

Research in the Dakotas indicate that 1 ewe can be run for each cow with no decrease in calf weaning weight.

[@abbasssibatra8682]

👍

[@gwenfowler1826]

I think “they” are already trying to get rid of cattle. Foods from plants are the big thing now. I get concerned but hope there are enough ranchers to not allow that to happen. Never say never can happen.

[@practicalsheepman]

The growing ethnic populations on the east coast are driving the lamb market. At the sale barn at New Holland, PA lambs often fetch the highest prices in the world. Regenerative sheep grazing operations in the east are much more profitable than cattle.

[@charlenesterken2604]

I think wool is scratchy and picky ,makes great saddle pads

[@cherbehrhouston4704]

Originally when the colonists came & destroyed this country, it was law, that you had to dedicate at least 5 acres to "Hemp" production😊 Now thats truly renewable & sustainable👍💚💜💚

[@jedadruled984]

Smokin, smokin, smokin ist good gor the brain

[@ericbuck7045]

I think WW2 killed the sheep in USA. Mutton served in war was pretty nasty. Lamb can be very good if cooked right. Mutton old sheep lamb is young animal!

[@rigger4695]

Mutton burgers are awesome.

[@walkingSherpa]

About the wool: Guys, you dont want wool on your skin. Just watch yourself, you're most likely wearing a mix of cotton and some synthetics.

[@LifeintheWest]

Yes. It is itchy against the skin. I wear a wool blend against the skin and wool outer layers, like a vest and coat.

[@walkingSherpa]

@@LifeintheWest I forgot to mention the cleaning. You cant throw Wool into your laundromat. But bad, dirty wool could be used as a fertilizer. - allegedly

[@TheAdventureCowboy]

It depends on the manufacturing process. The merino products from Duckworth (sheep from right here in SW Montana) are not itchy at all

[@nancysmith-baker1813]

Its sad what happened , wool is great but yhey destroyed not only the wool industry but the cotten industry too . Ya oil . Its called greed and stupidity. Thankyou for this talk .we also use to eat more organ meat , not much was wasted .we can thank modern supermarket for they dictate what we eat .

[@freeto9139]

Actually oil is renewable ... Mutton takes a talent to make savory; lamb is excellent in flavor with very little effort. Still very rich meat, too rich for some people's digestion. Wool is tricky, many children are allergic, fewer adults; but, it's rough on tender skin. Then there's the extra care required for cleaning. It is excellent for warmth and water repellant, but can't be handled carelessly. There are many delightful wool yarns for more refined clothing. People have gotten addicted to the wash and wear mentality of synthetic clothinng. Even GMO cotton is infiltrating the markets. We need to return to basics; and, do what it takes to treat our necessary food and clothing with the respect it deserves.

[@aaronrosentrader319]

Lamb is young, tender and I think it tastes good. Mutton is an older animal (over 1 yr). It has a stronger oder and is not as tender.

[@chrisoconnor5880]

People that aren’t sheep men. Shouldn’t comment on sheep, the first statement you said immediately made me see, you know fuck all about sheep

[@johnparkhurst825]

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all John 10 Jesus speaking . [11] I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. [12] But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. [13] The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. [15] As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

[@bladehoner3185]

Let's promote meat goats asap!

[@matthewnhendley]

i love your vids some are to long thow

[@chrisoconnor5880]

Oil, synthetics are made from oil

[@montanawarren8462]

And the only time I ate mutton was when my grandma cooked it for us cuz she always kept a bum lamb to feed the excess milk from the milk cow & come Fall she would butcher the dude but with the grease from that Mutton sticking to the roof of your mouth I never acquired a taste for it....

[@dzmitrysmelav3010]

The conversation would be a lot better if an older Man wouldn't be intorapted.

[@ArkyJane]

Perhaps, the sheep are still up on Brokeback Mountain.