Some days, I call myself a shepherd. Other days, I call myself a sheepherder. I'm not truly sure what the difference is, so both labels are fine with me. Professionally, as a livestock and rangeland extension researcher/educator, I find myself reminding my colleagues (more frequently than I care to admit) that sheep are livestock too. That sheep producers rely on rangelands just as much as cattle producers. That sheep might actually take more management skill that cattle. In a world that looks up to cowboys, sheepherder can seem like a derogatory title. Most days, I can laugh that off - a joke about looking for the sheepherder section at the Boot Barn generally makes all stock people laugh, regardless of what species they raise. But some days, I find I'm tired of having to remind my friends that we're all harvesting grass - we just use a different set of "equipment."
Sometimes I ask myself why I chose sheep rather than cattle - the Sierra foothills are, after all, cattle country (this hasn’t always been the case, however). The sheep bug first really bit while my wife was in vet school - the place where we kept our horse had a ewe that had a shoulder injury. Sami nursed the ewe back to health, starting me down a path towards sheepherder-dom. When we moved to Auburn, we bought 10 goats to help us get rid of our blackberry problems - the goats did great, but I realized I wasn’t a goatherd - I liked our sheep better. In the early 2000s, we bought a handful of ewes and started in the sheep business. We ran cattle for other folks, along with our sheep, but I always viewed myself as a sheepman first.
As our operation evolved, we grew our flock to the point where we didn’t need other people’s cattle to help harvest the grass. And yet I still had a choice - I still could have put my time and capital into beef cattle rather that woolly boogers (one of the least insulting terms for sheep in our part of the world). Why?
In our part of the foothills, where many large ranches have been fragmented due to development or purchased by conservancies or agencies, finding leased land at a large enough scale to graze cattle can be difficult. Smaller scale properties are available, but often without infrastructure (like fencing, corrals, and stock water). With sheep, we have the flexibility to use these smaller grazing properties - provided we bring the fencing, corrals, and water systems. We can put small ruminants on small properties - and sometimes even get paid to do it!
Sheep are versatile, as well. Not only do they potentially provide both meat and fiber, they are adaptable to a variety of landscapes, vegetation types, and management objectives. Do you have yellow starthistle you'd like to manage? We have sheep for that! Are you interested in controlling annual grasses to give native perennial grasses a chance to reestablish? We have sheep for that, too! Want to reduce overwintering pests in your alfalfa or your berry vines? Sheep are perfect! Want to manage vegetation between your grape vines or on your orchard floor? Sign us up!
Finally, sheep can be more accessible - both to the public and to new producers. Cows are big critters; mamma cows with new calves can be intimidating! While a ewe with new lambs is protective, but perhaps not as intimidating. The capital costs of getting started with cattle can be equally unapproachable for many new producers - not only are cows more expensive; the necessary equipment is as well!
Now I'm sure my cattle ranching friends will be quick to point out the flaws in my thinking here - I hope they do! But I hope they'll also think about adding sheep to their operations! We need more sheepherders in this world - or shepherds!
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