Remembering Fred Groverman

I was honored to be asked to speak at the Celebration of Life for Fred Groverman on April 23. I wanted to share a bit more about Fred's legacy in the sheep world.

In his outstanding essay, “Let the Farm Judge,” Wendell Berry writes:

“What does it mean that an island [England] not much bigger than Kansas… should have developed 60 or so breeds of sheep? It means that many thousands of farmers were paying the most discriminating attention, not only to their sheep, but also to the nature of their local landscapes and economies for a long time…. The result, when such an effort is carried on by enough intelligent farmers in the same region for a long time, is the development of a distinct breed that fits regional needs. Such local adaptation is the most important requirement for agriculture, wherever it occurs.”

Fred’s beloved Shropshire sheep are the result of “many thousands of farmers” paying attention to local conditions for a long time. More importantly, I think, Fred is the epitome of a wise farmer working in the same region for a long time. He’ll be missed. He is missed.

I was introduced to Fred – as many of us in the greater sheep world were, I suspect – by Cody Heimke. We were trying to rebuild our small sheep flock following the last big drought, and Cody thought Fred’s Shropshire genetics would be a great compliment to our Cheviot mules. And was Cody ever right.

If you ever bought sheep from Fred, you’ll know that it wasn’t just a matter of showing up and loading your sheep. Fred wanted to be sure that you also knew about his management system. He made sure you saw his pastures and his barns – and the rest of his sheep. You were buying sheep, but Fred forced you to look deeper – to see the importance not only of his genetics but of his approach to raising sheep. I learned something every time I visited Fred.

Several years ago, after buying the last set of rams I’d buy from him, I had the opportunity to interview Fred for a weekly podcast I produce with fellow shepherd Ryan Mahoney and Dr. Rosie Busch, our extension sheep and goat veterinarian. I listened to it again as I was thinking about what to say today – what a treat to hear Fred’s voice!

During our conversation, Fred joked that he was proud to have raised twenty-five feet of children – that he was proud to be the shortest man in his family. We talked about his family’s history in northern California (and in Petaluma specifically), about milking cows and caring for chickens as a kid, about going to vet school, and about the Shropshire genetics his father imported from the UK. But the three things I most loved about our conversation were these:

1. We talked about his lifelong love of learning. “Keep asking questions,” he told me. “There’s so much to be curious about.”
2. I asked him what he would tell a young person who wanted to get started in sheep. “Find someone to help you – find a mentor.” Fred was a mentor to many, including me.
3. I asked him how he responded when someone told him, “Sheep are stupid.” He said, “I’d say, ‘You haven’t spent enough time watching them.’” I suspect there were few things Fred enjoyed more than watching his sheep.

Our first set of lambs this year was born several days after Fred’s passing in mid-February – a spectacular set of Shropshire twins out of a daughter of the ewes we bought from Fred in 2015. As I watched these first lambs of 2022 stand on wobbly legs and start looking for the teat, I couldn’t help but feel Fred smiling down at us – sheep and shepherd alike.

On Becoming a Past President

Photo: K. Schiller

Seventy-seven years ago, in the midst of the Second World War, the U.S. Navy took over the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. In the 160-year history of the California Wool Growers Association, 1943 was the only year we were unable to hold our annual membership meeting – a remarkable record! The President at the time, J. Kenneth Sexton of Oakdale, served an extra year.

Over the last two days, our members and board of directors came together virtually to conduct the business of the organization. Video conferencing, obviously, wasn't around in 1943. And while we all decided that we much preferred meeting in person, we also agreed that meeting virtually was much better than not meeting at all.

Yesterday, I completed my two-year term as President, joining the ranks of past leaders. And while I've mostly enjoyed my time as an officer, these last six months have been a struggle. I'm looking forward to taking a step back, knowing that our organization is in good hands.

This morning, I looked back at the first President's Message I wrote for the CWGA newsletter. I ended with this paragraph:

“Shepherd” is a word that I particularly like. The primary definition is probably obvious to all of us, I’m sure! The second definition on www.dictionary.com is equally pertinent – “a person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people.” For the leadership of the California Wool Growers Association, we add this second meaning to our primary responsibilities. While we face many challenges in 21^st Century California, I’m confident in our tenacity, unity and enthusiasm as an organization.  We’ll need the foresight and energy of our founders – and the effectiveness and communication tools of our youngest members! I’m tremendously excited about these next two years. I’m humbled that my colleagues have confidence in my abilities to help “shepherd” our organization.

Little did I know that the challenges we'd face as an industry - and as a society - would be unprecedented!

And so I thought I would share my last President's Message - delivered to our membership during yesterday's meeting.

Over the last several weeks, as I’ve been working on my last report to you as President, I’ve struggled to strike a positive tone. I think all of us who raise livestock are optimists by nature – turning the rams in with the ewes each year requires a faith in the future – but at least for me, these last 6 months have been really difficult, on many levels.

For me at least, many of the reasons that I find it difficult to be optimistic are beyond my personal control – the pandemic, the lamb market, the wool market – each of these challenges has been overwhelming at times. Like it doesn’t really matter what I do, or what we as an organization do.

But when I think about the things I can control in my own business and within my own family, I find my natural optimism returns. When I see my daughters carrying the experiences that they had growing up around a sheep business (even a small one like mine), I’m reassured about our future. My oldest worked as a range tech at the US Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois this summer; my youngest, a senior in high school, will be showing her last fair lamb (virtually, at least) in a couple of weeks.

And when I think about things we as the members and leaders of the California Wool Growers Association can control, my outlook brightens further. I start with the mission statement we adopted several years ago in Minden:

Our mission is to deliver lasting value to support all segments of the California sheep industry.

I want to break this down a bit further – because I find both cause for optimism and a challenge for our organization moving forward.

First, we talk about lasting value. To me, that means that we’re in this for the long haul. I joke with my cattle ranching friends that the California Wool Growers Association predates the establishment of the California Cattlemen’s Association by more than 50 years! This is our 160^th annual convention – think about that! Our organization has spanned the Civil War, two world wars, the Great Depression – and several pandemics, including two major ones!

How have we lasted this long? We’ve adapted. That’s the thing about sheep – and sheep producers – I think. We’re adaptable. When I see multi-generational operations make the shift from a conventional production model to getting paid to graze, I’m amazed. When I see producers using new technology to make labor more efficient, I’m encouraged. When I see our Ram Sale Committee put an online sale together in less than four weeks – and see our ram consignors and buyers step up and support this new format – AND our organization, I’m incredibly grateful. Our ability to adapt makes me hopeful about our future.

But our mission statement also suggests that we need to support ALL segments of the industry. I’m humbled that while this organization has largely represented the interests of large scale producers, you elected someone who operates a small-scale, part-time sheep business to serve as President. And while I firmly believe that our focus on the issues critical to our larger scale members benefits all of us, I also believe we must acknowledge the value of smaller scale – and in many cases, new – producers.

As some of you know, over the last 8-10 years, Roger Ingram and I have taught a variety of hands-on workshops for new and aspiring sheep producers here in the Sierra foothills. In that time, we’ve worked with literally hundreds of people who are enthusiastic about our industry. Now most of these folks still have very small operations, but a handful have grown viable businesses. We need to do a better job of welcoming all of these folks into our industry and our organization. If we take these folks seriously, they can help our industry move forward. If we blow them off as hobbyists or “backyard folks” who don’t understand the challenges faced by full-time operations, we’re losing a huge opportunity to expand our base and increase our effectiveness. We small producers need viable, large scale commercial production in California, absolutely; we also need enthusiastic newcomers, most of whom will start small. We can’t afford to turn these newcomers away.

Finally, I believe that the entire industry benefits when ALL segments are healthy and profitable. This includes not only the large scale and small operations I’ve just discussed; it includes seedstock producers here and in other states. It includes fiber flocks and sheep shearers and large animal veterinarians. And it includes our partners further down the production chain – processors, distributors, and retailers. These challenging times, at least for me, have emphasized that we are all interconnected.

So why is now a good time to be in the sheep business in California? Why should we be optimistic as business owners?! Here’s what comes to mind for me:

• The targeted grazing business is exploding in California – and we have urban folks who can’t get enough of what we do! Ten years ago, did any of us think we’d have allies in Oakland and Berkeley, in Simi Valley and San Rafael!?

• California is home to the largest lamb packer in the nation – and Superior has been able to ramp up production during the pandemic, when other processors were closing down. I know our relationship with Superior is complicated, but we are so fortunate to have them as a partner here in our own state.

• Our market potential is tremendous – between the wealth of places like Silicon Valley and a growing West Coast population that loves lamb, we’re in a perfect location!

• We produce more wool in CA than in any other state in the country – and wool is cool, again! All you have to do is check out the REI catalog or join the Fibershed Facebook page!

• Finally, California is home to some of the top agricultural universities in the world – and there’s renewed interest in doing sheep research! I am excited about this both as a scientist and as a producer.

 How can we NOT be optimistic?!

 Don’t get me wrong – we have hard work ahead of us. Change is never easy. Some of us will need to change our business models to meet these new opportunities. When I look at the faces on my screen today (my own included), I know that many of us need to start thinking about generational transfer – who comes after us in our businesses? In this organization? How can we encourage new producers to take the chances that many of us have taken to build our businesses? How can we support these new folks? How can we get them engaged in our organization? To me, these are the pressing challenges – and greatest opportunities before our industry and our association.

I want to thank our sponsors and auction donors for making this year’s convention possible – you’ve seen their names in my background all weekend! I also want to thank both of the executive directors I’ve had the privilege to work with. I know we all appreciate Erica Sanko’s work on our behalf. Thank you, Jay, for stepping up during these challenging times.

Thank you to my family and to my ranching partner Roger Ingram for covering things at home while I focused on California Wool Growers business. You made it possible for me to spend time away!

Thank you to our committee members and committee chairs who have put in so much volunteer time over the last two years.

I most want to thank the members of the Executive Board – Ryan Indart, Andree Soares, and Ed Anchordoguy. These last two years have definitely been a team effort – thank you for always stepping up, and always taking my call! And finally, I want to thank you, the members of the California Wool Growers Association, for giving this first-generation sheep producer an opportunity to serve as President. Thank you.

Best of luck to our new officers, too - Ed Anchordoguy, President; Andree Soares, Vice President; and Phil Esnos, Treasurer. I know you all to be outstanding leaders! Now I think I'll go take a nap!

On to the Next Phase

The sheep year, for me, is a circle - we start at the bottom with breeding (October and half of November). Following a 5-month gestation, we arrive at the top of the cycle - lambing is like six weeks of Christmas in late February and March. As we start working our way back down the circular calendar, the mileposts include shipping back to our summer pasture (in early April), the onset of irrigation season (which lasts from mid-April through mid-October), and shearing (which nearly always falls on Mother's Day weekend). And after shearing, we move on to the denouement of the sheep year - weaning, summer grazing, and preparing the ewes for breeding. Starting the cycle again.

Shearing day, for us, is usually our version of a community branding. Over the last half-decade or more, we've offered workshops for other small-scale sheep producers centered around shearing - we've covered things like shearing site set-up, as well as wool handling and marketing. And we usually have a number of friends - often with their kids - who show up to help. This year, in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, we limited the number of people who were here, which was somewhat disappointing. But the process of getting the wool off - one of the ways we grade ourselves is on the quality of our wool clip - was still immensely satisfying. And a lot of hard work.

This year, our shearing preparations began with a call to Derrick Adamache, who has sheared our sheep for 15 years. Derrick's abilities are unique in my experience - he's sheared with large crew in Wyoming and New Zealand, and yet he's willing to take on small-scale commercial outfits like ours. With our "bull-pen" style set-up, Derrick can shear 18-20 sheep per hour (provided we're organized enough to keep the sheep flowing to him). We're too small for a crew; too big for someone who specializes in backyard flocks. We're lucky to know Derrick!

The next step involved setting up our corrals last Wednesday evening. Loading ewes and lambs is always an adventure; we use a "Bud box" corral design that capitalizes on sheep behavior (see this Ranching in the Sierra Foothills blog post for details). First thing Thursday morning, we gathered the sheep into our corrals and began loading them into the stock trailer. Five trips later, every sheep we own (except for the rams, which we sheared a month ago) were at our home place - along with all three livestock guardian dogs. I'm sure the neighbors always look forward to shearing week like we do - it's pretty noisy here for a couple of days!

On Friday morning, we brought the ewes into a holding pen without grass - we keep them off feed and water for 24 hours to empty their digestive and urinary tracts. Much like fasting before a medical procedure, this keeps the sheep comfortable on the shearing board (without full rumens and bladders) and keeps the shearer safe (since he's not slipping on manure and urine). After re-building our portable corrals here at home, we sorted the first 24 ewes into a covered holding pen and waited for morning.

Saturday morning started with the last steps of set-up. We hung a wool pack from our sacking stand. We spread canvas under our skirting table - a skirting table allows us to prepare each fleece as it comes off the sheep. And we placed the shearing board in the pen where Derrick would shear. Derrick arrived around 8:15, and by 8:45, we were in business!

We always provide lunch for our crew - this year, our youngest daughter, Emma, picked up sandwiches from a local deli. We usually serve pizza, but decided that a common dish wouldn't be appropriate in our current situation. We broke for lunch at noon (after Derrick had sheared 58 ewes) and started shearing again at 1 p.m.

Just before 3:30 p.m., I ran the last group of 9 ewes into the holding pen. Around 4 p.m., Derrick caught the last ewe and I said, "There's the one we've been looking for" - as I do every year. And then clean-up began. We put the canvas tarps away and stored the 5 full wool packs in the barn. I moved the sheep to a small pasture at the neighbors (we like to help them clean up their weeds in exchange for putting up with our noisy sheep for a couple of nights). And we cracked open beers!

But shearing isn't really over until the sheep are back at the ranch. On Sunday morning, we sorted off a handful of cull ewes (mostly ewes that hadn't had lambs this year or that lost the lambs they had). The rest of the sheep were hauled back to our irrigated pasture.

Now we're on to the next phase. Most of our work for the next 5 weeks will involve moving sprinklers, building fence, and moving sheep. Sometime around Father's Day weekend (which is only fair to my wife Samia, since we shear on her big day), we'll wean the lambs and sell most of them. And we'll begin working our way back to another breeding season and a brand new cycle.

One of the things I enjoy most about raising livestock on pasture and rangeland is that the work is largely the same, but every year is different. I enjoy measuring our success by the quality of our lambs and wool. I enjoy knowing that I'll have another chance to get better at this next year. And I enjoy knowing that we're helping to feed and clothe others. Now I need to go check the sheep....

Chicken, Lamb, and Beer

Late last month, I attended the American Sheep Industry (ASI) annual conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. As president of the California Wool Growers Association, I represent California on the ASI board of directors. I'm also a member of the Production, Education, and Research Committee, as well as the Resource Management Council. As usual, I enjoyed getting to interact with sheep producers from all over the country. And, as usual, I found that the informal conversations we had in Scottsdale were far more productive - and interesting - than the actual meetings themselves.

On Friday afternoon, several of us "sneaked" out of the formal luncheon and walked a few blocks to another restaurant. My friends Ryan Mahoney, Jeff Clark, and John Kidwell (from Emigh Livestock in California) were joined by AJ Neilson from Colorado and Dr. Rosie Busch from UC Davis. Over burgers and beers (at least I had a beer), we discussed the future of the U.S. sheep industry.

Now my friends at Emigh Livestock - and AJ Neilson and Dr. Busch - are in a position to influence the future of our industry. Their work matters - partially due to the scale of their operations; mostly due to their intellect and foresight. Our own sheep operation is extremely small by comparison. And yet we all share a passion for sheep production - which became the focus of our lunchtime conversation.

One of the most significant challenges for sheep producers in the U.S. is the diversity of our production - and our lunch was a great example of this. Emigh Livestock produces lamb and wool at a large scale. They raise western whiteface sheep (mostly fine wool) and crossbred lambs. They market internationally. We raise coarse wool sheep, largely because of our wetter climate. We market closer to home.

Initially, our conversation centered on the challenges that this diversity entails. Unlike commercial chicken production, the lamb industry is not well integrated. The large-scale chicken companies (like Foster Farms and Tyson, for example) control all stages of production - from genetic selection to the marketing of the final product. Chicken, largely, tastes the same all over the U.S. Despite our efforts to integrate, sheep production is much more independent and diverse. The ewes that are productive in the drier climate of the Central Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, for example, don't work well in the wetter climate of the Sierra Foothills. Worldwide, there are more than 1000 distinct breeds of sheep. While not all of these breeds are raised commercially, there is significant diversity in commercial production, as well. In the United Kingdom, there are more of the crossbred ewes we raise here in Auburn (called "mules") than there are sheep in California. The wool that we produce is different from the wool that Emigh Livestock markets; so is the lamb.

Someone at the table posed the question, "Is there an industry where diversity is embraced - and economically successful?" Since most of us are Californians, the wine industry immediately came to mind. But as we talked further (and I suppose this might be due to the Arizona-brewed beer I had with lunch), we turned our attention to craft beer.

As a beer enthusiast, I think we live in the Golden Age of Beer. "Commodity" beer (Coors, Miller, and Budweiser) is widely available and very successful; but so are regional beers like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Fat Tire Ale, and Lagunitas IPA. On an even more micro scale, breweries like Knee Deep, Crooked Lane, and Moonraker here in Auburn (and Grand Canyon Brewing, whose Sunset Amber Ale I enjoyed with lunch) are successfully turning hops, water, yeast, and malted grain into profits. Admittedly, I don't like every beer I've tasted, but somebody does! I know that not every brewer is successful, but many are - and their diversity is a strength!

As we talked, we became more convinced that we could learn something from the pioneers of the craft brewing business - people like Ken Grossman at Sierra Nevada Brewing. Brewers have embraced diversity; we in the business of producing lambs have struggled with it. And so an idea was born - what if we as sheep producers invited craft brewers to share their insights? What if we held a conference that was focused on pairing beer with lamb - with the ulterior motive of learning how craft brewers succeed?

Last week, I shared this idea with some fellow sheep producers back here at home - that's the reason we go to conferences after all, right?! After I contrasted the chicken business with lamb production - and suggested that we organize a workshop with craft brewers - my friend Rob Thompson said, "Well that sounds like a whole lot more fun than a chicken meeting!" And while fun doesn't necessarily pay the bills, I think Rob is right. We're in the sheep business, in part, because of the diversity and independence it affords us. And it does sound like fun!