This year at the Michigan Sheep Producers Association (MSPA) annual symposium, I participated in the young producer presentation competition. Isaac Matchett earned first place for his presentation about innovations in his farm business, and I earned second place. However, because Isaac has formerly earned a sponsored trip to the American Sheep Industry (ASI) convention as the competition prize, MSPA supported me in jetting off to San Diego to mix and mingle with other shepherds.
En route to San Diego, I watched a documentary called “Water & Power: A California Heist” that was offered for in-flight entertainment. The film had me on high-alert to 1) judicious water use, 2) public opinion of corporate farms, and 3) activism. From my perspective, not paying for water here in Michigan is something that can be an under-appreciated blessing. Further, being aware of the potential for drone fly-overs to check in on our farm practices, is a very real possibility for curious parties – invited or not.
These issues were in the back of my mind when I was hearing about what others were dealing with throughout the states. By recommendation of Brenda Reau, MSPA also approved to send me in Brenda’s place as MSPA’s voting delegate to the ASI board of directors meeting. A state leader breakfast for this role included discussion of issue identification. People talked about:
- predators and wil dlife
- drought
- overtime wages in agriculture
- government regulations
- the importance of building relationships with lawmakers
- membership and inspiring young people in state association involvement
- lamb and wool markets
- vet-producer relationships
- and meat processing.
I provided a positive note by way of inviting people to save the date for the American Lamb Summit happening August 8-10, 2022, at Michigan State University. This event is an educational conference designed to inspire production improvements and collaboration among all segments of the US lamb industry, and one that young or beginning shepherds could easily get jazzed about (a possible solution to dwindling association involvement).
Another sharable experience from the event was that the pre-conference agenda included a farm tour of the Imperial Valley, part of which is fifty feet below sea level. Now that’s a fifty below I can appreciate in January! We toured a hay exporter that combined the efforts of seven family farms into one grower-owned business. Another business we saw was a USDA-certified organic fruit farm and packaging facility. Both businesses have been challenged in the current market to create solutions for the ongoing supply chain issues, including back-ups in international port systems. The relationships that these businesses have with their customers is what helps make their products successfully travel thousands of miles. The tour ended with seeing bands of sheep trimming off harvested alfalfa fields at a cost of about $0.07 per head per day. Imagine, for a moment, needing to call a water authority board to order water 24-hours in advance to be sent from a neighboring state. Now imagine that your order changes, but there’s not a way to send the water backward in the system. The cost and the stress of water was apparent among several other challenges of bringing sheep to the valley.
At the end of this experience, I feel thankful. Thankful for living where we do with the abundant natural resources and choices of farm methods. I also appreciate the industry supporting young shepherds to learn and be inspired at MSPA events and through this national conference experience. And finally, I am thankful to escape negative temperatures in January for a couple blissful (though masked) days.