Bah Ram Ewe

Who knew that I'd ever go to sheep ranches in Montana & Idaho as part of a USU field trip? This past April I had a ewe-nique opportunity (I know, terrible pun) to go on a field trip with Jimmy for his Sheep Management class. The trip included visiting a sheep experiment station in Du Bois, Idaho, a sheep ranch in Dillon, Montana, and a wool mill in ____, Montana. Over this weekend I learned more than I thought I'd ever know about sheep nutrition, wool quality, breeding genetics, lambing season, and the many husbandry aspects of caring for any number of domestic sheep. (And I know I only saw the tip-top of the iceberg.)


I also realized how much work really goes into an agricultural field and how dependent I am and this country is on these people who work the land. It was really neat to see the way ranchers think and how they take pride in the work they do. I'm grateful for the work they do in working the land in order to sustain us.


I had a great time learning more about sheep and also met some very fun people. I know Jimmy also felt like it was a great review of a year of study. Jimmy also got some great exposure to country music on the long drives. Plus, now we can say we've been to "Big Sky Country".



To complete my "sheep experience" that month, the next week we went to the Sheep closing social that Doc McNeal puts on every year down at the American West Heritage Center. There we had some real lamb steaks and mingled with the cream of the crop in sheep production and management at USU.