February 2, 2007

Wyoming’s First Sheep and lamb Inventory Increase since 1997

On January 1, 2007, Wyoming operators owned 460,000 sheep and lambs, up 2 percent from January 1, 2006, according to Vito Wagner with the Wyoming Field Office of USDA NASS. Wyoming had 900 operations with sheep and lambs in 2006, unchanged from 2005. The number of breeding sheep and lambs was 350,000 head and the number of market sheep and lambs on January 1 was 110,000 head.

Of the total breeding sheep, 280,000 head were ewes one year old and older, up 1 percent from January 1, 2006. There were 10,000 rams one year old and older, unchanged for the past two years. Replacement lambs for breeding totaled 60,000, down 3 percent from 2006.

Of the 110,000 market sheep and lambs, 2,000 were market sheep, and 108,000 were market lambs. By weight groups, the number of market lambs was: under 65 pounds - 2,000 (2% of the total), 65 to 84 pounds - 4,000 (4%), 85 to 105 pounds - 45,000 (41%), and over 105 pounds - 57,000 (53%).

The 2006 lamb crop in Wyoming at 310,000 head docked or branded is up 3 percent from the record low of 300,000 head docked or branded in 2004 and 2005.

Wyoming sheep produced 3.55 million pounds of wool from 370,000sheep and lamb shorn during 2005 for a total value of $3.27 million. Total value was down 7 percent from the previous year, as total production was up slightly but average wool prices were down 8 cents to 92 cents per pound. Wyoming was second in the nation in wool production behind Texas.

United States: All sheep and lamb inventory in the United States on January 1, 2007, totaled 6.19 million head, down 1 percent from 2006, but still 1 percent above 2005. There were 69,090 sheep and lamb operations in 2006, up 1 percent from 68,330 operations in 2005. After two consecutive year to year increases, inventory growth was hampered by extremely dry weather in the Southwestern part of the United States.

Breeding sheep inventory decreased to 4.62 million head on January 1, 2007, down slightly from 4.64 million head on January 1, 2006. Ewes one year old and older, at 3.71 million head, were 1 percent above last year.

Market sheep and lambs on January 1, 2007, totaled 1.57 million head, down 2 percent from January 1, 2006. Lambs comprised 94 percent of the total market inventory. Twenty-five percent were lambs under 65 pounds, 14 percent were 65 - 84 pounds, 25 percent were 85 - 105 pounds, and 36 percent were over 105 pounds. Market sheep comprised the remaining 6 percent of market inventory.

The 2006 lamb crop of 4.09 million head, was down 1 percent from 2005. The 2006 lambing rate was 112 lambs per 100 ewes one year old and older on January 1, 2006, down 3 percent from 2005.

Shorn wool production in the United States during 2006 was 36.0 million pounds, down 3 percent from 2005. Sheep and lambs shorn totaled 4.85 million head, down 4 percent from 2005. The average price paid for wool sold in 2006 was $0.68 per pound for a total value of 24.4 million dollars, down 7 percent from 26.3 million dollars in 2005 and down 12 percent from 29.9 million dollars in 2004.