Wool

The rain in late October and early November is not a favorite of farmers. For my pastures, the rain has given them extra life. The sheep should be able to get enough grass until the end of November with only a little supplement.

What a week! As I am write this column, I have just arrived home from the Boone County Fair, our local fair. The weather was a little wet and stormy at the beginning of the week, but perfect for the weekend.

Summer is certainly here with the hot weather. We like to say that we are having Georgia weather in northern Illinois. Luckily we had a lot of rain this spring and the pasture did grow well. In the last two weeks it has been dry.

Following a year of holding the contest virtually, the Indiana Make It With Wool Competition will return at the Indiana State Fair on Aug. 1.

Spring is my favorite season of the year. It brings the warmer weather and anticipation of new life. There are flowers already blooming in our yard and others pushing their way through the ground. The pasture is turning green and will be growing soon. I keep the sheep in until about May 1 to give the pasture time to recover from winter. Now that we do not have any horses, our pasture feeds the few sheep we have all summer and into the fall. We have several big bales of hay left from last year. Maybe this year we can sell our cutting of hay.

I sure enjoyed the warmer weather while it lasted. Another batch of snow is forecasted for the coming week. Good thing about March is that the snow will not last long. My son-in-law in Georgia has his spring planting equipment out and has been cleaning it. He is getting ready to plant his sweet corn in about two weeks. This will be right around Easter.

Hello from Graze-N-Grow. Just when I was finally adapting to our snowy, frigid February, it all disappeared. This month, though, seems easier to adapt. All the lambs seem to enjoy the weather regardless of the temperature. I’m continually amazed by their hardiness compared to the wool breeds we used to raise. Since it’s harder for me to get up and down nowadays I sure don’t miss having to pull lambs or get them to suck.

Joshua McCann from the University of Illinois will give a presentation on “Technology to Simplify Record Keeping and Nutrition Tips” during the online Illinois Lamb & Wool Producers meeting at 10 a.m. March 27.

I recall when January was the coldest month of the winter. This year, February has been freezing. I must be getting old because I just do not like the cold weather anymore. The sheep really do not seem to mind at all. Guess that shows that wool is good for insulation and keeping warm.

December, for us in northern Illinois, has been pretty mild, not much snow at all and mild temperatures. I am certainly not complaining.