Fahrmeier Grain and Livestock

We are proud to be asked to join Meinders Data Driven online sale. Bidding is now open and will close at 7:00pm Monday. In addition to the Meinders Katahdins that are offered for sale, Tom Hodgman and I each have two ram lambs listed. All three flocks scan for backfat and eye muscle depth and have tested for parasite resistance. This sale is packed with productive genetics to push your flock forward. https://www.wlivestock.com/auction/8637/197501?fsp=2300

#LastPass #CornHarvest19. This happen on Saturday. About a month later than normal. Still waiting for the late planted soybeans to dry down.

Appreciate the help from the kids today. Samuel Fahrmeier is running the combine. Elizabeth Fahrmeier is helping move us from one farm to another and I am playing trucker today.

We are about to kickoff Day 2 of the American Lamb Summit. This morning our focus is Out of Season Lambing Opportunities and Costs as well as Understanding Carcass Quality and Traceability. Join us right here at 11:15am CDT.

Disclaimer, I am not a trained ultrasound tech but I am sharing these images from my scanner Dallas McDermott of Mac Scan in Johnston Iowa. I drew the red lines to show the depth of fat above the loin muscle and the circle is the loin muscle. I offer these just so you can see the range of fat and muscle under the skin in my lambs. This is why I scan lambs.

We have spent the last couple of days weighing lambs, collecting FEC samples, blood samples and clipping small patches of hair so we can scan for backfat thickness and loin muscle size. People ask why spend the money scanning instead of just visually appraising the animals. Here are three pictures that show just the variation in hair coat depth. Not to mention the difference in backfat thickness. Scanning takes away the variability and just shows the true muscle size. No guessing.

Ok. More proof I am a tech geek. #plant19. My view during planting.

Donna Mann Fahrmeier was off today and went crazy taking sheep pictures. Here are a few to enjoy.

Thanks to Donna Mann Fahrmeier here is another video showing how technology is being used in Agriculture. By using Electronic Identification (EID) ear tags we can do a more accurate job of keeping track of management information on each animal.

My friend Robert Walker has created on online store of all things Katahdin. Check out his amazing line of merchandise. PS I am not a paid actor. http://katahdin.sheepthings.com/

A couple of weeks ago I was part of a producer panel at the Midwest Stud Ram Sale. I was asked a question about how much shade Katahdins need in the summer. I know some people thought I was cruel when I said they don’t need any. Here is a picture taken today at 2:00 in the afternoon. It is 97 degrees with calm winds and a heat index of 105. We are in the middle of a drought. The cool season pasture that I am standing in is all brown. The ewe flock in the background is eating alfalfa and chicory. There is orchard grass there too but they are not eating it because it is brown. Point is they have a grove of walnut trees they could lay under but because the heat is not bothering them they are grazing. Katahdins are amazing.

Lambing wasn’t suppose to start for a month. However, I knew this was likely. Last summer I was sorting and working my ewes and a herdsire climbed or jumped or had Scotty beam him into the ewe pen. Couldn’t have been with the ewes for more than three hours but he successfully bred four of the 160 in the pen. (All four ewes lambed in a three hour window, too.)

I had a chance to visit a large Hair Sheep operation north of Manhattan Kansas today. 2000 ewes lambing year around. Each ewe lambs three times in two years. Most of the lambs are being sold at 60 pounds at weaning. An unbelievable operation that shows that growth in the sheep industry is possible. Thanks to Robert Walker for setting up this tour and to Shannon Creek Lamb for hosting us.

Self explanatory