Manitoba sheep farms were home to 40,000 ewes in January 2005.
By January 2011, however, the number had dropped to 28,000, according to Statistics Canada.
The decline, despite high prices for lambs, is troubling for Manitoba’s sheep industry because other provinces have increased ewe numbers.
“A lot of producers are still small in Manitoba and one of the main problems they have is that cash crop of lambs,” said Manitoba Sheep Association (MSA) chair Mark Humphries.
“When it comes in, they have to sell to keep the (cash) flow going.”
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The association has asked the provincial government for financial aid for farmers who retain lambs to help them rebuild the province’s sheep inventory.
“We’re asking for government assistance to subsidize that first year of (holding) lambs back, with whatever (amount) they could (provide),” said Humphries.
The association is also talking with the government about developing a lamb retention assistance program.
Mamoon Rashid, a sheep and goat specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, said such a program would be unique in Canada.
“As far as I know, I don’t think any other province has done something like (this),” he said.
“We have to see how this would go, do we really need it or not and also look at the government’s budget position.”
Replacement lambs in Manitoba have dropped from 4,000 in January 2009 to 3,700 in January 2011.
At the same time, replacement lamb numbers increased in Saskatchewan from 9,400 to 11,500.
In Alberta, numbers have increased from 10,900 in January 2009 to 12,100 in January 2011.
Sheep producers have left the industry in Manitoba because of struggles with predation, said Lucien Lesage, who raises sheep near Notre Dame, Man.
He said last fall that the province should assist sheep farmers who want to try guard dogs or donkeys on their farms.
