TOFIELD, Alta. – Ryan Albers was able to be choosy about the ewes he bought at the sheep sale at Beaver Hill auction Oct. 20.
With almost 2,500 head of sheep and goats for sale, Albers sat back and picked only the best ewes that came through the auction ring.
He wants to buy about 200 more Suffolk or Suffolk cross ewes before Christmas to add to the family’s 1,200 head flock to replace ewes that were culled.
“We’ve had good luck with the sheep and we think it’s very feasible to run ewes,” said Albers.
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The St. Albert, Alta., farmer was one of the few people sitting in the stands buying sheep to put back into a flock.
Many sheep producers are getting out of the business, not expanding, said Miles Buswell, the auction’s manager of sheep and goat sales.
“It’s a trend I’ve been seeing for months,” said Buswell.
Rod Edwards of Lindale, Alta., sold his flock after five years in the business. A combination of predators, high feed costs and his age finally pushed him out.
“I was sick of feeding coyotes,” he said.
Albert Schermers, a producer and order buyer, said the industry is going through a radical change with producers of smaller flocks leaving the business and a trend to larger operations.
“I think the industry is more or less in a shambles right now. Too many people are getting out of the business,” said Schermers of Big Valley, Alta.
“They can flip hamburgers for more money.”
He doesn’t think the trend to larger sheep operations is bad, just different. Larger operators are serious about the business, focus on doing a good job and making money, he said.
“They’ll do a better job because it’s their main income. I’m still in the industry because I enjoy what I’m doing.”
Dave Twitchell of Camrose said when he started buying sheep, he kept a book with the names of his customers. Recently he was flipping through the book and realized how many are no longer in the business.
“There’s been a lot of guys quit. You don’t have to be big, but you have to have enough to make it worthwhile,” said Twitchell, who was buying sheep and lambs for himself and three other buyers during the sale.
Michael Shield of Daysland, Alta., brought 28 lambs and 21 ewes to the sale. He wonders about the future of the sheep industry.
“The job’s hardly worth having,” said Shield, who has reduced his flock to 300 from 500 in an effort to control predator losses.
“We can’t keep the coyotes off them. I’d have 1,000 sheep, but we can’t because of the predators.”
