ASSINIBOIA, Sask. – Brian Atkinson drove 30 hours from his home in New Lowell, Ont., to support the Grasslands Canadian Classic sheep show and sale.
It paid off in one respect: one of his Dorset ewes was named the show’s supreme champion.
But on sale day the ewe brought only $525, or less than half of what Atkinson figures it should have earned.
Breeders could easily pinpoint the problem.
Mexican buyers, who traditionally buy a lot of animals, didn’t attend.
Organizers thought the Mexicans might buy animals and leave them in Canada until the border reopened and they could get them home. However, at the last minute, they decided not to attend.
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“If the Mexicans were here, if that border were open … that ewe should be worth $1,000 or $1,250,” Atkinson said.
Ray Hauck of Ram H Breeders in Cochrane, Alta., also watched his grand champion Dorper ewe go “very cheap” at $1,000.
He said it could have sold for four times as much, had conditions been normal.
However, he also pointed out that lower prices allowed new breeders to enter the market.
“It’s a new atmosphere and a new market,” Hauck said.
Steve Jones was happier with the price he received for his Texel ram, which was the show’s supreme champion.
It sold for $2,600, well above the price he expected.
Jones, the newly elected president of the breed’s national association, said it was a bit of payback.
“I’ve invested a lot in the last few years and I’m up to 70 purebreds now,” said the breeder from Dutton, Ont.
“I’ve paid big prices before.”
Jones, who moved to Canada from the United Kingdom five years ago, said there were only a handful of Texel breeders in Canada at that time. The number has doubled and is set to double again.
All three breeders said the Americans should open the border to Canadian sheep and lamb.
Atkinson said he missed making a sale worth a few thousand dollars because of the border closure.
He said his sales would cover the cost of his trip to Saskatchewan but he would still lose money. He and two other breeders brought 36 head to Saskatchewan and were taking more than 50 back.
“It’s a big sheep exchange,” he laughed.
He said if he lost an average of $300 on each of the nine sheep be brought, his income would drop by half.
