BY SHARON B. SCHUSTER
Maryland Correspondent
MARYLAND Approxi
mately 125 Maryland sheep breed
ers flocked to the 31st annual
banquet meeting in Mt. Airy last
Saturday evening. After a meal of
roast leg of lamb prepared by pres
ident, Bill Chrisloffcl, the mem
bers elected officers for the com
ing year.
gi ;o
Harvey and Edith Miller, center. Duane Miller, right, who was
the 1986 recipient, holds the plaque he Is presenting to the
Millers. Couple In the foreground are unidentified club
members.
Introducing...
FulFat. Feeds
Working for people who work the lands.
(*bway)
MD Sheep Breeders Flock T
Bill Christoffel will serve
another term as president of the
Maryland Sheep Breeders’ Asso
ciation. Elected as vice president
was Larry Fisher. Martin Hamilton
will serve as treasurer, and Peggy
Howell, secretary. Directors for
the Association arc Martha Berger,
Tyson Cramer, John Flcishcll,
Nancy Greene, Chns Cochran and
Cindy Solh.
WITH ROASTED WHOLE SOYBEANS
• HIGH FAT LEVEL
• HIGH ENERGY
• HIGH PERFORMANCE
Many Pennsylvania dairymen have found the addition of
roasted whole soybeans in dairy rations to be beneficial to
milk production Now Agway is making complete feeds
and concentrates with Roasted Whole Soybeans. Available
in both pellets and textured
Contact your local Agway store or Farm Enterprise
Salesperson today!
Chrisloffel said that the strength
of the organization “is the tre
mendous amount of willingness to
share. Whenever you want some
thing done, you can call someone
and they’ll do itand do it well.” He
further congratulated the Mary
land Lamb and Wool Queen,
Susan Morris, who represented the
association at fairs and promotion
al events around the state. Mary
Streaker was recognized for hef
untiring commitment to organiz
ing the annual Sheep and Wool
Festival.
The members anxiously awaited
the award of Shepherd of the Year,
presented by the 1986 recipient,
Duane Miller. Since this award
was first started, the association
has recognized twenty individuals
for their contribution to the sheep
industry. Harvey and Edith Miller
of Damascus, Maryland, were
awarded the crook and a plaque
declaring them to be “Shepherds of
the Year” for 1987. The Millers
raise Shropshires on their Damas
cus farm.
Featured speaker of the evening
was Nancy Ann Sayre. Sayre spent
a year working at Halden Sheen
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 31, 1987-A33
Nancy Sayre, featured speaker, told sheep breeders about
her studies at a New Zealand sheep station where Booroola
Merino ewes are known for multiple births of five or six lambs.
Station in New Zealand where the
Booroola Merino sheep was deve
loped. These sheep carry a domin
ant fertility gene for multiple
births. The gene can be introduced
to other breeds without changing
the characteristic of the breed.
Photographs taken at Maiden
Station revealed a rugged but
beautiful country with sleep hills
and picturesque coastlines. “In the
shadow of every mountain arc
sheep, sheep, and more sheep,”
said Sayre. In a country where
there arc 10 million cattle, 70 mil
lion sheep and only 3 million peo
ple, Sayre said the focal point of
the country’s industry and research
is in the sheep industry and the
technology that accompanies it.
There arc 90,000 sheep on the
Malden Station. With ewes and
lambs scattered over thousands of
acres, and the nearest town 40
miles away, Sayre said “airplanes
are a way of life there.”
Haldcn Station is home to the
Booroola Menno. Ewes were seen
with as many as five and six lambs
at their sides. “That’s not a realistic
goal,” said Sayre. “We want to see
ewes running with two lambs
instead of one.” Now that the
Booroola Merino semen is avail
able here in the U.S., Sayre said
“the potential is here.”
The Booroola Merino was first
discovered in Australia in the early
1920’5. The breed was sent to New
Zealand for study and develop
ment where it now thrives and rep
resents a promising breakthrough
in the sheep industry of the world.
The Booroola Merino is the only
sheep in the world that has the abil
ity to pass on one gene which
increases fertility, to its progeny,
without changing carcass weight,
quality of wool or other character
istics of another breed.
PA Brown
Swiss Assn.
Sets Meeting
CARLISLE The Pennsylva
nia Brown Swiss Breeders Associ
ation will hold its Annual Meeting
on Tuesday, Nov. 10th, 1987 at the
Howard Johnson Motor Lodge on
Route 11, Carlisle. Lunch will be
at 11:15 a.m. and the meeting will
start at 1:00 p.m.
All members are urged to'attend
and support their Association and