Champion and first place Rambouillet flock at NAILE. From left, Doris Powell, holding
banners; Dave Pinckney; Greg Strausbaugh; Lorrie Moore; Claudette Choma; Ken
Moore, holding banner; and Krys Schrom. The flock, from left, includes Powell 9951, the
top-placing fall ewe lamb at NAILE, Big E, and KILE; Powell 9950, a fall ewe lamb, the
2000 NAILE champion Rambouillet ewe; Powell 9920 and Powell 9919, the 2000 NAILE
first place pair of yearling ewes; and Powell 9955, champion Rambouillet ram and su
preme champion ram at the 2000 NAILE.
Powell Rambouillets Garner
Top Honors In Show Ring
CAROLYN N. MOYER
Bradford Co. Correspondent
WINDHAM CENTER
(Bradford Co.) When it
comes to picking and showing
award winning sheep, Doris
Powell and Greg Strausbaugh
usually agree.
But the 2000 show year
turned into a contest that will
long be remembered.
Powell and Strausbaugh oper
ate Powell Rambouillets in
northern Bradford County.
Powell, who has had sheep for as
long as she can remember, and
Strausbaugh, who became inter
ested in sheep while a student at
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Penn State, make showing sheep
their hobby, following the tan
bark trail to several shows every
year,
Early in the year 2000, Powell
and Strausbaugh were looking
over their fall ram lambs trying
to pick which one they would
show.
“We narrowed it down to a
pair of ram lambs. I said I’m
going to show this one and he
said I choose this one,” said
Powell.
So the competition began,
The first show was the Mary
land Sheep and Wool Festival in
May. Strausbaugh’s ram won,
- -n
capturing grand champion
honors. From there they at
tended the Harford Fair in Sus
quehanna County. At that show,
Powell’s ram won top honors.
“We were even at that time,”
said Strausbaugh with a laugh.
They again packed the show
string to head to the Big E in
Springfield, Mass., where Pow
ell’s ram again garnered cham
pion honors while Strausbaugh’s
ram wore the reserve champion
banner.
The judges’ decision at the
Keystone International Live
stock Exposition (KILE) again
put Powell’s ram over Straus
baugh’s ram.
“She thought she had the
battle won,” said Strausbaugh,
but then we went to Louisville,
Ky.
In Louisville, Strausbaugh
figures that the score was
evened out as his ram was
named champion Rambouillet
ram. But to add to the glory of
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 30,
Supreme champion ram at the 2000 North American In
ternational Livestock Expo (NAILE). From left, Doris
Powell, holding banner; bill Turnquist, presenting award;
and Greg Strausbaugh, holding ram.
the show, Strausbaugh’s ram,
Powell 9955, was chosen as the
supreme champion of the show
over 19 breeds of sheep.
“When I won supreme cham
pion, I figure I won the whole
competition,” said Strausbaugh.
“It’s funny, because people were
beginning to watch the Ram
bouillet show to see which ram
would win.”
Besides being a great honor
for the family, having a Ram
bouillet ram chosen as supreme
champion was also a history
making event.
“This is the first time a Ram
bouillet ram has ever won the
supreme champion award at
Louisville. Normally a meat
breed.of sheep will win more
often that a wool breed,” said
Powell. “We were standing
there and they were looking at
him and we thought that it was
really nice that they were con
sidering a Rambouillet. And
then they picked him. I was
shocked!”
“We were shocked and happy
at the same time,” said Straus
baugh.
“I think a lot of time there are
a lot of good wool breed sheep
out there that sometimes get
overlooked. It’s a pleasant
surprise when the judges do pick
one,” Powell said.
The Louisville supreme cham
pion has recently been sold to
Vern and Krys Schrom of
Amenia, N.Y., who are just get
ting started in the sheep busi
ness.
“When you’re just getting
started,” noted Strausbaugh,
“buy the best ram and the best
brood ewes you can afford. You
need to start with good breeding
stock.”
Although the sale of the ram
broke up their undefeated fall
ram lamb team, the family is
happy to sell breeding rams
from their outstanding Ram
bouillet flock when they have
the chance. They also keep their
eyes open for new sires for their
flock.
“We’re always looking for a
good stud ram,” said Straus
baugh. “We went for four years
before we could find a ram that
we were satisfied with a while
ago. We have four rams right
now that we’re using. We try to
keep a good ram base so we
don’t get caught again.”
Right now they run 100 total
sheep with about 50 brood ewes.
Their Rambouillets are mostly
horned, but they do have a few
polled sheep to market to people
who prefer the polled rams. The
family also keeps about 10
Shropshire ewes.
Right now, iambs are already
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