REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio – According to the Ohio Agriculture Statistics Service, the number of sheep and lambs on Ohio farms on Jan. 1 totaled 142,000 head. This number is 6 percent more than a year ago.
Sheep stock.
Total stock sheep was at 110,000, up 8 percent; and ewes 1 year and older were at 86,000, an increase of 6 percent.
Stock rams, 1 year and older, increased from 6,000 head to 7,000 head. The overall lamb crop, totaling 115,000 head, declined 5 percent from last year.
All sheep and lamb inventory in the United States on Jan. 1, totaled 6.92 million head, down 2 percent from 2000 and 4 percent below two years ago. The inventory has trended down since 1942 when it reached a peak of 56.2 million head.
Breeding sheep inventory declined to 4.93 million head, down 5 percent from 5.16 million head last year. Ewes, 1 year and older, were at 4.06 million head, 4 percent below last year.
Market lambs.
Market sheep and lambs totaled 1.99 million head, up 6 percent from January 2000. Market lambs comprised 96 percent of the total.
About 24 percent were lambs under 65 pounds, 18 percent were 65-84 pounds, 24 percent 85-105 pounds, 30 percent were over 105 pounds, and 4 percent were market sheep.
The 2000 lamb crop of 4.62 million head was down 2 percent from 1999 to a new record low. The 2000 lambing rate was 109 per 100 ewes, 1 year and older on Jan. 1, 2000, compared with 110 in 1999.
Sheep operations.
The number of operations with sheep during 2000 totaled 66,000, down 1 percent from 1999 and 4 percent from 1998.
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