Having just returned from the North Dakota State Fair I must say that I was disappointed by the turn out of breeders making exhibition and by the lack of breeders/spectators through the barns. Take my breed for example, if you remove my name from the list you had a total of two 4-H breeders and three out of state exhibitors. Of these three exhibitors only one was present in person to both show and care for their flock. The others sheep were exhibited by absentee out of state owners. No I am not complaining about how I placed but rather about how I miss the spirit of by gone shows. When multiple breeders would assemble in the barns for days in anticipation of the fleeting minutes in the showring hoping to be crowned 1^st in show. I miss the days spent preparing sheep while breeders shared stories of their latest lamb crop, their latest stud ram, their breeding plans for the fall, how the weather had affected their crops, and most importantly how life had treated their family the past year. I miss the clash of the white giant= s yearling ram class (Columbia). When all the breeders regardless of breed would assemble around the show ring to watch the power of the rams as they push their exhibitors around the ring and the anticipation of who would win the class. I miss the seemingly endless flow of commercial sheep producers savaging the barn for the best ram for the right price.

As I looked at and out of the showring I did not see the crowds of people who would assemble in the stands to view the shows. I am thankful for the breeders and the 4-H= s who take the time and effort to exhibit. Perhaps we can blame it on our busy life style. How we do not have time for anything except work and ourselves. We blame everything else on our life style.

I am concerned about the lack of participation when lamb prices are historically high, wool prices are better than they have been for a decade. These should be our best times. What does it take to spark interest in the soul of the sheep breeder? As we look around the world Canada livestock trade has been virtually shut down because of BSE scare. One source reported fat lambs in June sold for $1.04/cwt . The latest offering of fat lambs was for $0.77/cwt with no buyers. Australia has reported its lowest sheep numbers since 1948. Our own US production is down over 5%. All this speaks well for prices in the short term but it becomes difficult to grow an industry infrastructure on declining production.

In cooperation with the USDA= s Agricultural Research Service, North Dakota State University= s Department of Animal and Range Science has launched a research program focusing on scrapie.

The research comes as an outgrowth of NDSU= s efforts to eradicate the disease from its own flock after it was discovered in March 2002. A NDSU has served as sort of a pilot for us to outline the genetic approach to scrapie eradication,@ says North Dakota State Veterinarian Larry Schuler. A Cooperation from the faculty at NDSU has been very commendable.@

Key assistance in NDSU efforts came from Katherine O'Rourke, a microbiologist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Animal Disease Research Unit in Pullman, WA. O'Rourke's research included helping develop a widely used test that uses tissue from a sheep= s third eyelid to detect scrapie-causing proteins called prions. She notes that the situation at NDSU is similar to the one that many commercial producers face, A Almost any flock exposed to scrapie will have a small number of highly valuable sheep that would be desirable to preserve. The susceptible research flock at NDSU will serve as a model as researchers determine if producers can efficiently maintain a susceptible population and use them to produce scrapie-free progeny. O= Rourke is considered one of the world= s leading experts on scrapie. She has been appointed as an adjunct faculty member at NDSU which will allow her to work more closely with NDSU faculty members on the research and serve on faculty committees directing graduate students working on scrapie. Other NDSU faculty involved in the research include reproductive physiologist Dale Redmer, veterinarian Charlie Stoltenow, geneticist Paul Berg and sheep researcher Bert Moore.

Not all sheep are susceptible to scrapie. Sheep homozygous at codon 171 (QQ) for the Q allele are susceptible. Sheep homozygous at codon 171 (RR) for the R allele are resistant. Until recently, it was thought that sheep heterozygous at codon 171 (QR) were resistant to scrapie. However, recent research indicates that sheep heterozygous at 171 (QR) may be susceptible for scrapie if they have a valine (V) present at codon 136. The two alleles possible at codon 136 are A or V. To further complicate the issue, the V (valine) allele can only be found at codon 136 if a Q allele is present at codon 171. The following table defines the possible combinations found in sheep:

As part of the research program, the NDSU flock was divided in two, the main flock and a west flock. The main flock is comprised of AARR and AAQR ewes. Only AARR and AAQR rams are used in this flock. Possible genotypes for these main flock offspring are AARR, AAQR, and AAQQ. These AAQQ lambs are either sent to slaughter or transferred to the west flock.

As part of the cooperative research agreement with the USDA-ARS, the scrapie-free susceptible sheep remain in the west flock and are being kept in a biosecure location and are restricted from moving from that location by order of the State Veterinarian. The scrapie quarantine for both the main and west flocks was lifted as of April of 2003.

Possible west flock genotypes include AAQQ, AVQQ, VVQQ, and AVQR. At this time only AARR bucks are used on these animals. Resulting lamb genotypes will include AAQR, AVQR, and AARR. Only the AARR and AAQR offspring are allowed to move to the main flock. The AVQR offspring are restricted to the west flock and may only leave for slaughter purposes.

Because sheep in the west flock are susceptible to scrapie and the exact mechanism for transmission of the disease is not completely understood, an animal in the west flock could and has become positive for scrapie. An AVQR ewe which had been sent from the west flock to the research unit in Pullman, WA, was reported as positive for scrapie by brain immunohistochemistry. This is only the third case of a AVQR genotype being positive for scrapie ever recorded in the United States. The incidence is extremely low. The April 2003 inventory of the west flock included 121 ewes. Combined with the above table, these are the west flock by category:

NDSU could have eliminated these remaining susceptible sheep as well, but some very high quality genetics developed over the years in this population would have been irretrievably lost. Furthermore, these animals provide a means to study effectiveness of testing and eradication of the disease. There is evidence to suggest that flocks utilizing intensive culling pressure may have a higher rate of scrapie because sheep that may be carrying scrapie never physically exhibit any signs because they are culled for other reasons. The presence of valine at codon 136 may also be correlated to desirable traits associated with increased production.

This scrapie research project, supported by a $480,000 grant from the USDA, will last for at least four years. The long-term goals of the study are to develop improved strategies for eradicating scrapie, to develop more economical means for genotyping, and to better understand the disease= s production and economic implications.

Initially, researchers are studying the effects of the disease in the NDSU flock; how this outbreak happened, the genetic make-up of the sheep that were affected and how the disease spread . Much of that work is already completed as part of the effort to purge diseased sheep from the flock. To date, more than 1,500 sheep underwent genetic testing as part of the study. Analysis of that effort may reveal new strategies for stopping the disease= s spread or for detecting it sooner.

Scientists will also study the process of changing a scrapie-susceptible flock to a scrapie resistant flock. How much it will cost and what might the economic benefits be?

Finally, researchers will be studying alternative genotyping tests. Currently the tests offered by private genetic testing labs can cost $14 or more per animal.

General Management
Overall, 45.0 percent of operations used llamas, alpacas, donkeys, or dogs as guard animals to protect their sheep. Dogs were the animals used most commonly (29.6 percent of operations). Herded/open range flocks had the highest percentage (82.3 percent) of operations that used guard animals.

Using the same equipment to handle both feed and manure may result in fecal contamination of feed, which can transmit diseases such as Johne= s. Overall, only 12.7 percent of operations ever used manure handling equipment to handle feed for lambs.

The most common method of manure disposal (78.2 percent of operations) was to apply manure to land owned, rented or leased by the operation. Composting was the second most common method of manure disposal (29.0 percent of operations).

Lambing Management
Nearly 90 percent (87.9) of operations provided a structure for lambing. Of these operations, the majority (51.4 percent) cleaned the lambing area at the end of lambing season. Few operations (7.6 percent) never cleaned manure and waste bedding from the lambing area.

Overall, 75.2 percent of operations usually removed placentas from pens or lambing areas. More farm flocks (81.0 percent) removed placentas than either herded/open range flocks (49.3 percent) or fenced range flocks (55.5 percent). Composting was the most common method for disposing of placentas (29.4 percent of operations).

Diseases Present on Operations
The three most common diseases present (suspected or confirmed) in flocks within the previous 3 years were: stomach or intestinal worms (74.0 percent); sore mouth (40.0 percent); and enterotoxaemia/overeating disease (38.8 percent of operations).

Vaccination Practices
More than four out of five operations (81.7 percent) used the same needle on more than one animal. Of these operations, the majority (61.7 percent) changed the needle after using it on 20 or fewer animals.

The three vaccines given by the largest percentage of producers to either replacement or breeding ewes, nursing lambs, and breeding rams in 2000 were: Clostridia C and D; Tetanus toxoid; and Clostridia 7- or 8-way vaccines.

The vaccine given by the largest percentage of producers to feeder lambs intended for market during 2000 was Clostridia C and D (44.8 percent of operations).

Scrapie Management
Although 92.6 percent of producers had, at the very least, heard of scrapie, only 3.4 percent of these producers were participating in the National Scrapie Flock Certification Program, and nearly half (49.8 percent) had not heard of the program at the time of the study.

For producers who had, at the very least, heard of scrapie, 10.8 percent used genetic selection to control or prevent the disease. Of these operations, 76.8 percent used replacement rams genetically less susceptible to scrapie.

Biosecurity
One-third (33.9 percent) of the range and farm flocks that added sheep or lambs in 2000 quarantined one or more of their new arrivals, which accounted for only 16.4 percent of new arrivals being quarantined.

On most operations, the following practices were performed on newly added sheep either prior to arrival at the operation or at the operation: deworming (75.2 percent); vaccination (61.8 percent); and shearing (55.9 percent). Few operations performed Ovine Progressive Pneumonia (OPP) testing (6.3 percent) or Johne= s testing (3.4 percent) either before or after the animals arrived at the operation. However, if OPP tests were done, they were usually done prior to arrival at the operation. This was not the case for medicated footbaths, deworming, and external parasite treatments, where a larger percentage of operations performed these practices after the animals arrived at the operation.

Overall, 84.3 percent of operations allowed visitors access to sheep raising areas during 2000. Of these operations, only 22.6 percent had any biosecurity requirements for visitors. Restricting access to sheep raising areas was the most common requirement (15.9 percent of operations). Footbaths or other methods of cleaning boots, was the next most common biosecurity requirement (5.8 percent of operations), followed by requiring that visitors had not been on another sheep operation for a specified time period (4.6 percent of operations), and requiring visitors to change boots or use boot covers (4.2 percent of operations).

Only 9.3 percent of operations used a livestock trucking company to transport sheep or lambs in 2000. However, 48 percent of these did not know if the trucks/trailers were disinfected prior to transporting their animals.

Nearly half (46.1 percent) of all operations consulted a veterinarian during 2000. Disease diagnosis, disease prevention, and lambing problems were the top reasons given for veterinary consultation. On average, operations with less than 25 sheep and lambs consulted a veterinarian less often than larger operations.

Attention Board Members!!
President Burton Pfliger has called a board of directors meeting for August 18th at the Seven Seas in Mandan starting at 5:00 pm CDT. PLEASE PLAN ON ATTENDING.