History of Sheep Sheep were domesticated 10,000 years ago. 4,000 years ago, man learned to spin wool. Sheep make the spread of civilization possible. Sheep production is the oldest organized industry, with wool being the first international trade commodity. Sheep were brought to Spain by the Romans resulting in the Merino breed. Anyone caught taking a Merino out of Spain could be put to death but they were smuggled into England. The wool trade helped finance Columbus’ explorations of the New World where he introduced sheep into the Americas. In Europe, England and Spain became rivals in the wool trade. England did not approve of exporting sheep to the new world so they had to be smuggled into the colonies. By 1698, America was exporting wool goods, and it was the restrictions on raising sheep and wool manufacturing, along with the Stamp Act, that led to the Revolutionary War. Weaving homespun wool garments was a sign of patriotism during the revolution. As the country was settle, people were required to have sheep in some areas for the jobs the textile area created, insuring the success of the local economy. In 1840, when the federal census first included livestock numbers, Ohio, although largely unsettled, was amongst the leaders in raising sheep. In 1850, Ohio was second only to Vermont. By 1860, Ohio was in first place. In 1870, Ohio reached its peak with 121 sheep per square mile. By 1880, the sheep population in the west surpassed that of the east but Ohio still had more than three times that of any other state. It was not until 1950 when Ohio loss the lead in sheep per unit area. All of the soldiers in the Civil War wore wool uniforms. It was not until the last half of the 1900s that the emphasis began changing from wool to meat production. Today, there are more than 1 billion sheep in the world. In the United States, there are over 5 million sheep on 81,000 farms; in Ohio, 126,000 sheep on 3,400 farms. Ohio is still the largest sheep producing state east of the Mississippi. However, lamb is not as popular in the states as it is in the rest of the world. The average American eats only 1 pound of lamb per year, and 50% of all the lamb consumed is consumed by the ethic market. Still we do not meet demand for lamb as 50% of the lamb consumed in this country is imported from Australia and New Zealand.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 22:01:30 +0000
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