In the last couple months my “day job” has been particularly stressful. That said I really like my job, the people I work with, and the company I work for. I’m proud of what we do. Among other responsibilities, I manage the lamb program for Niman Ranch. There are eight Niman Ranch Lamb ranching families – one in Utah, two in Oregon, and the balance in northern California. 100% of our 8000 to 10,000 lambs harvested annually are paid for on a grid that provides a target for carcass weight and finish, and rewards the families for that consistency. I dislike traveling, but this week was just what I needed. An annual highlight for work is the requirement to audit Clark and Patty Willis’ lamb ranch in Laketown, Utah. The American Lamb Board fall meeting was held in Park City earlier this week. This was the first time in my six years on the board we didn’t have a non-convention Board meeting at a hotel off the highway between the Denver Airport and Denver. This week’s meeting was an excellent opportunity to connect with other sheep people since ALB’s meeting was held in conjunction with the Tri-State sheep meeting (Utah, Idaho and Wyoming). A secondary highlight to the Willis visit was exciting news regarding the future of electronic lamb grading: Superior Farms committed to an E+V electronic grading unit for both their Dixon and Denver plants and JBS and Rosen will maintain theirs in Greeley. It was because of this ALB meeting that I postponed my annual audit trip to the Willis Ranch; the audit usually happens in early October. Even without the gorgeous early October colors of Logan Canyon, this trip to Laketown was great. Clark’s grandfather settled the Laketown area and brought the first band of sheep to the south end of beautiful Bear Lake. The Willis’ continue that long-standing sheep tradition today. One might wonder why this post is showing up on the Mapleton Mynd Shropshires page. The reason for this is Clark uses a lot of Mapleton Mynd rams. Those rams do an excellent producing lambs that hit the, which has considerable bearing on the pay price for his lambs. The Niman Ranch grid target is a yield grade 2, 67 to 70 pound carcass (135 to 140 lb live lamb). All the Willis lambs are born, grown, and finished on the ranch; nearly all the feed used to finish the lambs is ranch-raised. After seven years of buying Mapleton Mynd and Hiemke Family rams there is an excellent track record of these Shrops producing efficient, fast-growing, and meaty lambs. The rams have good longevity, which is an added bonus. The ultimate proof of the quality of lamb the Willis’ raise is in the final product. A large proportion of the Willis lamb is sold to some of the most discerning chefs in Park City, which happen to be some of the top notch chefs in the country. Our excellent distributing partner, Wasatch Meats, might be the largest Niman Ranch Lamb customer in a program with nationwide distribution. Each year in October those chefs take a field trip to the Willis Ranch. Clark is proud to relay that those chefs believe he raises the best lamb in world. (I will offer the disclaimer that ALL the Niman Ranch lamb producing families produce excellent quality lamb) I think the most poignant moment of the Willis visit was just prior to my departure. Clark had invited some friends, including his banker, over for lunch the day I visited. After lunch I was packed up and ready to leave, so I went to visit Clark and his banker who were looking at lambs in the finishing pens. I am often sarcastic, and Clark and I like to banter back and forth with each other. Early that morning I joked that I would ask his banker why he was needed with how well Clark is paid for his lambs. I’m sure Clark responded with something to the effect of needing another $0.20/lb. This would be a typical conversation Clark and I jokingly have. However in the pen at that moment, I lost my sarcasm, and there was great sincerity amongst the three of us. The bottom line is the Willis ranch needs both Niman Ranch and his banker to operate and the three of us are inextricably linked. Clark has said many times that he wouldn’t be raising sheep anymore if it weren’t for Niman Ranch. We each traded thank yous for what each other does that allows each of us to succeed. I made sure to mention the cooperation we have amongst all of our lamb ranchers, and made a special call out to the champion of the Niman Ranch Lamb program in Utah, Wasatch Meat’s Trevor Ortman. And it was with that wonderful final conversation that I got into my rental car for a two hour drive back to Park City. I returned back to Wisconsin late last night. I’m glad to be home, and glad it was a good trip with productive meetings and visits. Now to get things going for the day so I can get that hop pole I broke a week ago today! Have a great weekend.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 14:36:56 +0000
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