October 2015 -- I was asked to speak at the 2015 Alberta Sheep Symposium in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. I gladly accepted. Prior to the conference, I went on an industry tour. I/we visited several sheep farms, a goat dairy (with processing), and a state-of-the-art lamb plant (abattoir). It gave me a good overview of the small ruminant industry in Alberta. I was disappointed when I received another invite to speak in Alberta a few years later (goat conference, this time), but had to decline because I'd already committed to Missouri. (Missouri vs. Alberta: I think I made the wrong choice!). Alberta is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.
Suffolk ewe
Commercial Suffolk ewes
The first farm we visited was a Hutterite farm. Hutterites are a religious group similar to Amish and Mennonite. They settled in the western provinces of Canada. Their farms are communal. The farm we visited had mostly commercial Suffolk ewes. They were using the Shearwell system for record keeping. RFID was/is mandated in Canada, and there were cost share monies available to help buy equipment. They credited the system with making their operation more profitable by helping to find unproductive ewes.
Mixed flock
The second farm we visited was a hog farm that had been converted to a sheep farm. They also operated a feed lot. Some of the lambs were on slats. Their ewes were mostly Rideau Arcott, a very productive Canadian breed, similar to the Polypay, but with a higher percentage of Finn breeding.
Hog farm converted to sheep farm
Lamb feed lot
The last farm we visited was a dairy goat farm (Rockbridge). They were milking about 600 does (Saanen) and were in the process of installing a carousel to milk their goats. They had their own cheese plant and were marketing their own branded products. The goats were mostly confinement. Some young stock was kept in outside pens. It was a young couple that owned and operated the farm.
Dairy goat farm
Lotta dairy goats
Milking parlor
Lady goat farmer
Carousel for milking goats
The goat farm was raising rabbits in outdoor pens.
We visited SunGold, a state-of-the-art lamb processing plant in Innisfail. It had undergone expansion the previous year. There was a feed lot associated with the plant, but I/we didn't have time to visit it. Unfortunately, the plant and feed lot filed for bankruptcy in 2022. They were sold in 2023. As far as I know, the plant is still processing lambs. Don't know what happened to the feed lot.
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