South Dakota Ag Connection - South Dakota Sheep Flock Up 15,000 from 2022

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South Dakota Sheep Flock Up 15,000 from 2022
South Dakota Ag Connection - 02/02/2023

All sheep and lamb inventory in South Dakota on January 1, 2023 totaled 250,000 head, up 15,000 from last year, according to the USDAâ€™s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Breeding sheep inventory totaled 187,000 head, up 8,000 from last year. Ewes one year and older totaled 151,000 head, up 5,000 from the previous year. Rams one year and older totaled 5,000, unchanged from last year. Replacement lambs totaled 31,000 head, up 3,000 from last year.

Market sheep and lambs totaled 63,000 head, up 7,000 from last year. A total of 1,000 head were mature sheep (one year and older) while the remaining 62,000 were under one year. Market lamb weight groups were estimated as follows: 10,000 lambs were under 65 pounds; 8,000 were 65-84 pounds; 15,000 were 85-105 pounds; and 29,000 were over 105 pounds.

The 2022 lamb crop totaled 200,000 head, unchanged from 2021. The 2022 lambing rate was 137 per 100 ewes one year and older, compared with 131 in 2021.

Sheep deaths totaled 8,000 head, up 2,000 from last year. Lamb deaths totaled 23,000 head, up 3,000 from last year.

Sheep and lambs slaughtered on farm totaled 1,500 head, down 500 from last year.

Shorn wool production during 2022 was 1.75 million pounds, up 30,000 from 2021. Sheep and lambs shorn totaled 225,000 head, unchanged from 2021. Weight per fleece was 7.8 pounds, up 0.2 from 2021. The average price paid for wool sold in 2022 was $1.20 per pound, compared with $1.40 in 2021. The total value of wool produced in South Dakota was $2.10 million in 2022.

South Dakota goat inventory numbers are not separately published as part of NASS's annual program. The counts are included in the "other states" category and U.S. totals each year. State-level data for those "other states" are published as part of NASS's Census of Agriculture.

All sheep and lambs inventory in the United States on January 1, 2023, totaled 5.02 million head, down 1 percent from 2022. Breeding sheep inventory at 3.67 million head on January 1, 2023, decreased 1 percent from 3.71 million head on January 1, 2022. Ewes one year old and older, at 2.87 million head, were 1 percent below last year. Market sheep and lambs on January 1, 2023, totaled 1.36 million head, unchanged from January 1, 2022.

Market lambs comprised 94 percent of the total market inventory. Market sheep comprised the remaining 6 percent of total market inventory.

The 2022 lamb crop of 3.11 million head was down 2 percent from 2021. The 2022 lambing rate was 107 lambs per 100 ewes one year old and older on January 1, 2022, unchanged from 2021.

Shorn wool production in the United States during 2022 was 22.2 million pounds, down 1 percent from 2021.

Sheep and lambs shorn totaled 3.17 million head, down 1 percent from 2021. The average price paid for wool sold in 2022 was $1.53 per pound for a total value of $33.9 million, down 11 percent from $38.2 million in 2021.

Sheep death loss during 2022 totaled 205,000 head, up 3 percent from 2021. Lamb death loss increased 3 percent from 365,000 head to 375,000 head in 2022.

All goats and kids inventory in the United States on January 1, 2023, totaled 2.51 million head, down 2 percent from 2022. Breeding goat inventory totaled 2.06 million head, down 2 percent from 2022. Does one year old and older, at 1.52 million head, were 2 percent below last year's number. Market goats and kids totaled 451,000 head, down 1 percent from a year ago.

Kid crop for 2022 totaled 1.58 million head for all goats, down 1 percent from 2021.

Meat and all other goats totaled 2.00 million head on January 1, 2023, down 1 percent from 2022. Milk goat inventory was 400,000 head, down 2 percent from January 1, 2022, while Angora goats were down 3 percent, totaling 107,000 head.

Mohair production in the United States during 2022 was 520,000 pounds. Goats and kids clipped totaled 99,000 head. Average weight per clip was 5.3 pounds. Mohair price was $6.35 per pound with a value of $3.30 million.

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