Meet the board
David Krider
President, American Australian White Sheep Breeders Association, Seymour, Missouri, after December 2022, Marion Junction, Alabama.
Fortunately, because of my business, livestock fence and water supplies, I was able to travel all around the USA and about 20 other countries visiting with livestock producers and view their operations. We have been operating grazing operations involving sheep, goats, cattle, both dairy and beef and have watched the goal in livestock production go to quantity not quality.
Our favorite class of livestock has always been sheep, and while we have had some very good USA lamb, we have had some I would rather not eat. The eating experience seems to be down on the list of production traits. While traveling to other countries I can’t remember any lamb that I didn’t like. The eating experience seems to be a higher priority in places like Australia and New Zealand that produce an abundance of lamb, maybe that is why they consume more per person than the USA.
When I was introduced to the Australian White Sheep, and noticed along with the standard high production traits, we still get paid on pounds, the emphasis was on the quality of the eating experience, perhaps the only breed that has been developed with that in mind.
This trait alone has the potential to increase the demand for lamb in the USA, and because of the current genetics available, we have saved about 15 years in developing this breed.
I am very pleased to be part of introducing this Australian White Sheep to producers who want to keep the quality up.
Jere Grube
Vice President, American Australian White Sheep Breeders Association, Manheim, Pennsylvania.
I’ve been involved with livestock for my whole life, having grown up on a small diversified dairy farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When I returned to the farm after graduating from Penn State, the cows were gone and my dad said “why don’t you get some sheep to run in the pastures?” So my journey with wool sheep began and has continued for the last 40 years. With my family, I continue to operate the farm where I grew up. In addition to the sheep, we fatten hogs and grow forages, small grains and row crops.
I had been considering phasing out of the wool sheep and into a hair breed for some time when I saw Sonia Craig’s article about Australian White Sheep in the December 2023 Shepherd Magazine. As I dug a little deeper for information, I realized the Australian Whites “checked all the boxes” for me. I shared the article and information with a long-time friend, Steve Essig, who was also intrigued so we pooled our resources and purchased our first embryos in 2024.
As I work with these animals, I am continuously impressed and am very excited and optimistic about the future of the Australian White breed.
Sonia Craig
Secretary/Treasurer, American Australian White Sheep Breeders Association, Payette, Idaho.
In our quest to find a better ram to produce better lambs in the hair sheep world, we came across the Australian White. We were impressed with the breed’s consistency in shape, hair, and size. After a great deal of research and combing the internet for information, I was introduced to Luke Jones, where I purchased my first ram. While that first year was not without disappointment, the few lambs we got out of him made our resolve even stronger to pursue the Australian White genetics. After a purchase of a second ram, our 2022 lamb crop consists of over 200 Australian White F1 lambs. We are very happy with them, the growth, the consistency in appearance, hair quality, and overall attitude is proving the breed is worth the effort.
I am pleased to be part of this group with like goals, to produce a quality lamb that is consistent and of high eating quality.