(not your flock, but you), and why? Marlin Berg, Steve Cloud and Tom Burke. Their willingness to mentor a young guy & invest their time and experience into a youth without deep pockets. Also just believing and having confidence in a young person. What do you feel are some opportunities/strengths of the Suffolk Association/breed? I believe we are experiencing exciting times in the sheep industry and Suffolks are at the top of the list for being great terminal sires. I believe our new registry program will allow us to track not only genetic lineage efficiently but also other data that a wide range of producers will find beneficial. No other breed association will have as many tools in the toolbox as the Suffolks. What do you feel are challenges the Suffolk Association/ Breed faces? I believe that the biggest challenge is finding the next generation of breeders who have the time, resources and want to. Fewer & fewer people in production agriculture is a major obstacle. We as a breed need to find a way to get more youth back into Suffolks. What advice would you give a new Suffolk breeder or junior member? Start a flock with a nucleus from 1 maybe 2 breeders that you trust and are willing to mentor you if you ask. If you are showing and have anything in the futurity programs, fill out your point sheets and send them in! If you could do one thing over in designing your breeding program, what would you do differently? I would have purchased my ewe base from 1 maybe 2 Breeders instead of several. I would have invested more money in “stud rams” as well. What is your favorite lamb dish/recipe? Chislic! But it’s all good. Randy Dombek, Minnesota – District 3 How did you get started in the Suffolk business? We started our registered flock back in 1980 with the purchase of ten ewe lambs. Our plan was to raise a few show lambs for our four daughters to show in 4-H and produce some terminal sires for our commercial flock. What has your involvement been with the Suffolk Association(s) and the sheep industry? I’ve been in the sheep business since 1958 starting with two bottle lambs given to me by an uncle. I was elected to the MN state Suffolk Sheep Association and served several terms as president. I’ve been a member of the Pipestone Lamb and Wool program for over 40 years and have served on its advisory board for more than 20 years. What Suffolk breeders had the biggest impact on you (not your flock, but you), and why? Larry Mrozinski. I met Larry when he served as an instructor at the Pipestone Lamb and wool program. As owner of the 4-M flock breeding stock obtained from him provided a huge genetic boost for us early in in the life of our program. The sharing of his knowledge of feeding and management and his insight of the showring has been invaluable in our flock.
sheep we are seeing at ram sales and those sold around the country to produce terminal lambs. I understand that in different parts of the country there are different markets, but ultimately, we are producing meat to be consumed by the consumer. So, it is a challenge we are currently working on – to come up with a breed identity and purpose for the breed. What advice would you give a new Suffolk breeder or junior member? Advice to new breeders is to figure out your market. What are your goals? Pick the right kind of Suffolk for those goals and your market. Find a mentor that can help you from the ground up. Facilities, feed, daily care, lambing and then marketing. If you could do one thing over in designing your breeding program, what would you do differently? If we could do one thing over in designing our breeding program it would be to use a couple of bucks heavier than we did. Sometimes you don’t figure out what you have until you are lambing out the daughters. What is your favorite lamb dish/recipe? Recipes: I have a lot of favorites – submitting this one because it is easy and quick. A one pot meal, or serve with a side salad or fruit. Lamb and Zucchini Casserole 1 lb ground lamb 1 yellow onion, chopped 4 big cloves of garlic, minced 4 small zucchini or equivalent in bigger ones- cut in ½-I-inch chunks 8-10 mushrooms, sliced 1 ½ cups white rice cooked in 3 cups water 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese Parmesan cheese I use a larger pot that can go in the oven to cook the meat and veggies and cook the rice separately. Using olive oil to coat pan, heat to medium and cook onions until soft, add garlic for a minute or so, stirring so it doesn’t brown too much. Add ground lamb and cook mostly through, breaking up into bite size pieces. Add the Zucchini and mushrooms and stir in with meat mixture. Cook for 2-4 minutes until it looks like the veggies are starting to soften. Add the cooked rice and season to taste. Salt and pepper is all I use. I cover with the shredded white cheddar cheese and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes (check with fork to see if the zucchini is cooked through). Goes together fast and a great recipe for using those garden zucchinis! Serves 4+ so I cut in half for 2 people. JimVan Dyke, South Dakota – District 2 How did you get started in the Suffolk business? My uncle, Doug Starr, purchased 6 yearling ewes (2 ewes for each of his 3 nephews). What has your involvement been with the Suffolk Association(s) and the sheep industry? Current board member for the USSA and also current President of the South Dakota Sheep Growers Association. What Suffolk breeders had the biggest impact on you
but our high school had a 6-acre farm with barns/pens for livestock, a pasture, greenhouse and a field where the kids grew gladiolas in the spring. I bought my first registered Suffolk ram and then Suffolk ewe a few years later to add to my unregistered ewes I had purchased. After I graduated high school, I took a few ewes with me to junior college and added some registered ewes from the Ken Heupel flock and one from Spellman Collins. Later after college I took my Collins ewe to the Marv Heupel ranch and started getting bottle baby ewe lambs from them to start building my flock up again. After Kurt and I got married and then moved to Colorado we brought our small flock with us and the rest is history. What has your involvement been with the Suffolk Association(s) and the sheep industry? My involvement with the Suffolk Association started 2 1/2years ago when I was asked to run for a vacated Director position. I was voted into that position and then was voted in by the membership for a 3-year term, which I am in the second year of that term. This is my second year as Treasurer. I serve on the Breed Improvement, Strategic Planning and Budget Committees as well as on the transitional Digital Beef Committee. I also just started as the breed representative for NSIP and also a member of the GEMS committee and Sheep Genetics USA. My husband and I are founding members for the National Ram Sale. What Suffolk breeders had the biggest impact on you (not your flock, but you), and why? As far as Suffolk breeders that had the biggest impact on me personally, I can’t just pick one. As you can see from the answer to my first question – I didn’t have an easy start into the sheep business. As a high school kid with parents that had no clue what I was doing – it was a challenge. But Leslie Anderson in high school helped get me started and was a good mentor. In junior college Ron Alves, Ed Leal and Alan Cover were encouraging and great instructors. At Cal Poly, Bill Jacobs and Rob Rutherford challenged me in class, Livestock Judging, in projects, on trips and gave me the opportunity to be the first female shepherd at the college. Of course, my future in-laws and husband had a big influence, but along the way meeting and observing so many Suffolk breeders in my home state of California and across the country helped shape my thoughts about Suffolks and how they fit into the commercial industry. What do you feel are some opportunities/strengths of the Suffolk Association/breed? The Suffolk breed has opportunity to be leaders in the commercial industry by providing superior terminal sires that sire fast growing lambs that have great carcasses. Our association is strong with good leaders, good thinkers that really love their Suffolks and the overall sheep industry. What do you feel are challenges the Suffolk Association/ Breed faces? Our challenges are bringing together the types of Suffolks and balance that with the types being show in the show ring. I am still trying to wrap my head around what I see in the show ring and connect that with what type of
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