North Dakota is suffering from a lack of shepherds, so the new generation is being asked to step up to the plate, even to the point of giving the damned things away.
Children everywhere love prizes and fuzzy animals, right? The North Dakota shepherding industry is counting on it.
In an unusual move meant to encourage youthful interest in a career field that could perhaps use a little of-the-moment excitement, a state group will be awarding sheep to select teens and ’tweens. They hope to encourage a new generation of shepherds.
Shepherding, always popular among storybook characters and as a religious metaphor, has taken a beating in reality. Nationally, tens of thousands of sheep ranches have disappeared in recent decades. And in mostly rural North Dakota, there are just 840 operations now, a drop of about 1,000 sites tending to lambs, ewes and rams since the late 1980s. Livestock specialists say that fewer people seem to have the patience or expertise to handle flocks, and that there are concerns about the ease of marketing and slaughter.
As the remaining shepherds grow older, industry officials are hoping to entice replacements from elementary and high schools with a “starter flock” program. It will give 10 ewes to children who write winning essays about their interest in the field, who are North Dakota residents from the ages of 10 to 18, and who agree to pay back a part of the profits from their lamb or wool sales to help sustain the initiative. (Rams will be provided for breeding at no charge. Ewes are worth about $150 each.)
That'll impress the kid's parents. Especially when they have to cut their tails off and cure the fly-strike or facial excema. Perhaps bunnies might be a better plan?
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