Ewe got the looks: Breeders show off their sheep at Agribition

When his sheep are born, Matthew Govan from Englefeld picks out which lambs could be future champions at Canadian Western Agribition and which ones are destined for the barbecue.

The vice-president of the Saskatchewan Sheep Breeders’ Association has been breeding sheep for 15 years and has been attending shows for the last eight.

Govan raises Ile De France and Canadian Arcott breeds but only brought the Arcotts to the Agribition sheep show on Friday.

Govan’s yearling won Reserve Grand Champion in the Canadian Arcott ewe class — an award that covers all the breeds from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. He explained what the judges were looking for.

“Something that stands up strong, is smooth through the chest and neck for ease of lambing so they’ll pass that on to their offspring. You want something nice and thick, a good length of loin just in front of the hips (and) a nice solid rump,” said Govan.

Once his sheep arrive at Agribition, Govan spends his time washing them up, putting them on a stand to blow dry and then fluffing up the wool before trimming it into the perfect shape.

“The wool is fairly deep and they can get quite dirty,” said Govan.

While the wool requires a lot of care and attention at Agribition, it’s not the focus at The Govan Ranch. In his eyes, wool isn’t as big of a feature as the meat itself.

“There are people in Saskatchewan that are slowly coming in and spinning their own wool and making their own products. For our farm, we breed for breeding stock to sell to other producers to get them going,” said Govan.

There is a lot of science and attention to detail behind the breeding process. Govan said he tries to bring in different genetics to make the sheep bigger and stronger.

“Genetics are a huge part of it. You’re always looking for different genetics that are a little bit longer of a spine or a little bit thicker all the way through the animal to give you a leading edge on a different farm,” said Govan.

Govan said the current market for lamb is averaging around $1.50 to $1.60 per pound instead of the more desired $2 to $3 per pound.

To be successful, he likes to have a strong set of twins. The first lamb pays for the cost of the feed for the ewe for the year and the second one is your profit.

Govan said it can be tough to sell lamb, which is not as popular as other traditional meat.

“You do have to cook it a little bit different. It smells a little bit different than beef or pork or chicken. Trying to introduce that to people who’ve never eaten it before who are 30, 40 years old, people don’t like change,” said Govan.

As a sheep breeder, lamb is what he eats the most on his farm.

“There’s nothing better than a barbecued lamb chop. I could sit there and eat those all day,” said Govan.