The 2017 Census of Agriculture reported 101,387 farms with sheep. The value of sheep marketed was $711,899,000  from 4.1 million animals . In 2018, the U.S. imported approximately 272.6 million pounds of lamb and mutton while exporting just 5.8 million pounds (USDA ERS, 2019).  Per capita consumption of lamb is low relative to beef and pork, but niche markets are growing. In addition, national efforts are underway to reverse the decline in the American lamb industry (American Sheep Industry, 2014) through both traditional and non-traditional marketing channels. Meanwhile, the sheep industry continues to struggle with animal health concerns, economic issues, global competitiveness and consumer trends. These issues are far greater in scope than can be addressed by individual research stations. Collaborative efforts are needed to generate new knowledge for a more sustainable industry. The need for collaborative work is greater than ever as research stations are losing, and not replacing, research and extension faculty with sheep expertise. New technology can be applied to improve efficiency and to compete more effectively in a world-wide market. Research results benefit the sheep industry and consumers by increasing efficiency and improving product quality. A viable sheep industry will contribute to sustainable agricultural practices and provide economic stability to rural communities.

The NC-214 project members are uniquely suited to address these issues. Members are trained in genetics, reproduction, nutrition, meats, animal management and health, and rangeland management. This diversity of training is the strength of this research group and brings depth and perspective to investigations of complex issues. NC-214 will be the only multi-state research project in the U.S. that focuses on sheep with emphasis on genetics, reproduction, animal health, carcass leanness, meat quality, and milk production in wool and hair sheep. 

Objectives of NC-214 are well aligned with research priorities identified by the American Sheep Industry Association and the Agricultural Research Service of USDA. They also are compatible with recommendations and strategies of The American Lamb Industry Roadmap Project (American Sheep Industry, 2014), which was designed to strengthen the sheep sector of the U.S. that produces lambs for meat. The overall research goal of NC-214 is to continue developing integrated food-animal management and animal health systems that support efficient, competitive and sustainable production of safe and wholesome food consistent with animal and environmental well-being. This includes: 1) Developing and evaluating methods to improve reproductive efficiency; 2) Developing strategies to improve efficiency of lean lamb growth and meat quality; 3) Evaluating genetic resources, nutrient requirements and production systems for lamb, wool, and milk production; 4) Developing profitable and sustainable production systems that address grazing strategies for animal health and well-being, and for ecosystem health, biological control of invasive plants and wildfire mitigation. Planned research of NC-214 is consistent with the components of National Program 101 (Food Animal Production Action Plan) of ARS and National Program 103 (Animal Health Strategic Vision).

The sheep industry is fortunate to have significant adaptability to market conditions, due to a wide array of breed resources and diverse production systems. A common approach will be evaluation of breeds. In many experiments, two or more common breeds will be compared at different institutions. Also, research to evaluate one or more hair breeds of sheep (Dorper, White Dorper, Katahdin, St. Croix and Barbados Blackbelly) will be done at several institutions, including Kentucky, ARS-MARC, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia State, and ARS-Booneville. Use of common breeds will create linkages across experiments, effectively allowing comparison of more breeds than evaluated in any single experiment. This information will help the industry to systematically use the most appropriate breeds in systems that produce market lambs. All institutions will be involved in further developing profitable and sustainable production systems with members in Arkansas, ARS-MARC, Rhode Island, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming continuing efforts to develop methods for more effectively managing internal parasites as well as noxious weeds. Finally, all member institutions will increase efforts toward dissemination of research results and information to other universities, regulatory agencies and producers. This will help to address the attrition of research and extension personnel with sheep expertise. The overall impact is expected to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. sheep industry with other major sheep producing countries.