The Bahrs run a closed flock of 2,800 ewes
ROLLA, MO. – Travis Bahr has been involved in agriculture in some form for his whole life. It wasn’t until six years ago, when he purchased a 250-acre property, however, that sheep began to be appealing.
“I bought a farm full of weeds, and I didn’t have the time to manage it myself,” Travis said. “A weed is just a plant out of place, so my logic was that if I hauled sheep onto my place, my weeds become feed.”
That was the origin of the now 800-ewe operation he runs today. The benefits that arose from the initial decision continue.
“Sheep allow me to scale more on 250 acres than a cow/calf operation would. There’s more of a living in 600 hair ewes than 60 cows.”
The Bahrs run unique Hopping Composite hair sheep. They are one-quarter Florida Native sheep, one-quarter Dorper and one-half Katahdin. They found the breed after researching for hair sheep online. The initial flock was purchased from Jeremiah Markway, of Eldon, Mo., and Joe Hopping of Oklahoma. The flock has been closed for 24 years. Travis chose the breed for its hardiness, ability to lamb unassisted, high weaning percentage and small lambs that grow into moderate-framed ewes.
The diet of the sheep is comprised primarily of fescue, along with some clover, which grows on the property. They practice rotational grazing in 45 paddocks throughout the spring and summer. Rotation frequency depends on the amount of rainfall. In times of low rainfall, a sacrifice paddock may be supplemented with hay to allow the other paddocks to rest.
“The more it rains the faster we move, anywhere from a day to three days on a break,” Travis said.
In the winter, the flock is supplemented with alfalfa hay, which is purchased by the semi-load with the excess being sold to make the venture more cost-effective. Whole corn is also fed on the pasture for an energy supplement. The sheep also have free-choice Kansas Salt available. The Bahrs are hoping to add to the mineral regimen to improve it in the next few years.
The nutrition program ultimately goes back to their initial goal when purchasing sheep.
“We want to align our livestock to eat the feed that Mother Nature grows, matching my class of livestock to my location.”
Rotational grazing has helped to improve the pasture, and there are less and less weeds on the farm. As for human input, the pasture is fairly low maintenance, but the Bahrs are beginning to look at new fertilization and seeding options to bring more legumes back into the pasture, as the clover has been grazed out in some areas.
Travis said he has taken a too low-maintenance approach in the past, but he is beginning to investigate more inputs that help to improve the flock and they are always trying to strike a balance between low-input and excellent productivity.
“We don’t want to put so much in that we stop getting a steep response,” he said.
He added they are always chasing inputs that cause the return-on-investment to make the choice a no brainer.
Ewes are bred in late November, with a goal of lambing within a 35-day window in May. The lambs are then weaned in July and put on feed. Their goal is to wean 1.3 lambs per ewe. Lambs are sold in mid-to-late November. Ram lambs which are considered unsuitable for breeding make up most of the sold lambs and are sold intact. The target weight for lamb being sold is 55 pounds.
“The colder the temperatures get, the more a lamb is worth,” Travis said.
The market lies mostly in the ethnic community. Lambs are sold either to buyers at sales in Norwood or Salem, Ark.
The flock is self-sustaining; replacement ewes and breeding rams are raised from the lamb crop of the previous year. About 40 sires run with the flock, which helps increase genetic diversity and is a great enough quantity to prevent inbreeding. The goal with the closed flock is to improve the sheep’s suitability to the area.
“We want to drive home our adapted genetics to our Ozarks farm,” Travis said.
Because the flock has been closed for so long, bringing in new genetics rather than making use of their established lines, due to the risk of bringing in foot rot or another disease Travis explained.
Potential sires are closely scrutinized, and he ideal ram is a small, stout lamb who was born a twin. Those ram lambs are put on pasture until breeding time.
“I only want the most resilient ram lambs to breed,” Travis said.
After breeding, rams are sold and replaced by the ram lambs of the new crop.
In contrast, the ewe lambs are put in a feed lot and are well fed in preparation for breeding.
“She needs as much frame and as much growth that we can get on her economically,” Travis said. “She needs to have a baby on her first birthday, which just takes some feed.”
Older females are culled at weaning. At that time, the udder on every ewe is checked, and if they are dry, they are automatically culled. To help prevent teeth wear, Travis feeds a softer stemmed alfalfa, and feeds taller grass to help older mothers along.
Animal health protocols include deworming.
“Worming is considered a dirty word in the sheep community, and I’m not sure why. They’re high-value animals, with a high-value crop,” Travis said of his choice to include deworming in his routine.
The Bahrs initially didn’t worm their animals but have reached the point it is necessary two to three times a year, due to the barber poll worm, a parasite which is devastating to sheep, and is carried by white-tailed deer. They deworm strategically, about a month before lambing in April, again in mid-June, and with a different dewormer in the fall if necessary.
“My sheep have got to earn their living but with our employees in town we don’t expect them to do their job without a lot of help. We’ve taken no-worming sustainability too far, and it’s time to pull back and help them do a good job for us.”
Travis credits his family with his continued success, specifically, his father-in-law Jerry Jurgens, who feeds his livestock guardian dogs every day, and helps with working and rotating sheep. His wife Mandy and his children: Owen, Truett, Vivi and Jojo also take part in the farm, and can manage the sheep easily due to the animals’ small size. Travis hopes that one day, if they want to, the kids can take over the farm and run it as a viable business.
“One of the reasons why I wanted to do sheep was because my 3-year-old can help me with the sheep. The same stuff a 9-year-old can do with calves, a 3-year-old can do with lambs,” Travis emphasized. He is also grateful to his mentors, Joe and Hoss Hopping, and Jeremiah Markway, who he purchased his initial flock from, and helped him getting started in this venture.
