Replacement Sheep Report on ASI Web Site

The tables representing the replacement costs for breeding animals is now available on the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) Web site, www.sheepusa.org, in the market reports area. Monthly and annual analysis is available for breeding ewes and rams.

In the spring of 2009, at ASI's request, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service's Market News initiated the compilation of data to report replacement values for breeding sheep.

Foremost, ASI wanted the report as a tool for making sheep loss payments to producers through the then new livestock indemnity program. No report was being published that showed a fair indemnity value for breeding sheep and, since sheep losses are typically breeding sheep, there was great value to creating this report.

"At the time, culled ewe values were the only prices reported by marketing news and to use that value for a breeding ewe would not have provided a fair indemnity to producers," commented Peter Orwick, ASI executive director.

ASI expected that this report would be of value to the banking industry, as guidance for producers buying or selling breeding sheep and for use in court cases where breeding sheep are killed due to trucking accidents or dog attacks as well as for indemnification in the scrapie eradication program.