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I just returned from our regional show at the North American International Livestock Show. This was the 50th addition of the North American show. We had a large number of entries and absolute excellent sheep through the entire show. Dylan Craig of St. Joseph, Illinois was Supreme premier exhibitor, having been Premier exhibitor in the medium wool division and also had the overall Supreme flock. Complete results will be listed in the Banner. Hats off to our judge, Emma Peters who did an outstanding job of judging our Regional Show! The North America or NAILE as it is commonly called does a nice job of running the various breed shows and is without a doubt “THE” premier Livestock exposition in the nation and exceptionally so in the sheep shows.

We also had 23 natural colored fleeces exhibited in the wool show which approximately equaled the number of white fleece entries! Again the fleece quality was exceptional.

I would encourage everyone to start thinking about exhibiting sheep and/or fleeces next year as this will be our 2024 National Show! Even if you are not able to bring any sheep or send a fleece it is well worth your time to attend this event especially if you have not been to the NAILE before.

John Merlau

President’s notes: 2-2023

Greetings. Another year has come and gone which saw a lot of high quality natural colored sheep and fleeces shown across the entire country.  NCWGA continues to hold national shows and tentatively 2023 will take place at the Oklahoma State Fair.   Stay tuned for more information as these plans are firmed up. We also will be switching to a new registry as the board is looking into a change required as GLM is ceasing to do registration and transfer work.  We anticipate that the change will be accomplished with little disruption as possible

Most of you are likely aware of the passing of out vice president, Dave Julius and to those of us who knew Dave I can say NCWGA has truly lost a truly good person and accomplished breeder.

Dave brought out many outstanding natural colored sheep and I am sure his breeding will continue to influence many flocks for years to come.

Registration and transfers have continued to increase and the future of NCWGA remains bright.

As always if you have questions or concerns feel free to contact myself or Kate Lowder anytime.

I hope everyone has had successful lambing so far and will continue to do so through the coming weeks into Spring. Soon it will be time for the early season shows and sales to commence and I hope everyone will be able to attend those in your area.

John S. Merlau

President

Banner notes July/August 2021

At this time the major spring and early summer sales have been completed and many county fairs are already completed or in full swing across the country.  Several State fairs are also in progress or will be starting soon as well.  Fortunately most such shows will although perhaps modified be able to reach a successful conclusion and the sheep shows will have been a pleasant return to those missed last year.

As we return I urge everyone possible to still take whatever precautions you feel best you and your family and certainly continue to comply with any restrictions imposed by your Fair.  Remember while we may not like some restrictions your fair management is likely required by their state or local regulations and are as they say “only doing their job”

NCWGA registrations and transfers have been humming along and it appears we will continue to have a large number of sheep being registered and transferred this year which bodes well for the future of natural colored sheep.  Also the sales of natural colored sheep have been strong and the results of several sale are included elsewhere in this issue.

I hope everyone has the success they have worked for at their Fair and more importantly were able to see many old friends and make some new ones in the process.

Remember to plan for our national show at the North American in November and watch for more details as the show releases its schedule and entry requirements.  We will as always be holding a membership meeting in conjunction with this show and I look forward to seeing as many members as possible

If you have any questions, suggestions, concerns or even complaints feel free to contact me

Letter from the President

It is my pleasure to announce that NCWGA will be hosting our 2021 national show at the North American Livestock Exposition in November in Kentucky.  The board has been working hard to be able to return the NCWGA as the recognized breed association for their natural colored show and Kate Lowder, our Secretary will be serving as Show Superintendent

We have also removed the requirement for exhibitors to pay an additional entry fee of $10.00 for this show and hope as many members will be able to attend and exhibit as possible.  There will be additional premiums in the open show, the junior show as well as for the natural colored fleece show.  It should be a great show and hopefully we can turn out a lot of animals and show the folks at the North American how great Natural Colored sheep and fleeces truly are. The North American will only accept NCWGA registrations papers for this show.

In other happenings the Board discussed and believes it is time to discontinue having regional directors as with more access and ability to communicate for preparing for regional and national shows these positions no longer are necessary and quite often have not been filled.  If anyone has any input about the regional positions let either myself, Kate or any other board member know so we can evaluate this matter moving forward.

Finally the Board is saddened by the fact Kammy Johnson will not be able to serve as Vice President any longer due to other time commitments. I personally want to thank Kammy for her years of service and know the board will miss her input at our meetings.  She will no doubt remain active with natural colored sheep and continue to support NCWGA.  Accordingly if anyone is interested in stepping up and serving NCWGA in this position or knows of someone that might be interested please contact Kate Lowder.  The pay is not very good (zero) but we do enjoy working with each other and serving our entire membership!

/s/John Merlau

President NCWGA

At the time you are reading these notes I am hopefully the weather has greatly improved because as I write we have approximately a foot of snow on the ground and more expected. Much of the country is in worse shape than here in Indiana which makes continued lambing difficult at best. Snow to contend with, frozen water and everything else that comes with winter lambing! The good news is Spring always comes sooner or later.

With Spring comes the early sales and just as important entries for the May and June sales. I want to remind everyone that the Midwest Sale in June will again host the NCWGA national sale.
I want to thank Dave Julius for being our “point person” at the Midwest Sale and working with the sale committee with all necessary preparations. I hope many of our members will be able to consign or attend and support those that are consigning. There are always quality natural colored sheep in this sale. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Covid does not raise its ugly head and prevent any of the shows and sales from taking place this season.

There will also again be several private on line sales of excellent natural colored sheep with Pines End, Wolf Brothers and others no doubt which I would encourage you to follow and support.

Again if you have any suggestions or concerns feel free to let me know as the NCWGA most of all has always been and will continue to serve all breeders of natural colored sheep.


Stay safe

John

Spring has or will soon be arriving. Here in Indiana as much of the lower Midwest we have had a record mild winter season which has been a blessing. Hopefully everyone has or is concluding a successful lambing season and early lambs are already weaned. I know I have already got my on some of the lambs here for show lambs.

The 2020 national Show will be at Estes Park in Colorado in early June this summer and details are being completed. Watch the website for more information and especially for entries and deadlines which will be posted soon. The second National Sale will be held, also June in conjunction with the Midwest Stud Ram Sale.

The Board is currently looking for anyone interested in serving as a regional director in the regions that currently have open positions. The information is also on the website and anyone interested in serving should contact Kate Lowder, our secretary. The regional directors provide a valuable service to NGWGA by promoting natural colored sheep and fleeces in their area and keeping the board informed about local and regional events. I would urge you to apply for on of these positions if you are in an open region.

It is also time to renew memberships and start getting those new lambs registered for the Spring and Summer shows and sales. The registry has a quick turnaround time, but it is never good to wait until the last minute so to speak.

I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming shows and sales this Spring and on into the Summer.

As always if you have any questions concerns or simply have a question feel free to contact me. My information is on the website and if I cannot answer your question or handle your concern I will find someone that can. Finally there is as many of you may have already seen a email scam concerning requests to purchase gift cards for NCWGA as well as many other organizations. These will be emails from likely my name or Kate Lower’s name but the email address is different and these if you receive one are as said a TOTAL scam. Be alert for one of these regarding any group, school church or other organization you might be associated with.

It has been an unbelievably mild winter season so far here in Central Indiana as opposed to some of the harsh weather experienced in much of the rest of the Country. It has been a long time since I could recall a Christmas day when it was warmer than it was on either Halloween or Thanksgiving! Lots of winter still to go, but so far January has been a pleasant surprise.

I hope seasonal lambing has been going well for everyone and lots you have lots of healthy new natural colored lambs bouncing around. I know we are getting prepared to start lambing the later bred ewes for February lambs.

With the start of another year just a reminder NCWGA dues should be paid or be sure and pay these when you register your first lambs this year. Plans are still underway for the 2020 national show and the 2020 national sale will again be held in conjunction with the Midwest Stud Ram Sale in late June. If you recommend you get your lamb registrations in as soon as you are able to determine the show r sale lambs in order to avoid any last minute rush and another show and sale season starts.

Congratulations to all the winners at the North American Show which traditionally caps off the show year. The Board will be reviewing last year as to registrations and transfers and it appears both continue to increase. As always if you have any questions or concerns feel free to call, write or send Kate or any member of the Board an email and if we cannot answer your question we will find out someone who can. Also be sure and periodically check the NCWGA website for news and updates. Articles and photos are always welcome as to the happenings in your area

I just recently returned from the North American Livestock Exposition (NAILE). The Natural Colored Show this year was on Sunday and there were many exceptionally good sheep exhibited. The Junior Show also had many top entries. Congratulations to all the winners in both shows and to our Junior Coordinators for another good futurity season. Results of the entire show will be elsewhere in this issue of the Banner.

The NAILE is generally accepted as the grand finale of the show season with numerous breeds holding their national show there.

It is now time for everyone to turn their attention to the completion of winter and spring lambing as well as to review plans for the coming year not only for shows, festivals and sales but for the flock in general as to culling, future stud ram prospects and a review of what we accomplished in 2019 and what are goals are for 2020. I hope everyone was able to accomplish their goals for 2019 regardless of if that was at a local or county fair or a State fair or National show as much as just the improvements desired in everyone’s total flock and operation

As another year draws to a close I again want to express my thanks for the continued work and support of the entire board of NCWGA in making 2019 a success with increased registrations and transfers in addition to our first national sale and another successful national show. Plans for 2020 national show are underway and more details will be forthcoming.

In closing I hope everyone has/had a safe and blessed holiday season and time spent with family and friends as well as resolve to make 2020 even a better year for your flock and for NCWGA

Many of the Midwest State Fairs have already concluded, including, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Indiana. The Illinois State Fair had what I believe was their first natural colored show and had an exceptionally large show with great quality. The shows at Indiana and Ohio also featured some very top animals. Congratulations to all the exhibitors and winners at all the State Fairs and the fairs that are still coming up.

Early Fall lambing is now under way and it is always exciting to welcome the new crop of lambs regardless of when you choose to start your lambing each year. Everyone should also make sure your prior year lambs that you plan on retaining get timely registered.

It is also time to prepare for the later shows and Expositions that will be coming up and I wish everyone great success in any of these shows you plan on attending.

As always if you have any suggestions, questions or concerns feel free to contact myself or Kate Lowder. Much information can be found on our website as well as contact information for the Registry and all officers and board members. It is always nice to hear from NCWGA members especially about any local or area events involving natural colored sheep or fleeces.