USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the Sheep and Goat Inventory survey, showing 5.07 million head for all sheep and lambs in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, down 2 percent from 2021.
The inventory also showed decreases of 2 percent from 2021 for breeding sheep at 3.71 million head and ewes 1-year-old and older at 2.91 million head. Market sheep and lambs totaled 1.36 million head, down 3 percent from 2021.
NASS also reported the 2021 lamb crop was 3.16 million head, down 2 percent from 2020, and the 2021 lambing rate was 107 lambs per 100 ewes 1-year-old and older, down 1 percent from 2020.
Sheep death loss during 2021 totaled 200,000 head, down 5 percent from 2020. Lamb death loss decreased 1 percent from 370,000 head to 365,000 head in 2021.
Shorn wool production during 2021 was 22.5 million pounds, down 3 percent from 2020. Sheep and lambs shorn totaled 3.2 million head, down 2 percent from 2020.
