Ambassador Highlight - Mace Lambert
Southern States Carcass Show Winners
Congratulations to Jordan Hampton with the Overall Champion Carcass Lamb. Jordan won the open division along with Taylor Todd, who entered the Reserve Champion Lamb. Congratulations to Vivian Stephenson for entering the Champion Carcass Lamb in the youth division. She was followed by Wylie Winters with the Reserve Champion in the youth division. Below is the link to the results.
RESULTS
The shaded blue section had lambs with less than 0.1 backfat. Therefore, they were unable to be scored. The carcass evaluation class is a learning opportunity for everyone in meat animals. It is also important to note that while the dressing percentage appears to be more than 60% in some cases, this was calculated with the heads left on for identification purposes. This will reduce the dressing percentage by a few points, but overall the Dorper meat lambs did not disappoint.
There will be a a webinar with Dr. Andrew Weaver later to come, as well as an article in the Dorper Report.
Southern States Show & Sale
Ransom steps down from president to general board member
Dear Members,
With mixed emotions, I write to inform you that I will be stepping down as President of the American Dorper Sheep Breeders Society (ADSBS) and transitioning to a general board member position, effective immediately.
In accordance with Article IV, Section 6.4 of our bylaws, a vacancy in the Office of the President shall be filled by the Vice President. As such, Sharon Hollman—elected by her peers as Vice President in December—will assume the role of President, effective immediately, and serve for the remainder of 2025. A new Vice President will be elected at the July Board meeting.
As some of you may have heard, I have been invited by the Trump-Vance Administration to serve as the Administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The Agency has more than 8,000 personnel in the critical mission of protecting public health, including all inspection, regulatory and non-regulatory activities, and broader strategic plans. I am honored by this opportunity to serve our nation in this capacity. While I will be commuting to Washington, D.C., our family and team will continue to maintain our farm in northwest Arkansas.
I could not have accepted this new role without the unwavering support and encouragement of Jennifer and Adelaide, as well as the capable and dedicated team at RR Dorpers.
I remain confident in the future of the ADSBS—its financial health, organizational strength, and executive leadership team. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your President.
In service,
Justin Ransom
Transition to the new Digital Dorper within sight!
The ADSBS will begin transitioning to the new Digital registry on July 21. There will be a number of changes and updates as we go through this process with you. Please stay tuned on the website and social media (Facebook) for updates. As of July 15, the office will hold all registration papers for the week of the July 14 - July 18. That week will be used to complete all registrations in ABRI and for ABRI to export our files to Digital Dorper.
The office will have access to Digital Dorper as of July 21. We anticipate that a small group of breeders will have access within 1 to 2 weeks after that, and by August 11 all members should have access to their own accounts. We will communicate this rollout by the end of July as we get all the details in place. We appreciate your patience over the next month as this will be a huge transition for the breed and for each of you.
Mid-America Show & Sale
Managing Resources and Your Pocketbook: the benefits of adding sheep to a cattle operation
Written by: Karla Blackstock, Executive Director of the American Dorper Sheep Breeders’ Society and Dan Quadros, Ph.D., Small Ruminant Specialist with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Rotational grazing remains a necessary management tool to conserve pastures and improve livestock nutrition. Properly rotating livestock improves soil condition, increases pasture utilization, and manages overall animal health.
Adding sheep to a cattle operation can diversify assets with a quick return on investment. Even better, adding Dorpers, which have superior growth performance and carcasses, help achieve these goals much more efficiently.
Lauri Celella of Poetry Dorpers and Amanda Houser, Assistant Manager for the Farm Administration at Tennessee Tech, use Dorper sheep for biological weed control, increase soil organic matter and increase profits.