Welcome to the South Carolina Sheep Industries Association. Our goal is educate, encourage and empower our members to raise, show, market or just enjoy their sheep, lambs and goats. We offer programs to help beginning and existing Sheep (and Goat owners) raise healthy and productive small ruminants. We have quite a diverse group- sheep for dairy and some goats for wool and everything else you can imagine!
Whether you're thinking about getting a couple of goats as family pets or working into a microdairy, our classes and members can help you along the way. There's a growing interest in family farms to raise their own meat and milk as well as an interest in wool. Our upcoming conference has so much information in all aspects. The fee is $45 for non-members or $20 for members.
Our membership fee is $25 and renewals are due. Use the link at the bottom of this page to join or renew. A PayPal link is available for your convience. You will receive the ASI Magazine, newsletter and discounts on conferences and classes.
Our Parent Association is the American Sheep Industry. Many of the state associations are including goats (as we have always done in the past) because both species are small ruminants. To help with internet searches, we will use the name-South Carolina Sheep and Goat.
Visit 
for advertising events and to hold live and virtual meetings
Visit for the children and youth in 4H featuring Dairy Sheep and Goats
Upcoming Events
'In person' events are being scheduled check for Covid restrictions.
Saturdays in October- Our Vice President Kathy McCaskill is having A Day on the Farm Here's her website for more info- www.oldmccaskillfarm.com/
Prayer in the Sheep Pasture, November 2nd at Whispering Pines in Seneca. For more info- https://www.facebook.com/events/2512525429047476/
Whispering Pines Farm is still doing training for sheep care, handling, milking and cheese making for families and individuals by appointment, for more info-www.dairysheepdeb.com or https://wpstables.com/
Our Annual meeting and Conference will be virtual this year. Save the date- November 15 from 2pm-4pm for the conference and the business meeting to follow. To sign, go to the PayPal link at the bottom of this page. You can pay membership dues and conference fees at the same time. When you pay for conference, you will receive a link and instructions for the Webinar. Video previews on our new Facebook page- www.facebook.com/sc.sheep.goat
Send in those membership dues.
Great news- help for South Carolina Sheep Farmers. Wool, Lambs, Sheep, Dairy- Eligible for CFAP 2 Payments.
American sheep and wool producers will see direct benefits from a second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP-2) payments that were announced in September by President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.
“The American Sheep Industry Association had been assured by officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that a second round of CFAP funding was coming, and that America’s sheep and wool producers would be eligible for payments through the additional funding,” said ASI President Benny Cox.
In South Carolina, most of our farmers have already been approved and paid for over 2,900 CFAP 1 applications which disbursed over $22.5 million as of August 5, 2020. I know many of you have applied for CFAP 2 and hope you will help spread the word to our fellow farmers.
These explanations are helpful but lengthy. We listed dairy first, because it’s new for small ruminants with this second round of payments and because we’re asking for your involvement. The order is dairy, wool and livestock. We have some FAQ’s at the very end to clear up some of the confusion about what’s eligible in regard to sheep. The direct links are listed at the top of each category.
Eligible Dairy Commodities
Cow milk and goat milk are both listed eligible for CFAP 2. Sheep milk is approved but not yet listed. The link is www.farmers.gov/cfap/dairy
CFAP 2 payments are available for eligible producers of dairy commodities categorized as either price trigger or sales based. Goat milk is sales based. Small Ruminants have a much lower amount of milk compared to cows but command a much higher price per pound! It’s a better option to be sales based.
Sheep milk was not listed. SC Sheep President Debbie Webster is working hard to get it listed. She called contacts in Washington, D.C. and was told that unequivocally sheep milk is approved, but some producers in other states contacted Debbie for help.
Their local agents wouldn’t allow it! Here’s how you can help! If enough FSA agents call in to the USDA office in DC, they will send out an update. ASI worked diligently to get all age sheep approved not just lambs as originally listed as eligible. USDA send out an updated eligibility list!
Contact your local FSA agents across the US. Ask why sheep milk isn’t listed as eligible and see if it’s being approved. We can definitely argue that it’s not listed as ineligible and that list is exhaustive. Since goat milk is listed as eligible, it would appear as an unintended oversight by USDA in not listing sheep milk. The USDA wanted to include, “Anything animal used for food, fur, feather, or fiber!” is covered.
Eligible Wool Commodities
Our wool growers, here’s the direct link- www.farmers.gov/cfap/wool and what you need to know-
CFAP 2 payments are available for eligible producers of wool, which is categorized as a sales commodity. Payment calculations will use a sales-based approach, where wool producers are paid based on five payment gradations associated with their 2019 sales.
Payments for wool will be based on the producer’s 2019 sales of eligible commodities in a declining block format using the following payment factors, and will be equal to:
1. The amount of the producer’s eligible sales in calendar year 2019, multiplied by
2. The payment rate for that range.
Eligible Livestock Commodities
Livestock eligible for CFAP 2 includes: beef cattle, hogs and pigs, and lambs and sheep.
For lambs and sheep, payments will be equal to:
The producer’s highest owned inventory of eligible lambs and sheep, excluding breeding stock, on a date selected by the producer from April 16, 2020, through August 31, 2020,
Multiplied by the payment rate of $27 per head.
For the link, go to https://www.farmers.gov/cfap/livestock
We know there’s been some confusion on what’s accepted. We have some FAQ’s listed below for clarity. Read all!
Replacement Animals
Q: Are “replacement stock intended for breeding” cattle, hogs/pigs, sheep, and other livestock eligible?
A: Yes. All females that have not produced offspring and males who have not started breeding females are eligible for inclusion in inventory. Breeding stock such as cows, bulls, sows, boars, ewes, and rams are not eligible for CFAP 2. Culled cows are also not eligible for CFAP 2.
Breeding Stock
Q: Why isn’t breeding stock eligible for CFAP 2?
A: The payments to livestock are focused on market inventory because there are limited funds available for CFAP 2 and the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) authority that fully funds the program is meant to assist with costs associated with market disruptions. Breeding stock is typically kept for many years and therefore their value is less likely to be impacted by temporary price impacts than lambs or replacement stock.
Dairy Sheep
Q: I have dairy sheep and my FSA agent told me this is for meat sheep. Is it only for meat sheep?
A: No. USDA lists eligible sheep as “not breeding stock meaning not bred.” No breeds or eventual purpose is listed as ineligible. If you think about it, most rams (even dairy sheep breeds) will be used for meat. Some ewes will be culled and used for meat. In the same way, ewes of a meat breed could be used for milk and we see this all the time! Entry level dairies would desire to use every lamb for dairy, but as you grow, culling is inevitable. The USDA is not concerned with the purpose of the sheep just the current eligible status of your flock. Hopefully, most local agents will help new producers figure this one out.
Most of our Events are discounted or free to SC Sheep Members- join today- scroll down to bottom of this page for a link.
Whispering Pines Farm is still doing training for sheep care, handling, milking and cheese making for families and individuals by appointment, for more info-
https://wpstables.com/
What's New in the Sheep Industry?
SC Sheep President, Debbie Webster represented our state in Washington, D.C. She spoke with our Congressmen and Senators about Sheep and the struggles of farming, dairy and Homesteaders in our industry! Updates to follow!
ASI Supports NEPA Modernization
On Tuesday, the American Sheep Industry Association presented oral comments to the Council for Environmental Quality on the administration’s proposed National Environmental Policy Act modifications. In the second public hearing – this one held at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. before an audience largely opposed to the changes – ASI supported the revisions.
“NEPA has a tremendous impact on our industry,” said ASI’s Chase Adams. “Nationally, it is the basis of litigation that for over a decade has sought to close our primary Agricultural Research Station in Dubois, Idaho, and has been abused in an effort to curtail predator control activities undertaken by USDA Wildlife Services.
“And regionally, our Western producers are intimately familiar with the NEPA reviews undertaken on their federal grazing permits. This well-intentioned regulation has become a costly endeavor for our members, creating endless opportunity for more litigation, intimidation and de-facto judicial management of our natural resources.”
Specific provisions of the modernization supported by ASI include; setting a time and page limit for a completed Environmental Impact Statement, expanding the use of Categorical Exclusions and Findings of No Significant Impact where appropriate, and greater notice and input from stakeholders, states, local government and tribes.
As ASI emphasized, “NEPA decision making should be driven by actual impact, not the fear of litigation.”
NEPA comments are due on March 10, and can be submitted online at the Public Lands Council website at http://publiclandscouncil.org/advocacy/.
Most SC Sheep Producers know the struggle for getting lambs processed during this Covid Crisis. Meat processors are taking on so much beef, they can't work in lambs! There's a huge problem out in the Western states too. There was Senators and Congressman fighting for sheep farmers and ASI was right in there helping! They have DOJ looking into it and there's a pause on the sale for now. Here's part of an article from ASI. About the Western Lamb Market Crisis-
DTN – JBS, the Brazilian meat company, is planning to convert a Colorado lamb processing facility to process beef cuts, further limiting processing facilities for the sheep industry in western states, according to local media reported.
JBS USA Holdings Inc. was expected to close on its purchase of the Mountain States Rosen lamb processing facility in Greeley, Colorado, last Friday but senators and House members from five western states have asked the Justice Department to intervene in the purchase.
"It is our understanding that JBS intends to permanently destroy all of the lamb processing equipment as soon as this week," the lawmakers led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim last Wednesday.
The Sheep Industry News. You will receive this newsletter by joining SC Sheep which automatlically makes you a member of ASI
Debbie's webinar for the American Sheep Industry about starting a family farm on limited acreage was very well attended by listeners from all over the US. It had more than 500 attendees!