Robert Dinsmore:
Multi-faceted Sheep Man

When Robert Dismore won the 1994 Proficiency Award for Sheep Production from the FFA, he spent several weeks touring agricultural operations in Eastern Europe. It was the time of the fall of the Soviet Empire and reunification of Germany - and gave the teenager an experience few of his friends in Frederick, Maryland could image.

After returning, he left Maryland again, just long enough to get a degree from the University of Kentucky. With sheepskin in hand, he moved back home and became a full-time employee at his family's New Holland dealership. While he spends most of his time selling tractors and other farm equipment, Robert is also involved in the store's latest venture - taking over Sheepman Supply Company. A fixture for fifty years in Orange, VA, the Dinsmore's purchased it in 1998 and moved the store to Frederick, making it the main source of sheep supplies in the region.

About ¼ of the dealership's showroom has been given over to Sheepman Supply. Those who make the trip to the store find everything from vet supplies to harnesses, tattoo digits, and sheep tags. A large selection of books covering all aspects of sheep farming is displayed, too. Titles are as practical as Profitable Sheep Farming and Managing Your Ewe to some books with more indefinable topics, like My Sheepdog was a Redneck, but We Fixed Him. Other books dealing with sheepdogs and sheepdog training occupy an entire row of the bookshelf.

Most of the business for Sheepman Supply is mail order, however. Dinsmore is excited about the project and is pleased with its progress. "We're finishing our first mail order catalog. It should be ready to send out in February or March." Using digital cameras and scanners, the team designing the catalog is able to include a photo of most things for sale. "I don't know a whole lot about how it works," he grins, while one of the staff demonstrates the photo layout. "I leave that to the experts. It's looking really good, especially for a first-time effort."

When the workday ends, Dinsmore maintains a flock of 100 ewes on 16 acres near Frederick. "I cull them pretty hard to make them self-sufficient, so they can lamb on their own." But he appreciates that brood ewes need extra feed. "I supplement their grazing with straight shell corn and free-choice minerals." His land is at the edge of the Catoctin Mountains, and winter storms can bring fierce winds and bitter temperatures. "We built a 100x100 barn a few years ago, and I stack hay bales around the open end. I would lose more to the cold otherwise."

While at UK, he joined the livestock judging team, something that helped him recognize good breeding techniques. "I got an appreciation for it. I really like to judge livestock." He coaches the local 4H club in livestock judging, hoping to transfer his understanding to the kids. "It's kind of a time-stealer, but it's worth it. I enjoy it, but it takes up a lot of time."

He's happy to find that he's developing a reputation for livestock judging and is getting calls from more shows. He judged sheep at the Eastern National Show at Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium in 1999, and is asked to participate in judging other animals, as well, although he still gets more calls for sheep judging than for other livestock.

A purist where confirmation is concerned, Dinsmore likes the new requirement that Shropshires must be shown slick shorn. Without a covering of wool, the animal's true confirmation is clear. "That means judges are selecting better, sounder sheep." It's something he'd like to see become a trend. "I'd like to see all breeds go that way."

He's judged all of the usual classes - sheep, hogs, pigs, and beef steers - and one most unusual class. Holstein steers. "All of us who were judging weren't too sure about this. There were 60-70 head in the class. They weighed about 600 pounds instead of 1200. We were able to find one that had some bulk to it, so we could award a ribbon. I never did find out what they do with Holstein steers."

Like other sheep farmers, he's dismayed at the low cost of wool. The prices were so low that Maryland cancelled its wool pull in 1999. "The price was 10 cents a pound last year. Fees are taken out of that. You needed 2 ½ sheep to make $1, and it costs $3 to have one shorn. It gets a little discouraging. I have a stockpile of 10 bags of 200 pounds each in my barn. One ton, waiting to know where to go with it."

On the brighter side, he concentrates on meat breeds, so the wool market has less of an impact on him. He's not elated at the price of meat, but can live with it. "I had three ewes that had problems lambing that I sold for about $70 a head. Out of an old cull ewe, that's not bad." Smaller lambs can bring over $1 a pound in the right market. "Those are popular with Greek cooks. They like smaller, more tender lambs. But the carcass weight of those lambs isn't even 20 pounds."

Frederick is on the western fringe of the urban development corridor between Washington and Baltimore. The farm equipment business is seeing more interest in lawn and garden tractors than heavy farm machines. To the north is the Amish farming country of Pennsylvania, far enough from the reach of Philadelphia to remain rural. Dinsmore expects that the region's farms will continue to survive, with the small herds of sheep grown for breeding and meat paying for themselves, but not much more.
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