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Pullin's Hampshires, Waterloo, IA (2026)

06/07/2026

OUR HISTORY
MIDWEST STUD RAM SALE/NATIONAL HAMPSHIRE SALE

It’s June. It’s hot. It must be Midwest Stud Ram Sale time!

We always enjoyed going to the Midwest Stud Ram Sale and did so for many years until into the early 2000’s. Even if we did not consign, we continued to go for the sale if only to enjoy one of the wonderful deep-fried tenderloin sandwiches at the food booth by the Swine Barn!

Of course, this sale is remarkable for always being “100 degrees in the shade”, although we can recall one year when it was cooler and didn’t stop raining. The weather was always remarkable for some reason!

Now that we can watch the sale online, being present at the sale has not been mandatory. And, we have had sheep friends purchase sheep on our behalf before we could do so online.

Included here are pictures we found in our archives of our entries in the sale, a picture of a memorable ewe we purchased there and the complete copy of the 20th (1965) Midwest Sale catalog as published in the Sheep Breeder magazine. Due to the Pullin 1965 production sale (see our April 24 FB post), we did not consign to any other sales that year.

In regard to the photos, many are undated but run from the late 1980’s to around 2006. We were sadly not able to identify any earlier sale pictures.

The copy we found of the 1965 sale catalog was placed in its own special file folder by Blanche. She was always recording things; and writing down all the sale prices, the purchaser and the placing of each sheep sold was something she could do to stay engaged in the Hampshire sale. Certainly, Don encouraged her to capture all the information she could so he could pour over the information after the sale. She did not record sale results for any of the other breeds, but we included all the pages for those interested.

It is noteworthy in the sale catalog that all four of Oklahoma State University’s entries were sired by a Pullin ram. In addition, Don and Blanche did not go home empty-handed. They purchased a Kleinert ram from Illinois that was listed as a reference sire in the Pullin 1967 production sale catalog. They also bought a Snell ewe from Missouri.

We hope you enjoy this snapshot of Midwest Stud Ram Sale memories as they are cranking up down in Sedalia this week for yet another memorable event!

05/31/2026

OUR HISTORY
NATIONAL CORN BELT SALE – PART 2 (1990's to 2009)

As noted in the previous post, the National Corn Belt Sale started in 1951. The sale was always on Memorial Day Weekend (Friday and Saturday) which meant that consignors and buyers that did not have all their crops in yet sometimes had trouble making it to Iowa. Crops were always a big conversation topic in addition to updates on the recent lambing season.

Also, it can be warm that time of year; but it can also be chilly. We all recall the year the sale moved to the open-air Swine Barn (by the late 1970’s the sale permanently moved to the Iowa State Fairgrounds sheep barn) … not everyone brought the right clothes for that experience so there were a lot of chattering teeth and many steaming cupfuls of hot coffee were sold!

Our photo archives for the sales from around 1990 through the final year around 2010 are more extensive than for last week's post. In addition, the photos from 1993 through 2008, although not complete, are well documented thanks to Larry Mead labeling the backs of each proof. We also have complete sale catalogs for some of the 2000 years. It was interesting to recognize that the sheep sold to breeders as far away as California, Utah, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

The photos we are sharing here show several champions and reserve champions as well as some Supreme Champions in the 2000’s when there were multiple breeds. We also included our ads from the sale catalogs as well as the supreme champions page when we were honored to be highlighted there.

We hope you enjoy the pictures we included here. Information about each animal and the buyer, when available, is in the captions.

05/23/2026

OUR HISTORY
NATIONAL CORN BELT SALE – PART 1

The National Corn Belt Stud Ram Show and Sale started in 1951 with Hampshires, Southdowns, Cheviots, Corriedales, Oxfords, Shorpshires and Suffolks. One of our founders, Don, helped start the sale and helped manage it with a group of other Iowa Hampshire breeders (including AHSA Executive Secretary Roy Gilman) through the late 1960’s. The top selling ram that first year was R.E. Pullin’s Sons champion yearling Hampshire ram that sold to Leora Steadman, Moberly, MO for $700. The high selling ewe was the champion Shropshire consigned by E.H. (Ernie) Rotter & Son to Everett E. Glasgow, Monticello, IL also for $700. There were 87 rams and 60 ewes sold to breeders as far away as Texas, Kentucky and New York.

Our archives include the complete results for the following with sales to breeders as far away as California, Texas, Canada, Delaware and Louisiana (consigners noted when provided):
• 1951 – “National Corn Belt Stud Ram Show & Sale”, Des Moines, IA (details above)
• 1954 – 153 sheep (breeds & rams/ewes not designated) – Top selling sheep went to Leora Steadman, Moberly, MO for $700 and second highest went to Doak Brothers, Hallsville, MO for $660
• 1957 – Marked as the “1st Annual Corn Belt Hampshire Show & Sale” at the Iowa State Fairgrounds – 58 sheep (rams/ewes not designated) – Top selling sheep went to Oklahoma A&M College, Stillwater, OK for $700
• 1959 National Cornbelt Hampshire Show & Sale – 67 rams and 14 ewes – Top selling ram was the reserve champion from Nichols Brothers to Ammie E. Wilson, Plano, TX for $1,000 and champion ram was from Green Meadow Farms and sold to Heggemeier Sheep Farm, Kirkland, IL for $725
• 1960 National Cornbelt Hampshire Show & Sale – 57 rams and 30 ewes – Champion ram sold to Ted D. Artz & Sons, Marcus, IA for $410
• 1961 National Cornbelt Hampshire Show & Sale – 61 rams and 48 ewes – Champion ram sold to Heggemeier Sheep Farm for $700 and second highest selling ram sold to Oklahoma State University for $500
• 1963 National Cornbelt Hampshire Ram & Ewe Sale – 53 rams and 36 ewes – Champion ram (lamb) and the 1st-place yearling ram sold to Ammie Wilson, Plano, TX for $1,425 and $625, respectively
• 1964 Corn Belt Sale – 55 rams and 26 ewes – Top-selling ram went to Willobee Farm, Libertyville, IL for $530; and champion ram sold to Carl Peters & Son and Green Ridge Farm, Panora and Jefferson, IA for $500
• 1965 Corn Belt Sale – 43 rams and 36 ewes – Champion ram sold to Ammie Wilson, Plano, TX for $800
• 1966 Corn Belt Sale – 59 rams and 39 ewes – Champion ram sold to Irwin R. Allgaier, Udall, KS for $510

At one point in possibly the early 1970’s, the sale moved to the Marshall County Fairgrounds in Marshalltown, Iowa. We included some undated and unmarked pictures here that we recognize were taken outside that sheep barn.

The sale then moved back to the Iowa State Fairgrounds at some point where it continued until the early 2000’s. Larry Mead of The Sheep Breeder and Sheepman magazine managed the sale through sometime in the 2000’s when Greg Deakin of The Banner took it over for a few years until its end.

During the Corn Belt Sale’s run, it was joined by other separate small and large sales at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in the 1970’s through 1990’s including a state Suffolk Sale (later melded into the Corn Belt Sale with other breeds), the Hogg-Hubbard Sale and several others. It became a significant draw for breeders across the nation, and our sheep friends still talk about what a tremendous event it was to enter and attend.

Included in this post are some pictures we know or suspect come from National Corn Belt Sales:
• Two ram pictures taken outside the Marshall County Fairgrounds sheep barn.
• A ram picture marked as a 1958 junior Hampshire ram at the Corn Belt Sale.
• A sale ram picture (there are numbers on his back) taken at the Iowa State Fairgrounds that appears to be from the 1950’s.
• A series of photos kept together in our archives that include pictures of sheep at a sale at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and others from a photo shoot at the farm. They appear to all be the same sheep and were in an envelope postmarked 1970.

Next week we will share Corn Belt Sale pictures and pages from sale catalogs from the 1980’s forward.

05/09/2026

OUR HISTORY
MOTHER’S DAY: A CELEBRATION OF OUR GREATEST MOMS

On this special weekend celebrating mothers, we want to highlight some of the greatest moms of our flock. As we considered this, we realized that while we have many pictures of stud rams through our history (although we again regret that we did not put information on the backs of the photos), there are not many of our stud ewes.

It seems logical that we focus a lot of attention on the rams considering the number of lambs out of them each year as opposed to ewes that have one to three annually (although that is changing with the introduction of embryo transfers). We spend a lot of time considering the changes we want/need to make in our flocks with the broader introduction of a ram’s genetics. It tends to be less impactful in the short-term with our ewes and happens more over time making it more challenging to track outside computer programs.

Thus, we find that we are focusing this post on more recent lines or mothers/daughters/sons:
• “36” – This outstanding mid 1970’s stud ewe was extremely accomplished in the show ring (champion at multiple state fairs and Supreme Champion Ewe at a regional show), and we considered through the 1980’s and 1990’s that all the top sheep went back to her in some way. Although her number was 36 accompanied by a year we do not recall, all we have to say is “36” and we all know exactly what ewe we are referencing. Her most accomplished daughter both in the show ring (multiple championships) and the lambing barn was “48” (again, the year in her name is immaterial).
• Herrig 0737 – We purchased this stud ewe as a yearling when she was champion at the 2011 National Hampshire Sale in Sedalia. She was very accomplished for us in the show ring but stood out even more in the lambing barn. Her first ewe lamb “Jakeorita” (see below) in 2014 and daughter “JLo” in 2017 were in our show flocks. Her final daughter in 2019, “Olivia,” won the February ewe lamb class at the Iowa and Minnesota state fairs and was 4th at the NAILE. In addition, “Olivia” excelled as a yearling in 2020 where she was champion at the “Save the Summer Show”; and she placed 3rd at the NAILE behind the champion ewe. We also showed a son of the Herrig ewe, “Oscar,” as a lamb in 1918 and used him as a stud ram that year.
• “Jakeorita” Pullin 1409 – The first daughter of the Herrig ewe in 2014, she was 2nd January ewe lamb at the 2014 NAILE & 4th as a yearling and consistently placed at the top of the state fair classes. Her daughters “Jackie” (she and her daughter “Isabella” excelled in the show ring), “Jill” (see more below) and “Julia” all made significant impacts on our flock. Although “Julia” (2018) did not make the show flock, her son Pullin 21-54 was sold to Held Hampshires where his progeny have received significant accolades.
• “Jill” Pullin 1772 – The second daughter of “Jakeorita,” was reserve champion at Minnesota as a yearling in 2018 and 3rd February ewe lamb at the NAILE in 2017. Her twins “Jessica” and “Mr. Social” were in our 2021 show flock as lambs. “Mr. Social” was the sire of the very popular “Barbie” in our 2022 and 2023 show flocks as well as “Stacie” in our 2023 and 2024 show flocks.
• “Precious” Pullin 6-18 – We did not show “Precious” or her twin sister (Pullin 5-18) as lambs, but they were our lead yearling ewes in 2019. “Precious” was 2nd yearling at the 2019 Iowa State Fair. Her first lamb was the high-selling yearling ewe in our 2021 online sale, and her 2022 daugher “Venus” was a stand-out in our 2022 and 2023 show flocks.
• “Liz” Tyler Pullin 26-20 – This classy ewe out of “Precious’ Sister” (Pullin 5-18) was reserve champion at the 2021 Iowa State Fair after not being shown as a lamb. But her lambs – always born in March – have been even more outstanding and were always in our show string: “Lily” 2023 and 2024, “Camelot” and “Lancelot” 2024 and “Lydia” 2025 (first at the Iowa and Minnesota state fairs and 4th at the NAILE).

Happy Mother’s Day to our greatest moms and to all you moms out there!

05/05/2026

OUR HISTORY
OUR FRIENDSHIP WITH AMMIE WILSON

As we conducted research for last week’s post covering our 1965 and 1967 production sales, we refreshed our memories of the legendary Miss Ammie Wilson and her outstanding Hampshire sheep flock in Plano, Texas. Ammie was a good friend of Don and Blanche, and she bought sheep in our sales as well as privately. In the spirit of sharing the history of the Hampshire breed in our centennial celebration, we thought it would be appropriate to share a snapshot of Miss Ammie’s history.

Miss Ammie and her husband Dudley began raising Hampshire sheep in 1941 (when Ammie was 61) and exhibited many champions, winning their first championship in 1946 and thousands of blue ribbons over the years. It is noted in a timeline for the Heritage Farmstead Museum that their “peak years of showing sheep was 1949-1968” and that Ammie was “President of the Purebred Sheep Breeders Association” (maybe the AHSA) in 1957. She often stated that her greatest personal achievement was winning first place at the 1952 International Livestock Exposition in Chicago. She was noted by American Hampshire Sheep Association Secretary Roy Gilman as “the most successful and reknown purebred sheep breeder and show woman in the United States and part of Canada and the only one in Texas” during their showing years. The sheep were clearly a passion for her.

As you can see from the pictures here from the 1949 American Royal in Kansas City, they were high-class sheep. And, she must have been extremely persuasive, as she actually got Blanche to hold a sheep in the flock picture while wearing a skirt, nylons and heels! This is only the second time we have ever seen Blanche holding a sheep in a picture let alone in person!

As related by Lloyd Burgener in last week’s post comments, Ammie was a very colorful lady and even wore her full-length mink coat to the winter sales. It was noted on online sites that she was a socialite, philanthropist and skilled poker player with reknown poker parties in her parlor. “Never a Good Girl” is a book inspired by her and her mother; and she was quoted as saying, “Don’t ever let your life get dull!” Needless to say, her life history is celebrated for defying expectations of women in the early 20th century, particularly in agriculture.

Her family’s home in Plano, now named the “Ammie Wilson House,” is part of the Heritage Farmstead Museum and is on the national historic register. The home’s history, as documented in an article we found in “Plano Magazine,” retells a very colorful history of her entire family. Although the purpose of the article is to discuss the home’s design (one bedroom is dedicated to the Hampshire flock’s successes), they add the very interesting history of Ammie and her family:
https://planomagazine.com/heritage-ammie-wilson-design/

According to the article, on August 25, 1968, Ammie and her husband Dudley were in a car accident traveling to the Iowa State Fair. Dudley died in the incident, and Ammie was airlifted back to Dallas. When Ammie was no longer able to care for her farm, the property was donated to an orphanage. She passed away from heart failure at the age of 92 on November 23, 1972. It appears that her flock was disbursed upon her passing, although the museum has a small flock of Hampshires in addition to other farm animals.

We hope you enjoy this flashback to our friend, the memorable Miss Ammie!

Note: All photos are from our flock archives.

04/24/2026

OUR HISTORY
1965 & 1967 PRODUCTION SALES

R.E. Pullin’s Sons held their first production sale in 1965 and another in 1967. In reviewing the items about these sales in our archives, we see how different advertising was at the time.

The full sale catalog for the 1967 event was published in the June “Sheep Breeder and Sheepman” magazine, and they also featured the flock on the magazine cover. This magazine was very widely distributed and considered “the bible” of its day.

In addition, there are multiple pictures of one of the 1967 ram lots that indicates they sent these pictures in the mail to breeders likely with a letter and/or the sale catalog to market the event.

This is all certainly different from today with breeders’ online sales, major in-person sales posted on dedicated websites and livestreamed, FaceBook posts, breeders’ websites and so forth.

It is very interesting to see the Hampshire bloodlines in the sale catalogs. The first page for each lists information about the lot sires including “Jake”, a 1959 Lunsford ram; R.D.N. (Nichols) “Aristocrat”, purchased in the 1962 Corn Belt Sale; and “Hawkeye”, a 1963 Pullin ram. Other sires were from the McCosh, MacCarthy, Kleinert and Roselawn flocks. Two sires are pictured on the last page of the 1967 sale catalog.

Top selling rams in the 1965 sale:
• Lot 27 at $530, a January 23, 1965 ram lamb sold to Henry Mackle in Oklahoma, according to the clerk sheet although a picture included here notes the buyer as “Chester”
• Lot 7 at $510, a December 23, 1963 yearling sold to Whipperwill Farms in New Hampshire
• Lot 3 at $500, a December 20, 1963 yearling that was champion as a lamb at the 1964 Minnesota State Fair and 4th at the National Hampshire Show sold to Kansas State University

Top selling ewes in the 1965 sale:
• Lot 36 at $420, a January 1, 1964 yearling that was champion at the 1964 Minnesota State Fair and sold to Ammie Wilson, a very prominent breeder in Texas
• Lot 41 at $400, a January 9, 1964 yearling sold to Willobee Farms in Illinois

It was noted in the flock’s December 1965 ad in the “Sheep Breeder and Sheepman” magazine that they sold sheep in that production sale to people in 20 states.

Top selling rams in the 1967 sale:
• Lot 16 at $535, a December 28, 1965 yearling ram that was one promoted with photos sent in the mail and sold to Walter Colville in Iowa
• Lot 2 at $300, a December 14, 1965 yearling sold to Heggermeier Sheep Farm in Illinois

Top selling ewes in the 1967 sale:
• Lot 40 at $360, a January 27, 1966 yearling sold to Heggermeier Sheep Farm in Illinois
• Lot 37 at $300, a January 18, 1966 yearling sold to Van Vleck Farm in Connecticut

We included pages from the catalogs that have pictures. As mentioned previously, the 1965 catalog appeared in the June 1965 “Sheepbreeder and Sheepman” magazine; and the flock was featured on the magazine cover which is also attached. There were also several pictures in our archives from the 1967 catalog photo shoot, and we included a sample.

We hope you enjoy this snapshot from our history!

04/19/2026

OUR HISTORY
THE 1960’S SHOW RING

We found just a few pictures dating back to the 1960’s in our archives. Only one is dated, and the other two are estimated to be in that time period. The family took a break from the show ring a few years in the late 1950's and 1960's, so show ring pictures are not as available to share.

Of particular interest is our “cover photo” for this post that includes Mary Esther. Although she was an accomplished showman with her family’s flock in Indiana (as shown in the March 21 post), there were usually too many Pullin showmen around for her to be needed in the show ring … okay, maybe for a large group class. But, she made it into this picture from the Minnesota State Fair … although she does not recall even being at the Minnesota State Fair before the mid 1980’s. This is one of very few Pullin sheep photos where Mary Esther appears.

That brings us to an interesting story of Mary Esther’s show ring skills that probably occurred in the late 1960’s. The guys headed up to the Wisconsin State Fair and got the sheep ready. At that time, you were there for several days and there was often plenty of time to fit the sheep before show day. So, Mary Esther headed up later with the little kids to arrive in time for the show. On show day, they realized they were short a showman for the ewe lamb class (back when it was one showman per sheep), so Mary Esther was asked to pitch in. Ron selected the one he wanted to show and left the smaller ewe lamb for Mary Esther. Low and behold, not only did Mary Esther win the class, but she showed the Champion Ewe! As it goes, somehow, they never needed Mary Esther to show her again in the individual class … funny how that happens. Actually, could that be the ewe Mary Esther is holding in the “cover” photo? We aren’t sure since the photo is undated. However, it all makes for a fun flash-back story!

We hope you enjoy this peek into our 1960’s show strings … we are currently doing some research into our late 1950’s to mid 1960’s production sales. It’s fun to see the bloodlines and sheep flock names that bring back a lot of memories!

04/11/2026

OUR HISTORY
RAM PROSPECTS IN ENGLAND

In our archives, we found an envelope containing a letter dated January 27, 1930, with accompanying pictures from a livestock agent in England offering rams for sale. We want to share all of this, as we believe the letter and photographs offer a very interesting look into Hampshires in England at the time and also show how their sheep were marketed to potential buyers “on our side of the pond". Note that the Hampshire sheep breed was developed in the county of Hampshire and surrounding counties in England in the early to mid 1800’s.

The envelope and letter indicate Russell, one of our founders, apparently corresponded with this livestock agent regarding prospects for sale, although we do not believe he purchased any sheep from England. The letterhead and signature indicate that Cecil J. Twist was working for or with E. Clifton-Brown, Esq., at Burnham Grove, Burnham, Bucks. (Buckinghamshire). An internet search found three limited pieces of information.

First, Burnham Grove is an “historic estate” near the village of Burnham with a “grand house” built in 1880. A portion of the property is or was recently used as an event venue with “acres of gardens”.

Second, the name "E. Clifton-Brown, Esq." appears in historical records and publications as a notable individual in early 20th-century British society involved in public service and political affairs, including a notable 1930 debate in parliament. In addition, he was awarded a bronze medal by the National Pig Breeders Association in 1929-1930, suggesting an interest or involvement in agriculture and livestock breeding. Per the letterhead, they also raised Red Poll cattle and Berkshire pigs.

Finally, Cecil J. Twist was noted only as a cattle agent, appearing with a black cow in a well-known 1937 photograph by John Topham. He was “captured in rural England wearing plus fours and a flat cap, representing a snapshot of 1930's British rural life”.

The captions on the pictures included here are from the backs of the photos (as we could decipher the writing) and assign each ram a number to relate them to the information in the letter. Prices for each animal are included on the letter’s last page. We included all photos, although some taken of the same ram are similar. The back of each photo is stamped with “From Burnham Grove Estate, Burnham, Bucks.” and also “Photographed by Eric Guy & H. J. Milligan, Press Photographers, 22a, Waylen St., Reading”.

We hope you enjoy this peek into 1930's Hampshires!

04/03/2026

EASTER BLESSINGS

There are several photos throughout our collection that bring to mind Easter and all that comes with Spring on the farm, and we wanted to share them with you in this post ...

Ron and his Uncle Edwin with a Cheviot lamb circa 1940 ... is there anything more precious than a child with a small lamb ...

Mary Esther's Aunt Hazel wearing what could possibly be construed as an Easter bonnet ... it is quite unique ...

A group of ewes in the apple orchard in the early 1960's ...

A commerical lamb with unique facial markings ...

A lamb climbing a stack of hay ...

We wish you all a blessed Easter and the renewal that comes with Spring!

04/02/2026

Our ad in the new edition of the Hampshire “Breed Type” magazine as we celebrate some of the strongest females in our recent history!

Pullin's Hampshires

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