Emenheiser Sheep

05/27/2026

Brooklyn is the ram that unexpectedly roped me back into breeding Suffolks in 2018. After I was able to acquire him from Greylaine Farm, I bought back a few select ewes I had sold to Hoddinott Acres, then the last Suffolks from Littledale Farm , then the few Suffolks I had sold to River's End Sheep to arrive at the 5 foundation Emenheiser ewes for Sunny Fields Farm in 2020. Yesterday, the 2 Brooklyn daughters that were part of that foundation were culled, leaving a flock of over 25 related ewes plus a good number of potential replacement ewe lambs. I’m pretty happy with that decision back in 2018, and to have been able to play a role in all the progress since then!

Emenheiser 18-309 "Brooklyn" with his dam, around the time I started to suspect that he was a stud ram prospect.

05/25/2026

Weaning weights being collected today at Sunny Fields Farm. I’m looking forward to evaluating and sorting their 2026 lambs, all rich in old Emenheiser grass-based genetics, next weekend!

05/21/2026

Had to share this one. Not my picture, but decades of Emenheiser genetic selection at work at Sunny Fields Farm. They have begun the pasture lambing season with their Suffolk yearling ewes, average age ~14 months. The literature is clear; ewes that don’t lamb as yearlings very seldom catch up in lifetime productivity. Their very top end replacements are bred to Suffolk rams, but most are bred to whiteface maternal rams (Ile de France) to ensure lambing ease.

05/19/2026

I’ve been watching this ram at Elm Shade Suffolks for over a year! He’s grown out to be quite an impressive yearling: the combination of beautiful breed character, efficient size, performance recording, thick muscling and easy fleshing that I only wish was more common in U.S. Suffolks. Rumor (rumour?) has it he will be available… stay tuned to their page for details! I “know a guy” who lives pretty close to the border who would be happy to help get him across.

05/16/2026

This is what it’s all about!

05/11/2026

I was saddened to learn of the passing of legendary Suffolk breeder, Ansel Luxford.

I certainly cannot claim to have known him well, only well enough to know I didn’t. For the most part, I pursued a very different direction with Suffolks. I was breeding ewes to the kind of rams he featured in ads to poke fun at other breeders! (Anyone remember “Little Steven” who was found wandering the prairie?) Yet I count the afternoon spent visiting him at his MT ranch in 2006 among my most significant Suffolk memories.

His flock was in its twilight years, and the dead-level hips and tops that I had studied in so many Luxford photos as a kid were not very evident (by his own admission). The pedigrees he detailed that day included far more purchased outcrosses than the masterclass in linebreeding he showed the breed years before.

I have no idea what compelled someone who so actively sought seclusion to meet with a random young breeder who wasn’t likely to buy any sheep. Nor do I have the first clue if he would have remembered me very long after that.

But I remember him! First, I remember his intelligence, and how he so easily challenged me to think on so many subjects beyond sheep. But I also vividly remember his honesty about the changes in his sheep and his breeding program, and his observations on the Suffolk breed and the broader sheep industry.

Today, the breed seems to shy away from intelligent debate. Discussion, let alone criticism, of trends in breed character, ram sales, NSIP misuse, etc., is unwelcome negativity that may disrupt the “momentum” and cause the house of cards to topple. Ansel was unafraid. He was a Suffolk institution.

https://suffolks.org/pdf/hall-of-fame/2017/Ansel-Luxford-bio.pdf

05/03/2026

Another great visit with our Canadian friends at Elm Shade Suffolks this past Friday! I helped shear and photograph the January and February lambs, and record 100-day weights and ultrasound scans. It’s always a breath of fresh air for me to cross the border and see easy keeping, high volume, rapid-growing, heavy-muscled, registered Suffolks with beautiful breed character.

Larry and Michelle outdid themselves this time, with TWO ram lambs (by different sires) that broke their all-time record for loin muscle scans. Mastine Razor 4P and Mastine Prisoner 8P both had over 41mm loin depth. For my metric-challenged American friends, this translates to over 1.6 inches. One well-known U.S. Suffolk flock that selected heavily for ultrasound scans for decades would occasionally have loin eye area greater than 4.0 square inches. The loin depth on those very seldom exceeded 1.5 inches, AND they were scanned at 120 days, not 100.

The science on visual appraisal is clear… most of the American drivel about muscle shape, full racks, loin edges, etc. actually describes fat, and/or does not actually translate to real carcass merit outside the show ring. If you are serious about real Suffolks with real breed character and real muscle, I highly recommend a visit to Danville, Quebec.

04/27/2026

A year and a half between photos; I believe a theme is emerging here.

04/27/2026

Two weeks ago we asked how you're planning for the future of your operation and the comments were worth coming back to.
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We gave four options: a clear written 5-year plan, a general idea but nothing on paper, knowing where you want to go but struggling to find time, or not knowing where to start.
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Most of you landed somewhere in the middle: a general idea, something pinned to the wall, a bullet point board, a plan still coming together. And honestly? That's more common than anyone likes to admit.

But this comment from Josh Lucas stopped us in our tracks:
"I started 25 years from that day and worked backwards from there in 5 year increments. I put all the things I wanted on post-its, organized them on a timeline, typed it up, and hung it on the wall next to my office chair. Absolutely one of the most clarifying things I have ever done." 💡
That's not complicated. That's just getting clear on where you want to go and letting that picture pull you forward. The gap between a good operation and a great one usually isn't effort. It's direction.

So this Monday if you started 25 years from today and worked backwards, what's the first thing you'd put on that timeline? Drop it in the comments. 👇