Throughout my interviews I became fascinated by the various relationships participants have with their sheep. Some shared the deep connections they feel to each animal they care for and how they recognize each sheep as a unique individual with their own name and personality. I was struck by the affection and empathy in these conversations. Many participants spoke openly about how hard it is to lose a sheep that’s been part of their farm family for many years. Those who don’t name their sheep showed a similar fondness for their animals, but more so for the whole flock than for the individual sheep. I was witness to profound reflections on death as a routine element of farming and as part of cycles that also lead to more life. Farmers who raise lambs for meat are attuned to the needs of their flock and get to witness the genetic composition develop over time. While this topic holds a lot of emotion and weight, when sharing their perspectives, all participants clarified that they hold respect for those with different relationships to sheep than their own.
Many people I spoke to care for flocks that have been carefully bred for decades. Humans have been influencing sheep genetics for 11,000 years, since the first sheep were domesticated during the agricultural revolution1. As you can read below, Vermont has a rich history breeding Merino sheep and wealth from the late 19th century was influential in establishing towns that exist today. While there are dozens of sheep breeds more popular than Merinos in Vermont today, the legacy of breeding for specific qualities endures.
As wool prices steadily fell after the 1840s, Vermont sheep farmers struggled to find ways to adapt to the changing times. While some abandoned their flocks, others looked to sell their sheep genetics rather than wool. Vermont became known for its superior breed of Merinos and began to export sheep to mitigate the losses from the wool industry. In 1844, Edwin Hammond established his flock in Middlebury, which became one of the most famous breeding flocks in history2. Raising Merinos in the mountainous climate with long, cold winters had brought out heavier wool characteristics in Vermont flocks3. The harsh climate combined with the careful efforts of breeders produced what we know as “The Vermont Merino,” which was considered the ideal sheep. These sheep were described as “short legged, large boned,” and “round ribbed” with a “dense, even, heavy fleece” of “strong, lustrous and elastic fiber” 4. As Merino were bred in Vermont, their proportion of wool to body weight dramatically increased, from six percent in 1812 to twenty-one percent by 18655. The average weight of a fleece was 2.2 pounds in 1840 and it rose to 5.34 pounds in 1870, an increase of 143 percent in just thirty years6. Compared to Merinos bred elsewhere, Vermont sheep were hardier and produced more wool and contained more lanolin. This made farmers elsewhere eager to get their hands on Vermont Merino genetics.
Western territories and California in particular took advantage of the railroads in order to absorb thousands of Vermont Merinos. In 1877, Middlebury alone sent 29 railcars west7. Vermont sheep grew famous internationally as well, and in the second half of the 19th century they were being shipped to Germany, Australia, South America, and South Africa8 9. During this international craze, once called the “Vermont Invasion,” Vermont Merinos were so valuable that some dishonest breeders would cover other sheep with dark oils in order to give them the appearance of the famous yolky fleece10. To ensure the integrity of the breed, The Vermont Merino Sheep Breeder Association was formed in 1876, creating a complex system to register sheep as Merinos11. Vermont Merinos reached their peak global popularity in the late nineteenth century, after winning awards at Philadelphia’s Centennial Exhibition in 1876 and other major agricultural shows12. Afterwards, exportations gradually declined as other fine-wooled breeds gained popularity and global preferences changed. The Merino breeding era came to an end in the early years of the 20th century13. As Merino stopped being profitable, farmers shifted their sheep flocks to raise breeds that produced more desirable mutton. While in 1840, over 70% of sheep in New England were Merinos, in 1890 English mutton breeds made up 62%14. Along with the new mutton breeds, another animal became quintessential to the Vermont landscape: the dairy cow.
Sources:
- Coulthard, Sally. Follow the Flock: How Sheep Shaped Human Civilization. Pegasus Books, 2021.
- Belanus, Betty Jane. They Lit Their Cigars with Five Dollar Bills : The History of the Merino Sheep Industry in Addison County. National Endowment for the Humanities, 1977, pp. 14.
- Woods, Rebecca J. H. “Green Mountain Merinos: From New England to New South Wales in the Nineteenth Century.” Vermont History, vol. 85, no. 1, 2017, pp. 11.
- Ibid, pp. 12
- Wilson, Harold F. “The Rise and Decline of the Sheep Industry in Northern New England.” Agricultural History, vol. 9, no. 1, 1935, pp. 27.
- Ibid, pp. 25
- Woods, pp. 14
- Ibid, pp. 3,10
- Belanus, pp. 33
- Woods, pp. 14
- Belanus, pp. 26
- Woods, pp. 2
- Belanus, pp. 33
- Wilson, pp. 31