Earlier this year, while the Rafter 7 Merino flock peacefully grazed in a feedlot at the Fish Creek Ranch, just 12 miles south of Eureka, a coyote stealthily approached the unsuspecting flock, plotting the perfect opportunity to attack. Unbeknownst to the predator, an army of white guard dogs camouflaged within the sheep was eyeing its every move, strategically positioning to attack in defense of the flock. As the coyote closed in on its target, the encircling guard dogs swiftly subdued and dispatched it as the herd dogs hurriedly guided the sheep to safety.
The Rafter 7 sheep flock, a research flock developed by the ΒιΆΉΣ³» over 30 years ago and now globally recognized for its fine, soft wool and flavorful meat, holds a special place beyond its role in research and is beloved by all who encounter or care for them.
The flock's sheepherders and Fabrizio Cartagena, the sheep manager, equally share an unwavering devotion to their well-being. They go to great lengths to care and nurture them. They have carried exhausted lambs for long distances through steep terrain to prevent fatalities, and with Cartagena, skillfully handled countless difficult births and a range of health problems and injuries, ensuring the survival of both ewes and their lambs. The Rafter 7 Merino sheep have come to reflect the profound bond between the animals and people at the heart of the , a property of the University’s in Eureka, ΒιΆΉΣ³».
The story of the development of the Rafter 7 Merinos is an interesting one and illustrative of the University’s rich history of innovative contributions to the state’s agriculture and livestock industry.
The foundation: the Rambouillet
The Rambouillet sheep was developed by the French government in the late 18th century in Rambouillet, France, from a selection of Spain’s best Merino sheep. They were first imported to the U.S. in the mid-19th century and selectively bred to meet the needs of American sheep producers. Today, they are predominantly raised on the Western ranges of the U.S. and have been regarded as the cornerstone of profitability in the sheep industry due to their many attributes.
"Rambouillet sheep thrive in the harsh weather conditions of the ΒιΆΉΣ³» desert,” said Scott Huber, the senior assistant director and research coordinator of the University’s Experiment Station, who also manages the Center’s operations. “They are gentle and easy to handle, and they require minimal feed and water. Their agility also allows them to navigate the mountainous terrains to forage.”
Rambouillet sheep are renowned for their high-quality wool and meat and have strong milking maternal instincts, leading to lower offspring mortality. They also breed out of season and are resistant to diseases, making them a financially rewarding choice for farmers.
Forming the partnership and acquiring the Rambouillet
The University’s College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources has managed the Rafter 7 Merino sheep project since it developed it in 1990, except for a brief period during which the flock was sold before being reacquired. The flock is a crossbreed of the Rambouillet sheep, a large, hardy breed that thrives in extreme climates and sparse forage conditions, and the Australian Merino, which is also reared in similar arid climates in Australia, and is renowned for its superfine, premium wool.
The Rafter 7 Merino sheep project began with a partnership among the University, the E.L Wiegand Foundation and the Rafter 7 Ranch, located 21 miles south of Yerington, ΒιΆΉΣ³», along the East Walker River. The new breed was aptly named after its initial home – the 3,000-acre Rafter 7 Ranch, which was purchased in 1988 by the Wiegand Foundation to develop the purebred Merino sheep and advance agricultural research and conservation efforts, according to Jim Carrico, then chief financial officer of the foundation.
The late Hudson Glimp, a newly appointed sheep specialist at the University’s Experiment Station and Raymond ‘Skip’ Avansino Jr., then chairperson of the Wiegand Foundation, embarked on a concept development project, with generous support from the foundation, to create a new Merino breed by crossbreeding Rambouillet sheep with Australian Merinos.
"The desire to develop a flock that produces both high-quality meat and extra fine, premium wool, while also retaining the Rambouillet's hardiness and low-maintenance traits that enable it to thrive in extreme weather, was the impetus for this project," said Gary McCuin, Eureka County Extension educator and a former director of the Center.
Glimp and Avansino spearheaded the purchase of the initial breeding stock of approximately 400 Rambouillet ewes from ranches in Montana and Dakota, considered to be among the best in the Western U.S., and had the ewes relocated to the Rafter 7 Ranch.
“That was the initiation and beginning of the Rafter 7 Merino herd,” McCuin said.
Rafter 7 Merino: Genetic development, selection and formation of breeding lines (1990 – 2006)
Over the next 16 years, Glimp and his team, including Tom Filbin, the first sheep manager of the new flock, imported Australian Merino rams and semen from Australia, which they bred both naturally and artificially into the original breeding stock of Rambouillet ewes.
"During this period, around 16 rams and semen from 41 Australian rams were imported to enhance the Rambouillet’s genetic pool," said Andrew Hess, an assistant professor of animal breeding and genetics in the College’s Department of Agriculture, Veterinary & Rangeland Sciences who has been assisting in developing the breeding program and conducting genetic research at the Center. "The ewe selection criteria included parameters such as wool fiber diameter, fleece weight, growth rate and reproductive performance traits."
After successive phases of insemination, the project developed two distinct breeding lines. The Rafter 7 Pure Merino line was developed by a grade-up program where the imported semen was progressively bred into the Rambouillet ewes until they became 100% Merino. During this process, breeders observed that the Rafter 7 line, which is approximately 60% Merino and 40% Rambouillet, exhibited favorable characteristics and was subsequently developed.
“The Rafter 7 Pure Merino line’s wool fiber diameter was reduced by an average of three microns, making its wool more superior compared to the foundation flock,” Hess said. “It was bred for its high fleece weight, wool quality and reproductive traits, while the Rafter 7 line was developed for high fleece weight, consistent twin births and fast growth traits.”
By the 2005 breeding season, the Rafter 7 Merino flock had expanded to about 1,300 ewes, organized into groups of 30, each paired with a single ram for mating.
Selling the ranch and the flock
By 2013, the Wiegand Foundation decided to sell the ranch. In a press release published by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a private foundation chartered by Congress to conserve wildlife in riparian ecosystems, Carrico stated, “We recently completed our objectives and decided that it was time to sell the Ranch.”
The foundation sold the ranch to the conservation group’s Walker Basin Restoration Program. With the sale of the ranch, the University decided to sell the flock to Rick Powers, a wool buyer familiar with the value and quality of the Rafter 7 Merino line. Powers relocated the flock to Diamond Valley in Eureka County and continued to inseminate the Rafter 7 Pure Merino line with the Australian genetics.
Bill Payne appointed as dean, College reacquires the flock and commercializes the wool
In 2014, the University appointed Bill Payne as the dean of the College, and two years later, he and Glimp began discussions on reacquiring the Rafter 7 Merino flock from Powers. Their goal was to house the flock in a future agricultural research center, which is now the Great Basin Research & Extension Center, jointly operated by the College’s Experiment Station and units.
Since then, the Center has commercialized the Rafter 7 wool and forged partnerships with several entities for its processing and sale. Through collaborations with Jimmy Beans Wool, Mountain Meadow Wool Mill in Wyoming and the campus , Rafter 7 yarn and branded merchandise are sold to do-it-yourself clients, students, faculty, alumni and the public. Due to the specialty niche of handling such fine wool, the wool processing, spinning and manufacturing is managed by Mountain Meadow Wool. The hand-dyeing process for Jimmy Bean’s yarn is overseen by Madelinetosh, a hand-dyed yarn company in Fort Worth, Texas. The Center also independently sells the Rafter 7 wool to commercial wool buyers.
“The high-quality Merino and Rambouillet rams and ewes offer ΒιΆΉΣ³» and Western range sheep producers an opportunity to improve the wool quality of their flocks and increase their profitability with wool that rivals what one might find in New Zealand or Australia,” McCuin said. “The wool and its products are made possible by ΒιΆΉΣ³» sheep, ΒιΆΉΣ³» designers, ΒιΆΉΣ³» breeders and ΒιΆΉΣ³» scientists, all working together to give ΒιΆΉΣ³» shoppers a better option.”
No down time at the Center
Since the reacquisition of the Rafter 7 flock, life at the Center has transformed into a whirlwind of operational activities. From meticulously documenting the flock’s reproductive phases and wool data to orchestrating key events such as the annual autumn ram sale, Huber, Cartagena, Hess, the sheepherders and veterinarians hardly find a moment of leisure amidst their responsibilities. With a herd of 2,000 sheep to manage, the pace at the Center remains relentless.
Shearing and lambing
The first major undertaking of the year is shearing the sheep in early spring. This process involves carefully removing the sheep’s fleece from the belly, legs and face in one piece. Wool sales are the Center’s primary source of income, with the Rafter 7 Merino wool consistently fetching the highest price for U.S.-grown wool over seven consecutive years.
Following shearing, Huber and his team shift their focus to lambing processes. Pregnant ewes are sorted into groups every two to three days as they near their due dates.
"When a ewe gives birth, the newborn lamb and mother are transported to a lambing barn, where they are placed into individual pens called jugs to bond for about 24 hours without interference from other animals," Huber said. "This allows the lamb to safely nurse colostrum from its mother before they are transferred to a mixing pen with other new pairs, allowing time for the newborn lamb and ewe to bond and for the newborn lamb to safely nurse."
This process continues throughout the lambing season, which typically spans around a month and a half each spring. Herders work around the clock, feeding and monitoring the sheep as they await the arrival of new lambs, making for an intensive yet rewarding process.
Turning out and back to the Center
Towards the end of May, Cartagena begins arrangements for sending the flock out to graze in the hillsides, a process known as turning out. This involves separating the rams, ewes and lambs into five groups for each herder. The goal is to keep the rams separated from the ewes and lambs to prevent premature breeding and to allow the lambs to spend time with their mothers while grazing.
Cartagena coordinates the transportation of the sheep hauling trucks and trailers that serve as living quarters for the herders during their time in the hillsides. He also ensures that the herders have an ample supply of food, water and other supplies.
The turnout season continues until October, when the Center's grazing permit expires. At that point, the herders bring the sheep down to the valleys to graze in open pastures or return them to the Center to be fed alfalfa grown on site or purchased from other growers.
During these months, Cartagena maintains daily phone contact with the herders and makes weekly visits to each of the herders, who typically oversee a herd of 500 to 800 sheep, along with five herd and guard dogs and a horse.
“When I visit the herders, I examine the flock to make sure they are healthy and well fed,” he said. “I also replenish their food, water, fuel for their generators, hay for their horses and food for the dogs,” he said.
The Center has 26 dogs serving as either herd or guard dogs. The former steer straying sheep back into the fold, while the latter, large white dogs, blend in with the flock to protect them from predators.
“You’d never know the guard dogs are among the sheep unless you are closely observing,” Cartagena said. “They naturally position themselves in front of and circle the sheep when they sense a predator.”
Sheep selection and ram sale
Cartagena’s team starts selecting sheep for sale around July, while the flock is out grazing, culminating in the . This sale features rams, ewes and 15-month-old yearling lambs, chosen based on traits crucial to buyers, such as body conformation, health, and reproductive and breeding potential to improve the quality of their herds.
Buyers come from all over the country, but primarily the West, seeking to replace old or deceased animals and improve their existing stock by breeding with the desirable Rafter 7 traits.
“We usually retain the top 8 to 10% of the highest quality sheep to continue breeding our own line,” Huber said. “The remaining sheep, not sold as part of the sale to buyers or selected for breeding purposes, are either sold to others to process for meat, or processed by our Wolf Pack Meats in Reno to be sold as local, ΒιΆΉΣ³»-grown meat.”
A continued commitment to excellence: Replacement development program
This year, the Center is launching a new initiative called the Replacement Development Program. The program will establish a systematic process for gathering meat yield and quality data from the Rafter 7 flock. Approximately 300 Rafter 7 Merinos will be transferred from the Center to the University’s for extensive genetic studies and data collection.
This initiative, and the wider research at the Center, aims to enhance research and support for the U.S. sheep industry by using genomics to analyze the sheep’s DNA and improve their meat and wool traits. The program will also employ precision phenotyping to meticulously record measurements of the sheep’s physical characteristics to enhance the selection of sheep with superior qualities and resilience.
Hess, who will oversee the program, said that locating it at the Main Station Field Lab, which is closer to campus, will also give students the opportunity to gain practical experience with sheep breeding practices and help them to foster an appreciation for and greater understanding of the sheep industry.
Touching and changing lives
Five herders tend to the daily needs of the Center’s Rafter 7 flock: four from Junín, Peru and one from Zacatecas, Mexico. They were hired through the Western Range Association, a nonprofit agency operating across 13 Western states that facilitates, through a federal program, bringing foreign nationals to the country to help fill temporary agricultural jobs. Despite the extreme weather and desolation, they experience while grazing the flock in the mountainous ranges, they have even been able to improve their families’ standards of living and provide higher education for their own children through the wages they earn working with the Rafter 7.
“I’ve gotten to know the guys a bit, and each one of them will tell you that the reason they’ve decided to move away from their countries and stay away for long periods of time in rural ΒιΆΉΣ³» is to improve the livelihoods of their families,” Huber said. “Some of them have told me that they’ve put their kids through college doing this job as well, which I find pretty noble.”
Cartagena, a veterinarian from Peru with over two decades of experience, arrived in the U.S. with his wife and young daughter two years ago. He was introduced to McCuin and Filbin through family connections. Cartagena's expertise in caring for alpacas and sheep, and his knowledge of wool production, quickly made him a valuable addition to the team.
“When my referrers learned that the Center was looking for a new sheep manager, they approached McCuin and Filbin, and told them that I was the right person for the job given my experiences,” Cartagena said. “They gave them my email address and the next thing I knew, I received an email inviting me to a Zoom interview.”
The process of hiring Cartagena was a university affair. The University’s legal counsel successfully petitioned the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for Cartagena’s work permit, with references from McCuin and Filbin.
“I’m very happy for this opportunity to work with the Rafter 7 sheep,” he said. “It has changed my professional and personal life because I have the opportunity to work with such high-quality animals alongside some of the most knowledgeable sheep experts in the U.S., or even the world.”
