Our farm is 16 km north-east of Binscarth and a similar distance south-east of Russell, MB. We own 320 acres though 100 acres are rented to a neighbour. The rest of the land is in pasture and hay.
My grandparents moved to this farm in 1919, receiving title to the vland in 1925. My father bought the land from his mother in 1952. I started buying it in 1984.
In 1968 my parents had a bumper crop of barley and there was no market for the grain. My mother and I persuaded Dad to buy some sheep. I bought my first purebred Suffolk ewes in the fall of 1969. I have been working with sheep ever since.
Graham and one of his coloured rambouillet lambs
When I graduated from high school I went to New Zealand. While there my first job was on a 1000-acre farm. We lambed 2000 ewes and calved 60 cows. The farm also had 1600 hoggets (yearling sheep) and 300 feeder cattle. Over the next 2 1⁄2 years I spent 5 mseasons in shearing gangs. Most of that time I worked as a roustabout (sweeping the shearing board, picking up fleeces and eventually working on the wool table) though I did some pressing on three stand gangs. In a normal day we handled 800 to 1200 fleeces. I then spent a year in Australia. Some of that time was spent in north central New South Wales working in shearing teams.
After returning to Canada, I went to university gaining a BScAg. I then worked at various jobs but spent 36 years working at a potash mine. Days off were often spent shearing small flocks between Ste. Genevieve, Mb in the east and Yorkton, Sk in the west. I often tried to persuade people to enter fleeces in wool shows.
Rambouillet Ram
In 1987 the Suffolks were dispersed. I kept a small flock of crossbreds until 1993. Then friends wanted to take a year away from their farm. They offered me the opportunity to lease their purebred Rambouillet sheep flock. The lease allowed me to select 1/3 of their lambs. Between then and 2000 I purchased the rest of their sheep and three other small flocks of Rambouillets. My flock has varied from 25 to 150 but is currently 85 ewes.
In 1997 I met Janice. Her family had started their sheep flock in 1970 in Port Coquitlam, BC. Her award-winning Border Cheviots had started from one ewe lamb she was given for helping fit a flock or shows. We married in 2004. She and her flock made the move to Manitoba. Her flock grew from 25 to the current number of 120 breeding ewes.
Border Cheviot sheep waiting to be sheared
In 2017 we purchased a half dozen, coloured ewes of mixed background. They came from a fibre flock that was sold to Tony and Simon Atkinson. They posses a dominant black gene, and a fading gene. I have been breeding them to Rambouillet rams and currently have 20 black or grey ewes.
I met Anna and other members of the Pembina Valley Fibreshed while exhibiting wool at the Blue Hills Fibre Festival and the Manitoba Fibre Festival. The enthusiasm for quality fibre drew me into wanting to be involved. The fibreshed has provided great opportunities to meet and share ideas with others.
People interested in our wool can contact us at:
ph (204)773-6322
grannie@inetlink.ca
or through facebook Messenger Graham Rannie Janice Johnstone