Dr. Brady Campbell, Assistant Professor, OSU State Small Ruminant Extension Specialist
Hello folks,
it’s great to be back! Sorry for my absence here on the page as of late. I finally decided to step out of the office for a few weeks and unplugged from everything. While away, I had the opportunity to take a trip to England with a group of Lincoln sheep producers from the United States. The premise of the trip was to attend the Great Yorkshire Show to take in the sights of British agriculture, watch the Lincoln show, as well as tour the country side meeting with fellow Lincoln sheep producers on their home operations. There were many highlights to this trip, but one that I wanted to share with all of you was my opportunity to meet with Cammy Wilson. For those that don’t recognize his name, I encourage you to jump onto Youtube and search for ‘The Sheep Game’. Cammy, along with his wife Lizzy, are professional sheep shearers from Scotland. In his previous life, Cammy served his local community as a police officer but quickly found his passion in working with sheep. In addition to shearing, Cammy and his family also raise several breeds of sheep as well as dabbles in pregnancy ultrasounding on the side.
Although a bit unconventional for our regular postings, I wanted to bring light to the work Cammy is currently doing through social media to support the global sheep industry. During our quick 10 minute chat, Cammy and I discussed the woes of global wool prices, the similarities and differences between sheep breeds found in our respective countries, and of course the hardships and victories or raising sheep. Just like you and I, Cammy is a shepherd and shearer himself that appreciates science and learning something new each day. On his channel, Cammy brings viewers along with him in his daily life, sharing questions and answers as he learns along the way. Cammy has videos on ultrasounding, shearing, dystocia, lambing, selling sheep, and much more. For those interested in learning about sheep production in a different country, I encourage you to take a look at his page: The Sheep Game.
For your viewing pleasure, I’ve selected a few videos from his playlist and plugged them below that highlights his character and support of the industry. Enjoy!
Ultrasounding Sheep:
Wool Scouring and Carding:
Sheep Shearing: The importance of shearing