Saskatchewan’s Sheep Industry is seeing more demand for the meat they produce.

Kim McDougall operates Kimdain Sheep in the Regina area and says the meat market has picked up substantially with the increase in our ethnic population.

Only about 40% of the lamb found in our Supermarkets today is from Canadian producers.

He notes part of the problem is that supermarkets want a year-round supply, which is a challenge with our weather since it’s not conducive to having lambs at 40 below.

"We're certainly getting towards that, with some of the bigger producers getting into it," he said. "Some of the producers have moved into old hog barns, so they're an inside operation with lighting and things you can get 3 lambings in two years, so it's definitely starting to evolve into that but right now we're long ways away from being able to supply the complete market."     

McDougall raises lambs for that meat market which has started to evolve over time.

"They like smaller lambs, they don't like the finished 120-pounds with some fat on them, they'd prefer a lamb between 80-90 pounds and no fat," he said. "It's certainly changed some of the logistics of what you want to raise and how long you want to keep them, for a lot of people there are better to sell them at 80-90 pounds and get the same money for them as they would if they keep them another two months and feed them until they're 120-pounds."         

He likes raising Suffolk sheep as he can have 100-pound lambs in about 90 days.

McDougall’s operation has about 100 purebred ewes with a combination of Suffolk, North Country, with a few South Downs, Hampshire's, and Border Cheviots.