All sheep and lamb inventory in South Dakota on January 1, 2025 totaled 205,000 head, down 5,000 from last year, according to the USDA’s
National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Breeding sheep inventory totaled 154,000 head, down 4,000 from last year. Ewes one year and older totaled 127,000 head, down 2,000 from the previous year. Rams one year and older totaled 5,000, unchanged from last year. Total replacement lambs totaled 22,000 head, down 2,000 from last year.
Market sheep and lambs totaled 51,000 head, down 1,000 from last year. A total of 2,000 head were mature sheep (one year and older) while the remaining 49,000 were under one year. Market lamb weight groups were estimated as follows: 7,000 lambs were under 65 pounds; 7,000 were 65-84 pounds; 14,000 were 85-105 pounds; 21,000 were over 105 pounds.
The 2024 lamb crop totaled 170,000 head, down 5,000 from 2023. The 2024 lambing rate was 132 per 100 ewes one year and older, compared with 122 in 2023.
Sheep deaths totaled 6,000 head, unchanged from last year. Lamb deaths totaled 19,000 head, down 1,000 from last year.
Sheep and lambs slaughtered on farm totaled 1,500 head, up 500 from last year.
Shorn wool production during 2024 was 1.48 million pounds, up 20,000 from 2023. Sheep and lambs shorn totaled 195,000 head, unchanged from 2023. Weight per fleece was 7.6 pounds, up 0.1 from 2023. The average price paid for wool sold in 2024 was $1.15 per pound, compared
with $1.25 in 2023. The total value of wool produced in South Dakota was 1.70 million dollars in 2024.
South Dakota goat inventory numbers are not separately published as part of NASS’s annual program. The counts are included in the “other states” category and U.S. totals each year. State level data for those “other states” are published as part of NASS’s Census of Agriculture.
Access the national report at: https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/000000018
Access the National Livestock Executive Briefing at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/Executive_Briefings/2025/01-31-2025.pdf
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