Spence Rule, an owner of Iowa Lamb Corporation said, “We’re excited about this. It’s an opportunity to go back to doing what we’ve done for years, and that’s feeding. We were feeders long before we were packers and this will help us get back to concentrating on the feeding business.” He, along with his brother, sister and father have owned the packing house since 1983.
While only approximately 1% of all fresh meat sales, the sheep industry contributes $1.4 billion annually to the U.S. economy with $768 million contributed to the sale of lamb and lamb products. Lamb farms and ranches in every state total 82,000. However, according to the American Sheep Industry Association, demand for lamb was down 10% in 2009 as livestock costs and subsequent retail prices increased. Supply is currently a concern. In 1990, U.S. ranchers had 11.1 million head of sheep. In January this year it had dropped to 5.6 million. Supply, along with grain and feed pricing, has caused prices for the protein to steadily increase.