12
CapitalPress.com
Friday, May 7, 2021
Sheep: ‘This has been a social phenomenon’
of frozen embryos. Embryos
are harder than semen to
implant and cost $3,500 each,
not counting importation and
insurance expenses.
But it was worth it, the Dal-
lys say. Last month, their fi rst-
ever Valais Blacknose pure-
bred lambs were born in the
U.S.
Demand has been over-
whelming, they say. Most buy-
ers have not come from the
commercial sheep community.
That’s because Valais Blac-
knose don’t have top-notch
wool, milk or meat. They’re
just really cute.
“If someone wants to buy
cuteness, I’ll set it to them,”
said Martin Dally.
He grinned.
Dally calls the Valais “pas-
ture puppies” and “lawn
ornaments.”
Joy Dally now spearheads
an organization called the Val-
ais Blacknose Sheep Society.
The group, she said, already
has more than 100 mem-
bers, including two Oregon
breeders who already have
purebreds.
“This has been a social
phenomenon,” she said.
Continued from Page 1
‘In my blood’
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Joy Dally holds a box of wool. The fi ber side of the sheep
business is called Shepherds Lane of Oregon.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Close-up of a Valais Blacknose purebred lamb.
Joining forces
Joy and Martin met in 2005
at the Maryland Sheep and
Wool Festival. She was look-
ing for Wensleydale genetics
to improve her fl ock’s fi ber; he
was selling ram semen.
“Wensleydales brought us
together,” said Joy Dally.
She had been raised on a
cow dairy in New York state,
but had devoted her life to
sheep.
The two married in 2007.
From their Oregon base,
the couple raised sheep, estab-
lished relationships with
breeders and import-export
offi cials across Europe, Aus-
tralia and New Zealand, and
performed AI procedures.
Joy Dally says they trav-
eled the U.S. regularly, mak-
ing stops from the West Coast
to the East Coast and back —
“an AI job here, delivering
sheep there.”
Martin Dally said he
matches genetics not only to
fl ocks but also to the environ-
ment. For a farmer in a dry cli-
mate, for example, he recom-
mends breeds that originate
from desert regions.
Breeders nationwide say
the Dallys have boosted their
fl ocks’ genetics and the over-
all industry.
A wide impact
Vogler, the Nevada sheep
rancher, raises Merinos, a
fi ne-wooled breed. When he
wanted to improve his fl ock’s
genetics, his state veterinar-
ian suggested he contact the
Dallys.
“I couldn’t do big, cross-
bred lambs,” said Vogler.
“I had to have hardy, medi-
um-sized sheep so the desert
won’t eat ‘em like popcorn.”
Merinos, originating from
Spain and developed in Aus-
tralia, fi t that niche. With
the Dallys’ help, Vogler
brought high-quality Austra-
lian Merino genetics into his
fl ock.
His sheep now produce
about 120,000 pounds of
soft, fi ne wool annually, and
Vogler estimates because of
the improved genetics, he gets
about $1.50 more per pound
than his competitors.
Another couple that has
benefi ted from the Dal-
lys’ work is Paul and Kathy
Lewis, who raise about 700
breeding ewes near Bonanza,
Ore.
Like Vogler, the Lewises
needed a breed suited to their
dry environment. They chose
White Dorpers, originating in
South Africa, and Dally did
their AI work.
“(Martin and Joy) have
done so much for us,” said
Paul Lewis, 79. “There’s a
huge need for the work they
do.”
Rebecca King, widely
considered one of the breed-
ers leading genetics improve-
ment in the sheep dairy indus-
try, has recently improved her
California fl ock with imported
Lacaune semen, a milk breed
originating from France. Mar-
tin Dally helped her get started.
Barb and Geof Ruppert,
Pennsylvania sheep ranchers,
say the Dallys helped them
improve the wool quality of
their American Corridales
with Australian genetics.
the LAI procedure.
Many farm-side factors
also infl uence success rates,
including animal health, the
environment and how the
ewes were managed prior to
the procedure.
“The AI technician is only
one spoke in a big wheel,” said
Martin Dally.
Dally said he has attempted
to train several veterinary stu-
dents and others in LAI work,
but few caught the vision.
Several breeders said they
wonder who will fi ll Dally’s
shoes when he moves toward
retirement.
Although the Dallys no lon-
ger travel as often for AI work,
they’re not slowing down. The
two seem happily chin-deep in
their latest venture with Valais
Blacknose genetics.
“We certainly are grateful
to them for helping us with our
breeding program,” said Barb
Ruppert.
Mindy Mayer, an Idaho
rancher, secured Kerry Hill
semen from the Dallys. Kerry
Hills are a heritage breed from
the United Kingdom, white
with distinct black markings
around the eyes and mouth.
Mayer now runs Kerry Hill
Winery in Wilder, a popular
agritourism destination where
visitors drink wine while
watching wool events, herding
demonstrations and “sip and
shear” events.
“I couldn’t have done this
without Martin and Joy,”
Mayer said. “They’ve helped
me, guided me — you know,
really shared their knowledge.”
Breeders say most heri-
tage and specialty breeds in
the U.S. today can be traced to
Dally.
Long-term vision
In the future, the Dallys
plan to focus on three areas:
getting the Valais Blacknose
well-established in the U.S.,
opening their farm to agritour-
ism and expanding their wool
business.
Joy Dally said she’s always
wanted more agritourism — to
invite the community on edu-
cational tours of a working
sheep farm.
“I’d love to get people out
here,” she said.
At this, Martin shook his
head.
“Don’t mind Martin. He’s
curmudgeonly,” she said.
“She’s so outgoing,” he
returned, shrugging.
They both laughed.
The farm certainly looks
a welcoming place for tour-
ism. The property lies snug
between rolling green hills
in Lebanon. Approaching the
farmhouse, which stands at
the end of a long driveway,
sheep graze on the right and
a row of white birches fl anks
the left.
‘A social phenomenon’
The Dallys saw Swiss Val-
ais Blacknose sheep for the
fi rst time in 2014.
“It was love at fi rst sight,”
said Joy Dally.
The Dallys visited fl ocks
across the United Kingdom,
Scotland, Sweden, Denmark
and Germany in 2015 and
fi nally selected Valais rams
from the UK in 2016. They
imported their fi rst semen in
2017.
Martin implanted the Val-
ais Blacknose semen into Got-
land, Teeswater and Scottish
Blackface ewes as “founda-
tion” breeds. The fi rst 50%
cross-bred lambs were born in
the U.S. in 2018. In 2019, 75%
Valais lambs were born, and
in 2020, 87.5% — a process
called upgrading.
Last summer, the cou-
ple imported their fi rst batch
Big shoes to fi ll
There are few laparoscopic
artifi cial insemination special-
ists in the U.S. sheep industry
today.
Breeders say it takes a spe-
cial kind of person: someone
with intelligence, good hand-
eye coordination, a love for
sheep and vision for the work.
LAI isn’t easy.
“A lot of times, people
think you can just pick up
semen, put them in a suitcase
overseas and come back. It’s
a lot more complicated than
that,” said Martin Dally.
His work, he said, has
sometimes been “frustrat-
ing” — long travels, navigat-
ing complex import proto-
cols, catching the ewes in their
estrus cycle and performing
Celebrate
your FFA
graduate!
Capital Press is giving you the opportunity to
honor your FFA senior with an affordable ad
that will run in the June 11th edition. These
ads will be published in a special keepsake
edition to celebrate our FFA seniors in the
Northwest.
Order your ad by Thursday, May 20 at 10am (PT)
For $35, the ad includes:
- Name, FFA Chapter,
& Hometown
1.625”
Call your
Sales Rep Today!
3”
Martin is a third-genera-
tion rancher whose father and
grandfather raised sheep near
Dixon, Calif.
“So, I had to do it, too,” he
said, adding that it’s “in my
blood.”
He recalls, as a boy, eyeing
a silver trophy at a California
sheep show.
“I always wanted to win
that thing,” he said.
He set out to breed the best
sheep.
He was always inter-
ested in genetics, and once
attempted to AI rats for an
undergraduate project.
After college, Dally got a
job at the University of Cal-
ifornia-Davis directing the
sheep research programs at
the Hopland Research and
Extension Center.
While at UC-Davis, Dally
heard about a major research
breakthrough. It was 1982,
and Australian research-
ers had developed a laparo-
scopic insemination proce-
dure that would revolutionize
the sheep AI technique.
For many years, breeders
had considered AI of sheep
impractical for three reasons.
First, it was hard to detect
the ewe’s estrus cycle, or
“heat.”
Second, it was impossible
to freeze ram semen.
Finally, a sheep’s anatom-
ical structure makes pene-
tration of the cervix nearly
impossible.
A series of research
breakthroughs made it pos-
sible to synchronize a
ewe’s estrus cycle, freeze
ram semen and use a lapa-
roscope, a tiny instrument
that is inserted directly into
the uterus. AI in sheep sud-
denly became practical,
opening a world of genetic
opportunity.
Dally was eager to learn
from the Australians, and in
1986, he became one of the
earliest pioneers of sheep
LAI in the U.S. Through the
years, he further improved the
technique.
After a 25-year career at
UC-Davis, he settled in Leba-
non, Ore.
STUDENT’S
NAME
Call 800-822-6789, or email
adservices@capitalpress.com
FFA Chapter
City, State
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
capitalpress.com
CoastalCountry.com
S242959-1
S239643-1