SANDWICH, Ill. — In the dead of a northern Illinois winter seems like a harsh time for ewes to give birth, but Amy and Mark Johnson of A&M Ranch say that’s the optimal time to have lambs ready for Easter dinners.

And with the increase of Latin and Middle Eastern populations, lamb and goat meat is becoming more popular.

Raising Southdown sheep, the Johnsons both grew up around livestock. Originally from the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, education took them to Oklahoma and work took them to Maryland before they returned to Illinois.

“We’ve been here about 16 years. We knew we wanted to raise sheep, and there weren’t a lot of options,” Mark Johnson said.

Amy works full-time on the ranch, while he manages the Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago, owned by the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. Their daughter, Emily, also raises sheep and has been active in FFA and 4-H. She is a student at Oklahoma State University, her dad’s alma mater.

Although they hire someone to shear their sheep twice a year, the Johnsons said the wool doesn’t bring in much income. Their sheep are raised for the meat and as breeding stock.

“Lamb prices have been through the roof. People are eating more lamb,” Johnson said.

Segments of the population that eat lamb have grown, while supply has dwindled. He said there are a couple of reasons for this: “There’s just not as much livestock. Feed prices the past couple of years have been very high and infrastructure has deteriorated.”

Johnson said stockyards have closed and the small packing plants available are “a well-kept secret.” He also cites a lack of large animal veterinarians – “There’s just not as much support.”

The Internet has created a larger community of sheep ranchers that provide support for each other. The Internet also has created an unlimited opportunity for marketing.

The ranch’s website at www.aandmranch.com is a valuable marketing tool, Johnson said. “We have to keep it updated and current, but it allows us to market our sheep internationally. If I put pictures up tonight, I’ll have calls tomorrow.”

But before any marketing happens, Johnson said they start “stacking the deck in the ewe’s favor” in the fall. In September or October, they begin with vaccinations to build the ewe’s immune system to allow her to give birth to healthy lambs. In the last six weeks before lambing, they increase the nutrition the ewes receive.

As with all livestock, he said nutrition and genetics play the biggest roles in sheep’s success.

As lambing nears, the Johnsons move the ewes to separate pens where they will give birth. They have installed cameras in the lambing barn to make it easier to check on the ewes at any time of the day or night. He advises that ewes should be disturbed as little as possible when they are giving birth.

“We want the ewes to have a positive lambing experience. The lambing season determines our success,” Johnson said.

For more information about A&M Ranch, visit its website, which also provides links to other industry websites.