Philip's Blog

Dear Editor,

The people running our national sheep organizations are perpetrating a crime on the American public. The system is set up so that they can sell mutton as lamb and top industry leaders have admitted that this has been happening. Do any of you every wonder where mutton is sold in the US? It’s pretty hard to find because most of it is sold as lamb. All foreign countries use dentition for determining maturity. Since the beginning of time the eruption of the first permanent teeth has been used as the standard for aging a sheep. Modern America has come up with a “better” way to determine maturity with the break joint technique which is the issue so many of us are at odds with. And the lamb industry wonders why we have an inconsistent product? When I get a chance to go to a big city from time to time I like to dine at one of those Brazilian steak houses. You know the ones that bring the meat out on a sword-like skewer and let you eat all you want. Well they all serve lamb in addition to everything else you would expect as far as quality meats are concerned. I’ve come to find out that one of them serves New Zealand lamb and the other serves American Lamb. I am ashamed to say that the most recent visit I had was to the chain that serves American Lamb and I could not eat the loin chop I was served because it was so strong with the muttony flavor most of us dislike. I am not saying that New Zealand lamb is better than American lamb I am just saying that in fact New Zealand lamb is better than American mutton. The first step to increasing consistency in American Lamb is to actually sell lamb and not mutton!

Philip Glass

Water Valley, TX

Meat Culture

There is a saying in Southern Africa among stock farmers and it goes something like this: “We eat our vegetables, we just feed them to the chicken and the pig first!”. One finds out quickly when arriving in this part of the world that meats of many kinds are on the menu every day. Lamb and venison are top of the list because this is what they raise primarily and what they love to cook and eat. Beef is next in popularity and pork and chicken are last and then come the veggies.

Afrikaans people make a jerky style dried meat that they call biltong. It is typically made from venison which in Southern Africa can be from several different antelope species but most commonly Kudu and Gemsbok. It is cut into good sized long pieces and seasoned and marinated in apple cider vinegar overnight then hung to dry naturally in a clean screened in area. After it is completely dry it is chopped with a biltong chopper into bite sized pieces. Biltong is served most anytime of the day for a snack or can even make a light meal. Similarly they take lean venison and blend it with lamb fat and spices and fill natural sheep casings with it to make a dried sausage called droewors or dry sausage. These are very long and hang over a large horizontal pipe in the meat room that many farmers have in Africa. After the sausages are dry they are easily broken into smaller pieces for serving. Droewors are absolutely delicious despite the fact that to some they may not look so appetizing. These sausages vary in flavor based on the lamb and venison used to make them as well as the spices. Each person has their own way of preparing food as we all know so some personality goes into each batch. There are commercial spice blends available at virtually every store for both biltong and droewors because it is such a part of the culture. The main flavor that comes to mind is coriander which is one of the main ingredients in most spice blends. In my experience biltong and droewors are foundation on which their meat culture is based upon.

Lamb Chops! Oh my how good Dorper lamb chops are no matter whether you are here at home or on a trip to our Dorper’s homeland. The only difference is that here we likely are going to a custom packer and have all our cutting done there and in Africa you are likely going out to the walk in cooler to fetch a whole carcass and do the cutting yourself. Yes most farmers will have their own cooler and meat cutting room with all the tools necessary to do the job. What could be better than when supper time arrives you just go and cut the chops just the way you like them! One thing that I have found unique in Southern Africa is the wood fired grill they use to cook on. In Afrikaans braai means Bar-B-Que. There is a very popular and commercially made grill unit that has a special way of preparing the coals for your chops and steaks. There is a fire box inside the grill on the right hand side that small pieces of wood are placed into. As they burn the coals drop down and are raked under the meat from time to time. This keeps the bad smoke from the bark going up the chimney and just hot coals are under your meat doing the cooking. This is an absolutely brilliant way to grill and smoke meat in a short time frame. This is something I have to have at my ranch someday.

I recall a hunting trip in Namibia a couple years ago where we sitting down to a very nice noon meal and the owner Danene asked us if there was anything we could not eat. I mentioned a few vegetables that I unfortunately could not eat because of food allergies and she said not to worry “we mostly eat meat here”. I was so enjoying this place with wonderful food and atmosphere. It is stories like this that you will never forget when you go and experience the meat culture of Africa for yourself.

Dorper Regards,

Philip Glass

Meat promotion South African style!

Meat in the cooler ready to be cut and grilled.

Workers grilling lamb for Dorper Course

Biltong as an appetizer and then on to the lamb chops!

I took a broken horned Kudu Bull while hunting with Pieter. Perfect for biltong!

The mass of this bull on display as he is hung up.

Dear Dorper Breeders,

Well the election did not go the way many of us thought it should and after all the hype, news stories, advertisements, and calls asking for money I'm glad its over. I am in political detox! I have had to cut out the News and Radio for a while and just enjoy nature and be at peace with my thoughts.

As a producer you produce something. You have a factory and manufacture a good that then enters the marketplace. We produce Dorper market lambs and breeding stock. If we were in Australia each sheep sale we make would be taxable. Unthinkable to us in the good ole USA right? Unfortunately the unthinkable will soon be the norm if the current administration gets its way. Thats right take from the producers to pay the non producers! This is what our nation just voted for. Our US sheep industry is holding on by a string and predators, taxes, and many other perils are about to take us out. The liberals would like to take away our predator control tools as they have done in many states. Folks I don't know about you but I work my tail off to care for my sheep and I have lost over $70,000 worth of sheep this year to predators. If our Wildlife Services budget is cut and our predator control tools such as the M44 are taken away I'm afraid to say we may be out of business or have to drastically cut back our flock. I don't want to have a sheep hobby its a great business if your lambs live and you manage well.

Lets just hope that some common sense will trickle down from real Americans to our center of power Washington D.C. Be active in your sheep organizations at both the state and federal level. This is our only voice in these matters.

Now its time to kick back and enjoy the holidays with family and friends. I always enjoy the fall and winter and Thanksgiving and Christmas. I suppose I'm just a kid at heart!

Dorper Regards,

Philip Glass

Another trip downunder! What a great time visiting sheep farmers and working with awesome Dorper and White Dorper sheep. I left out of San Angelo on a short flight to Dallas and then had the good fortune to have a direct flight to Brisbane which is on the East Coast of Australia. Brisbane is only a few hours drive from Bellevue farms which was my first destination. After arriving at Bellevue I quickly changed clothes and headed for the sheep pens and shearing barn. This is where I found my friend from Namibia Pieter and his Aussie partner David. Sorting the "show team" and making all the final selections for the National Dorper Show and Sale. After three long days of working, washing, shearing, and loading sheep we were off to Dubbo. An 8 hour drive was ahead of us and some great scenery along the way. We even passed a little town nicknamed the Windmill City which is what my hometown of Sterling City has always been known as. Arriving in Dubbo we found everyone else had arrived simultaneously and a long line to unload and weigh show and sale sheep was ahead of us. No time to waste I headed in the barn and found John and Marion Dell along with their Aussie partners Jean, Moozie, & Andrea van Niekerk. This was my second visit to Dubbo and third trip down under and I had made many friends so I felt quite at home here. Getting over 40 head of sheep unloaded, lambs weighed for their classes, sale rams weighed, paint branded and evaluated, and then everything fed and watered was quite a chore. Lucky for us we had plenty of helping hands including a young fellow named Josh from New Zealand that has been working at Bellevue this year. All the people I've met down under seem to be so nice and happy! Show day arrives and it is only ewes the first day and a long day it was. A three judge panel did the judging independently and then scores mathmatically tabulated. The first ewe lamb class was at 8:30AM and we ended the day at 8:00PM! An exhausting day to say the least. The ram show was similar but did not take quite as long but still a full day in the show ring began at 9:00AM and ended at 6:00PM. That evening was the formal awards ceremony where Bellevue took top honors with most points in Dorpers and White Dorpers. They received so many awards they insisted the "Texan" go up and receive a couple of them. What an honor. Did I mention these people are kind? David, owner of Bellevue, took the microphone as top winner of the event and went out of his way to thank me for my hard work in the show ring. He stated that it was a miracle that I could get his sheep to stand still since they had not been handled and has nicknamed me the "Sheep Whisperer". What a laugh we had that night.

The final day was sale day and a large crowd slowly amassed in the sale barn. Many top rams and ewes sold and a few over $10,000. These sheep were going all over Australia and some to China and Brazil. With sale day over and people beginning to leave we had a quiet night at our hostess Lynn's home with dinner, drinks, and good conversation. The next morning it was off to the Dubbo airport which is similar to San Angelo in size and only 1 hour to Sydney and then 14 hours direct to Dallas. These long trips are tiring but the experience is well worth it. I hope someday you can travel to Australia and meet these wonderful people and see their country.

Dorper Regards,

Philip Glass