By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

People from throughout Kansas and Oklahoma attended the annual Stars of Kansas club lamb sale Sunday at Stardust Sheep
Farm at rural Lincolnville.

Sherry Nelson, owner of Stardust Sheep Farm, offered 27 lambs for sale. Breeders from Overland Park, Newton, and Oklahoma consigned another 25 lambs.

Buyers were looking for FFA and 4-H show lambs with pretty profiles, sound legs, and lots of muscle. Black faces were the most common, along with Dorset, Speckle, and Southdown.

A barbecued beef and hot dog lunch was served.

It was obvious people had a kindred spirit that bound them together. They seemed to know each other from past associations and had a common interest. Many said they were friends of Sherry Nelson.

Jerilyn, 16, and Judd, 18, had come with their parents, Jerry and Jo Ann Nelson of Soldier, to buy lambs, which they have been doing every year for four or five years.

“There are lots of places to buy lambs, but this is a good sale,” Jerilyn said.

Jerry Nelson grew up at Burdick and is a brother-in-law to Sherry Nelson. His attendance at the sheep sale every year is somewhat of a homecoming. His parents, the late Keith and Tody Nelson, owned the farm for many years.

Stephanie Morefield, 16, of Chattanooga, Oklahoma, has purchased lambs at the sale for several years. A Dorset wether (castrated lamb) and Dorset ewe (female) purchased there were champions at the Oklahoma Youth Expo one year. It is the largest junior youth expo in the country, Stephanie’s mother, Tami, said.

A couple who live east of Tulsa, Oklahoma, came to buy ewe lambs to add to their flock. A sheep producer from Chapman had brought 11 head to sell.

Kashen Nelson, 12, of Tribune, which is close to the Colorado border, had come in hopes of buying a 4-H lamb that he planned to add to his flock.

His mother, Nycole Nelson, said afterward that he didn’t get the ewe he wanted.

“She brought a couple hundred more than he budgeted for, so we will keep looking,” she said.

The lambs were taken from small pens and placed in individual holding racks before the sale to allow customers to compare them. They were led one-by-one onto a carpeted platform to be bid on and sold.

The auctioneer, seated behind the platform, was from Powhattan. He makes his living conducting production sales of sheep, goats, and cattle.

Sherry Nelson was ecstatic after the sale.

“It was a great sale,” she said. “We had at least double or maybe three times more people than before. There were a lot of good buys. Some kids don’t know how to pick a lamb, so by choosing the best ones for sale, we helped them out. They bought some good lambs for less than they were really worth.”

Sale prices ranged from $200 to $1,200.