The Michigan State University Sheep Teaching and Research Center sold the top-selling ewe lamb at the North American Suffolk Sale held recently at the North American International Livestock Exhibition in Louisville, Ky.

The MSU ewe lamb sold for $1,150. A second MSU-bred ewe brought $700.
In the NAILE Suffolk open show, MSU-bred stock placed second, fourth and ninth. Taking second in the slick-shorn junior ewe lamb (born between Jan. 1 and Feb. 14, 2007) class was MSU 7122. MSU 7121 placed fourth in the February junior ram lamb class out of 15 head exhibited, while MSU 7114 was the ninth place lamb in the junior ewe lamb (Feb. 1-14) class. All lambs were sired by the MSU program's trait leading growth sire.

Alan Culham, farm manager of the MSU Sheep Teaching and Research Center; Jamie Hayes, an MSU animal science junior from Vermontville; and Elin Westover, an MSU animal science senior from Maple City, represented MSU at the NAILE.

The MSU Sheep Teaching and Research Center is located on 90 acres of land (85 acres of pasture) south of the main MSU campus in East Lansing. It is home to approximately 50 head of purebred Suffolk breeding ewes and a commercial flock of approximately 70 crossbreeds.

The sheep at MSU provide undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to learn about livestock evaluation tools through research projects and classes. The MSU purebred Suffolk flock is also enrolled in the National Sheep Improvement Program to evaluate, measure and predict genetic progress.

The NAILE is the world's largest all-breed purebred livestock exposition. Nine types of livestock compete in the exposition for $675,000 in premiums and awards, and the purebred beef and sheep events are the largest in the world.

Altogether, more than 140 shows, sales, breed meetings, entertainment events and judging contests are held during the 14-day event.

Approximately 200,000 visitors attended shows and sales at this year's NAILE. Upwards of 22,000 livestock entries were exhibited -- sheep, beef cattle, dairy cattle, dairy goats, Boer goats, draft horses, quarter horses, swine, and llamas and alpacas, as well as stock dogs.