Non-Profit Spotlight: The Livestock Conservancy and the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em Program

Hi, I’m Jeannette Beranger, and I am delighted to share more about the Livestock Conservancy and our Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em program.

The Livestock Conservancy is a nonprofit membership organization. Our mission is to protect endangered livestock and poultry breeds from extinction. Included in our mission are over 150 breeds of donkeys, cattle, goats, horses, sheep, pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys.

To put our mission into context, in 2006 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that we lose an average of 2 domestic animal breeds each week. In the past fifteen years alone, the FAO has identified the extinction of 300 out of 6,000 breeds worldwide, with another 1,350 in danger of extinction. The Livestock Conservancy is the leading organization working to stop the extinction of these breeds in the United States – ensuring the future of our agricultural food system.

Heritage breeds of livestock and poultry protect our food systems, both now and into the future. By securing genetic diversity we enable healthy agriculture development while preserving heritage, history, and culture. These animals represent an irreplaceable piece of earth’s biodiversity that once lost, will be gone forever. 

Heritage breed conservation retains animals well suited for sustainable, grass-based systems, which gives some small farms a competitive edge. It also broadens the marketplace with diverse fiber and flavorful foods. Their unique genetic traits offer an incredible variety that may be needed for future farms, including robust health, mothering instincts, foraging, and the ability to thrive in a changing climate. 

As guardians of this genetic diversity, The Livestock Conservancy prevents extinctions, expands populations, educates beginning farmers, and helps breeders establish new markets for their products. Our programs maintain the long-term viability and sustainability of endangered breeds. Since its inception in 1977, The Livestock Conservancy has not lost a breed listed on our Conservation Priority List.

In 2019, The Livestock Conservancy launched an initiative to help support sheep conservation and improve profit for farmers. The Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em Initiative recognizes fiber artists who use wool from breeds on the Conservation Priority List while connecting shepherds of heritage breeds with customers.

Endangered breeds of livestock need jobs. In the case of wool sheep, we need to start using their wool again. When you use wool from rare breed sheep, you help the bottom line of a small farmer. With improved profitability, these farmers make it through another season and over time their farm income stabilizes. With enough repeat sales, shepherds can expand their flocks. 

This can be done through The Livestock Conservancy’s online breeders and products directory. Sheep producers can get listed in the directory by joining The Livestock Conservancy and registering as a Fiber Provider.

The diverse collection of breeds on the Conservation Priority List were bred for specific traits and characteristics by many generations of farmers. While this has given us varied and remarkable wool to work with, these breeds do not fit into today’s “modern” agricultural model. Additionally, cheap petroleum-based synthetic fibers have replaced wool in many of today’s clothing and textile markets. Although these fibers are cheaper, heritage breed wool is far more sustainable and fiber artists are rediscovering the vast variety of uses the different breeds offer.

We have created a number of educational resources to help both producers and fiber artists. Our Heritage Sheep Breed Fiber Profiles, written and compiled by fiber author Deb Robson, detail each breed’s fleece weight, staple length, fiber diameters, lock characteristics, natural colors, and best uses for fiber projects. We have also created a buying fleece guide to help newcomers understand what you need to take in consideration when buying fleeces. There are additional wool marketing resources for producers who want to be more successful in selling product.

The Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em initiative has had nearly 4000 fiber artists sign up for the program and over 1600 fiber providers benefiting from the program. It literally has been a game changer for rare breed wool sales which has now become profitable with many breeds bringing prices comparable and even surpassing high quality Merino wool. 

The Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em Program is one of our most popular initiatives, with strong potential for growth. The program benefits both ends of the wool supply chain: it provides rare breed shepherds with increased income by boosting the economic return on their investment in wool production, and it offers fiber artists access to unique, high quality materials from heritage sheep breeds. Importantly, it supports our mission by promoting the sustainable conservation of rare sheep breeds through active market engagement.

We aim to grow this program at the grassroots level—beginning with the Great Lakes region as a replicable model for broader national implementation. This localized expansion not only strengthens regional agricultural economies but also shows how rare breeds can be a viable and sustainable component of a farmer’s business model. Ultimately, the success of this approach will serve as a blueprint for developing similar conservation-through-commerce programs for other heritage livestock breeds that produce marketable goods such as meat, milk, or eggs.

Here are three easy ways to get involved with our organization:

Want to learn more about the Livestock Conservancy? I will be interviewed as part of Eco Conscious Artisan business week- learn more about the event here: First Sessions for Eco Conscious Artisan Business Week are available!