Review of Agricultural Economics—Volume 29, Number 1—Pages 157–169 The Mountain States Lamb Cooperative: Can Vertical Integration Keep Lamb Producers from Being Fleeced?

The Mountain States Lamb Cooperative was formed in 2001 to ensure markets for fed lambs. The cooperative partnered with B. Rosen & Sons, Inc., a company with over fifty years of experience in the lamb industry. Together, they market approximately 750,000 lambs per year, or almost 25 % of U.S. domestic lamb production. The case is designed for senior- and graduate-level courses in agribusiness management. The case describes how trade and exchange rates affect U.S. lamb industry competitiveness and how a firm’s choice of strategy is dictated by global trade issues. On a bleak, windy December afternoon in 2001, John Helle pulls off ofInterstate 90 near Manhattan, Montana to check a flock of sheep. Although John’s farming/ranching operation is located 100 miles away near Dillon in picturesque southwest Montana, he winter grazes several hundred lambs in a variety of places. John is a third-generation sheep rancher who graduated with a double major in Animal Sciences and Agribusiness Management from Montana State University in 1987. John and his brother are partners in Helle Livestock, and are principals in their extended family operation, Rebish & Helle. The combined operation consists of 20,000 acres of range, four Forest Service grazing permits, 1,200 acres of irrigated farmland, 800 acres of dryland, 4,000 ewes, and 200 beef cows. The irrigated land produces alfalfa hay, malting barley, feed barley, and wheat. The dryland primarily produces winter wheat. John’s ewes are sheared in April prior to May lambing. At one time, ewes were lambed on open range. However, John has switched to confined, shed-lambing in recent years to better use labor resources, reduce predato