5 Southcentral Katahdin Hair Sheep Association
Howdy all! Greetings from Trinity River Katahdins – more specifically from Drs. Nathan and Wimberley Kay Krueger and Levi-Monroe Krueger!
Wimberley and I have been married for 11 years and welcomed our son in June 2012. We met while we were working on our undergraduate degrees at Texas A & M University in College Station, TX. Levi-Monroe was a late edition to our family as we made the executive decision to complete our education before we started our family. I received my doctorate in Animal Sciences and Agronomy from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL in 2006 and Wimberley received her doctorate in Nutritional Sciences and Agronomy from Texas A & M University in 2009. We are typical Aggies so we have high hopes that Levi-Monroe will find his way to Aggieland but we will be happy wherever he chooses to go! We’ ve got to get him raised first!
While we resided in Florida we were bitten by the herding bug. We started training Border Collies and Cardigan Welsh Corgis( the ones with the tail; cousin to the one the Queen raises). Commercial Katahdins were our sheep of choice to train our herding dogs while in Florida. We went for commercials as we were poor graduate students and really could not afford to feed our herding addiction with registered stock. We focused on light colored ewes that could be worked at any time of day in the hot and humid Florida climate. Upon returning to Texas to complete my wife’ s doctorate, we decided to transfer to registered stock and focus on white breeding stock( easier to work light colored sheep during the heat). Katahdins were the hands-down choice for us as they were able to gain on pasture, raise multiple lambs, result in great carcasses, and are just all around nice livestock to be around!
We currently reside on our family 1100 acre ranch with almost every type of hoof stock calling it home. Trinity River Livestock currently runs 20 head registered Brahman cattle, 28 head registered Hereford cattle, 130 head commercial crossbred cattle, numerous guard donkeys( quite possibly the best at protecting all classes of livestock in residence here), 15 head registered Quarter Horses, 60 head registered Katahdin sheep, and all sorts of classroom pets from my wife’ s classroom.
Levi-Monroe’ s
KHSI Director Candidate primary occupation is to be his charming one-year old self – I know – don’ t you wish that was your only occupation! I currently am a professor for the Division of Agricultural Sciences at Blinn College in Bryan Texas; I teach agronomy, horticulture, animal science, food science, and ag economics. Wimberley is a science teacher at the local high school where she teaches chemistry, physics, and Advanced Placement Biology.
We are always looking for a reason to talk sheep so if you are ever passing through and want to come by let us know, we would be glad to have ya!
Additionally, I am running for a board of director’ s position at the upcoming KHSI Expo and would appreciate your support. I truly believe that this is the best sheep breed for any and all to be involved with. One of my main foci is to recruit and educate new members, especially youth, and provide collaborative opportunities to Katahdin breeders to learn from each other. We can improve upon this already great breed by working with each other, being responsive to industry wants, and seek-
Wimberley, Nathan and Levi-Monroe Krueger
ing research opportunities with the higher education / research centers. Katahdins are just as good, if not better, than the traditional sheep breeds but we must do our part as caretakers of the breed to educate non-Katahdin people and advocate the superior traits that we know and love in our sheep!
I look forward to seeing you at the Expo; I wish everyone safe travels and good health! If you have any questions for me or would like to talk with me about important issues to you and the Katahdin breed, I would love to chat with you. I’ m easiest to reach by email – nakrueger @ gmail. com or feel free to give me a call. You can find my number in the directory.