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     The Rife flock was started the fall of 1961 with a few older bred ewes from Lowell Douce. Productivity has always been our foremost emphasis. Through those formative years, two Hartzell rams, 66-67 and 70-31, each from Emil's high indexing sets of twins their respective year, really exploded the productivity trait for us. Twenty-five top females from the Newcomer flock gave us a boost in the late 70's and early 80's. Five Grand, Mamuth, and Lucky Strike continued moving us forward through the 80's. The use of the phenomenal Barnes stud ram 3-K from '91 to '96 kicked us into orbit.  Over the past five years, three elite stud rams have redefined the image of Rife Shropshires and taken us to the next level. Cornerstone, Raspberry, and Flair gave us the "modern look" without sacrificing productivity. These rams cleaned up our front ends, squared up our hips, and gave us the size we needed to compete. The daughters of these rams make up the majority of our brood ewe flock and continue to produce fantastic lambs year after year! Our flock has consistently produced National Champions and, above all, sheep that perform for our customers, not only in the show ring, but also, more importantly, in their flock. At Rife Shropshires, we continually strive to produce sheep with style, breed character and grow-ability. The genetic base that our flock now maintains gives buyers the confidence for the predictability they deserve. |
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 2008 Lamb Sires Duke (RR NN)  
Sired by Breakthrough and out of a top Flair daughter, Duke is probably the most extreme patterned and largest framed of our Breakthrough sons. Duke sired: the 2006 National Junior Champion Sale Ewe at the Shropshire Spectacular, the 2007 National Champion Sale Ram at the Shropshire Spectacular, and the 2007 Champion Ram at the Ohio State Fair. We traded City Limits Sheep Farm rights to Duke for the 2007 breeding season as part of the exchange for Winn Dixie. Several of our fall lambing ewes were exposed to Duke. Sly Fox (RR NN) 
Another standout Breakthrough son by a super Flair daughter, Sly Fox was purchased and used by 3-D Sheep Farm & Ashley Harold. He sired the 2006 Reserve National Champion Sale Ewe at the Shropshire Spectacular for 3-D Sheep Farm before he was exchanged for another ram. In 2007, Sly Fox sired both the Jr. Champion Ram and Jr. Champion Ewe at the 2007 Shropshire Classic Sale for us. We sold Sly Fox to Wayne Brooks of Indiana for the 2007 breeding season, and retained breeding rights to this elite sire. Off the Hook (RR NN) 
Class winning twin brother to the Reserve Champion Ewe at both the 2006 Ohio & Indiana State Fairs, Off The Hook has grown into an impressive yearling ram with sensational breed character, balance, and thickness. His dam is Duke's twin sister, probably the most extreme patterned ewe in the flock. His sire is Melvin's stud ram, Brewer R52, also the sire of Advancer, our 2006 Champion Ram at the Ohio & Indiana State Fairs. Off The Hook was purchased by Molly Creamer as a lamb with breeding rights retained. In his 1st set of lambs, he sired: our 2 keeper fall ram lambs, Diamond Cutter and Screamer, the 2007 Reserve Champion Ram at the Ohio State Fair; Overtime, McCabe's 1st place February ram lamb and National Jr. Champion Ram at The National Shropshire Show in Wisconsin, also the 1st place late ram lamb at the Ohio State Fair; and the 1st place January ramb lamb at the National Shropshire Show in Wisconsin for Jim Kipp out of a bred ewe that he purchased from us last fall. Winn Dixie (RR NN) 
Purchased from City Limits Sheep Farm, Winn Dixie was our pick of their Knockout son's out of one of their most powerful brood ewe lines. He measures 39" x 39" and has the bone and correctness that we were looking for. For a big ram, we feel that he has excellent breed character and is good rumped. Diamond Cutter (RR NN) 
Sired by Off The Hook and out of a daughter of Knockout's mother, we think that this ram could be the piece that we need to continue to move of our breeding program forward. Diamond Cutter is upfronted, square hipped, and has significant thickness across his top and down into his lower leg. Screamer (RR NN) 
Sired by Off The Hook and out of a daughter of Knockout's mother, Screamer was Reserve Champion Ram at the 2007 Ohio State Fair. He is long bodied, correct on his feet and legs, and has a beautiful pattern. Executive (RR NN) 
Sired by Mojo and out of Knockout's mother, Executive has a unique genetic package that could produce a phenominal set of brood ewes for us. We have identified Knockout's mother as one of the most prolific females in our program and are working at line breeding this super ewe. Reference Sires Breakthrough (RR NN) 
Sandy Bushatz's 2003 Reserve National Champion Shropshire Ram, dammed by one of the elite stud ewes in our breed, Breakthrough has been a prolific stud ram and brood ewe producer for us over the past few years. He has sired and grand sired Champions at every level from coast-to-coast. Several of the top Shropshire breeders in the country are currently using Breakthrough sons. We sold Breakthrough for the 2007 breeding season to Avery Shropshires of Indiana and Bradley Adams Shropshires of Illinois. This ram has done a fantastic job for our program and his daughters will continue to produce in flock.   Randy, Julie, and Justin Rife 2423 Clifton Road • Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387 (937) 767-1871 • email: julia.rife@wright.edu Visitors Always Welcome! We're located midway between Richmond, Indiana and Columbus, Ohio, south of I-70 at Exit 54. |