A longwool breed with influence beyond its own flocks

The National Lincoln Sheep Breeders Association describes the improved Lincoln as the product of nineteenth-century selection and exchanges involving earlier Lincoln and Leicester sheep. Breeders sought meat quality while retaining strong wool suitable for combing and worsted production.

Lincoln animals were subsequently exported for crossbreeding. The association names Corriedale, Polwarth, Columbia and other populations among breeds developed using Lincoln parents. This influence explains why a breed can have a substantial historical contribution without maintaining equally large purebred numbers.

The American association began in Michigan in 1891. Colored Lincoln registration began in 1984, adding an explicit place for those fleeces within the American population. Preserving Lincoln sheep therefore maintains both a distinct longwool resource and a source population connected to the development of other breeds.