WOOSTER, Ohio – Sheep and goat producers can gain insight into nutrient management and how to better market and increase demand for their products at the Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium Dec. 14.
Sponsored by Ohio State University Extension, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association (OSIA) and the Ohio Sheep and Wool Program, as well as other industry partners, the day-long symposium is part of an ongoing effort to help sheep and goat producers continue to improve their operations, said Roger A. High, OSIA executive director and OSU Extension state sheep program specialist. The program will be led by experts from industry and from Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
OSU Extension and OARDC are the outreach and research arms, respectively, of the college.
Following the theme of “Looking to the Future: Marketing, Nutrient Management and Product Demand,” the event is designed as “one of our major educational programs for the sheep and goat industry annually,” High said.
Nearly 300 sheep and goat producers are expected to attend, he said.
“The symposium will address issues such as how can producers do a better job at marketing their products, particularly their lamb products,” High said. “Other questions the event will address include how can we change the industry and the mindset of sheep and goat producers to make them more successful?
“One of our goals is to offer producers education so that they can learn techniques to make their farming operations more successful, including learning about issues such as how nutrient management is evolving and some of the newer guidelines coming down the pike.”
The symposium is from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the OARDC Shisler Conference Center, 1680 Madison Ave., in Wooster. The program is open to beginner, intermediate and advanced sheep and goat producers, High said.
The keynote speaker for the symposium will be Jack Fisher, executive vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, who will speak on, “Celebrating Ohio’s Water Resources - What can small ruminant (sheep and goat) farmers do to help solve Ohio’s nutrient management issue?”
Other workshop topics include:
- The N, P, and K of Small Ruminant Manure and How Can it Best Be Utilized on the Farm
- Basics of Developing the 4-R Nutrient Management Plan for Your Farm
- Breaking Traditions to Brighten the Future of the Sheep Industry
- Basics of Developing a Grazing Management Plan for Your Farm
- The Future of the U.S. Lamb Industry
- The Future Infrastructure of the Sheep Industry
Registration information can be found at www.ohiosheep.org. Registration includes the entire program and a lamb lunch. Registration is $50 per family and $30 per individual for OSIA members or $70 per family and $50 per individuals for nonmembers by Nov. 22. Registrations after that date are an additional $10.
For more information on the symposium, contact High at 614-246-8299.
Roger High
614-246-8299
rhigh@ofbf.org