By Roger High
Improving the productivity and profitability of sheep and other small-ruminant livestock farms will be the focus of Ohio Sheep Day July 11.
The daylong program is designed to offer producers expert tips and techniques on pasture renovation practices and other management processes that can help improve their financial bottom lines, said Roger A. High, executive director of the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association and Ohio State University Extension state sheep program specialist.
The event is sponsored by OSU Extension, OSIA, the Ohio Sheep and Wool Program, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, the Greene County Farm Bureau, the American Sheep Industry, and the Department of Animal Sciences and the Sheep Team at The Ohio State University.
The program will be led by experts from industry and from Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the college. The animal sciences department and sheep team also are part of the college.
The event is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Schoolhouse Shropshires farm, 961 Hoop Road in Xenia. The farm, which is owned by Jim and Denise Percival, is a purebred Shropshire and commercial sheep operation, which focuses on Shropshire, commercial sheep, lamb production, pasture and grain, High said.
Shropshire is a black-faced, slick-sheared sheep breed.
Located in southwestern Ohio, the farm is an ideal location for grain crops as well as ruminant livestock production because of its flat terrain, High said.
“Ohio Sheep Day will offer visitors the opportunity to visit a successful sheep farming operation dedicated to sheep production in a profitable way,” he said. “Sheep farmers and anyone interested in sheep management are invited to attend.
“Sheep producers will also receive great ideas about sheep nutrition, sheep management systems and many other areas of sheep production.”
Topics to be addressed include:
* Pasture renovation practices.
* Hay crop establishment practices.
* EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) practices for sheep farms.
* Basic sheep management practices.
* Lamb barn arrangements,
* Proper selection of sheep equipment.
* Calibrating manure spreaders for proper nutrient distribution.
* Livestock mortality composting certification.
* Predator control technology.
* Sheep farm euthanasia standards.
Sheep Day will also feature a trade show focusing on sheep production and management, where participants can purchase supplies and equipment, High said.
The event is open to the public, although registration is required. Registration, which includes a lamb luncheon, is $15 for OSIA members and $25 for nonmembers. Memberships are available for purchase at the time of registration.