Wisconsin Sheep and Goat Extension

The new pdf list is posted at Wisconsin Shearers (March 2012)

The annual Arlington Sheep Day will be held on March 10, 2012 at the Public Events Facility of the Arlington Research Station.  Dr. Mike Neary, Purdue University Extension Sheep Specialist will address two topics: Should I sell my lambs as light ethnic lambs or finish them to heavier weights? and Economical diets for ewes and lambs.  With rising feed costs, Dr. Neary will help producers evaluate their lamb market and how to make the most from their ewe flock.

Three commercial sheep producers will share their management ideas on the following topic: What drives decisions on your sheep farm? Do breed selection and management strategies determine your market OR do market opportunities drive your management and breed choices?  The panel will feature Carrie Johnson of Jordandal Farms (Argyle, WI), who use Icelandic and Clun Forest ewes to produce fine fleeces and finished lamb for direct sales.  Paul Esser (Glen Haven, WI) manages 160 to 200 Polypay ewes, selling feeder lambs from Suffolk rams.  Tom Vaasen (Lancaster, WI) manages 400 crossbred ewes in the Star System, lambing every 73 days throughout the year.

Sheep producers in 22 states participated in the USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System’s 2011 Sheep Survey.  The survey gathered data regarding management practices and the prevalence of sheep diseases such as scrapie, ovine progressive pneumonia, Johne’s disease, Mycoplasma ovipneumonia, and caseous lymphadenitis.  In addition, the survey collected information regarding internal parasites and anthelmintic resistance in Wisconsin flocks.  A USDA APHIS veterinarian will share the latest updates on the results on this work.

During these educational sessions, a beginner and youth session will be held concurrently at the Sheep Unit of the Arlington Research Station, featuring session on Lambing barn management and Telling your story at the fair.  Please register at the Public Events Facility before proceeding to the Sheep Unit.

Following the morning educational session, the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative will hold its annual WSBC Recognition Dinner beginning at 12:30 pm, followed by the annual members meeting beginning at 1:30 pm.  A youth judging contest will be held during the annual meeting.

Educational sessions begin at 8:15 am and pre-registration is required by February 24, 2012.  The cost to attend the educational sessions of the Arlington Sheep Day is $5 and the cost to attend the WSBC Annual Recognition Dinner is $15.  All are welcome at the Recognition Dinner.  Please register using the registration form.

Dr. Joan Dean Rowe presented an educational webinar on goat health on January 23, 2012. Dr. Rowe discussed the importance of testing for and strategies to manage herd diseases such as Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL), Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) and Mycoplasma.

Dr. Rowe is an associate professor in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction at University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. She holds DVM, MPVM, and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Davis. She completed a residency in food animal reproduction and herd health at UC Davis, and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. Dr. Rowe is a clinician on the Food Animal Reproduction & Herd Health Service at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. She raises Toggenburg dairy goats and is a licensed dairy goat judge and on the American Dairy Goat Association Board of Directors. Dr. Rowe has current research interests in CAEV, infectious abortion, reproductive performance and small ruminant drug approvals.

Directions to View Webinar   The program can be viewed using the Microsoft Live Meeting Program, which you may need to download (directions included).  During the first 2 minutes of the program, we are coordinating the program audio.  Jeremy Hanson (Fox Valley Tech College) begins the introduction 2 minutes into the program.

View the supporting handouts:

Dr. Rowe Webinar Handout

Raising Dairy Goat Kids UC Davis

CLA Testing

Caseous Lymphadenitis

CAE Info Sheet – USDA APHIS

The University of Wisconsin-Extension will hold a 6-weekeducational program on commercial sheep production from  mid-February to March.  The course is intended for producers new to sheep, those thinking about starting a sheep business, or experienced shepherds just looking to re-fresh their information.  This pilot course will be held Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00 pm from February 16 to March 22, 2012 at the Iowa County Health and Human Services Building (303 West Chapel Street, Dodgeville).  Additional courses may be held in other parts of Wisconsin in future years.  Click HERE for a complete program and registration details.

The course will cover topics related to commercial sheep production, including breed selection, animal health, lambing management, flock nutrition, marketing opportunities, and economic analysis.  This hands-on course will include a farm visit and practical exercises for new and experienced shepherds.  In addition to the 6-week program, students will be invited to summer follow-up meetings at sheep production facilities, such as pasture walks and processing facilities.  The course will be limited to 25 participants.  A registration fee of $65 will be charged if registered by February 10.  After this date, registration will be accepted for a fee of $80.  Course details will be posted by January 1.   For more information, contact Gene Schriefer at the Iowa County Extension gene.schriefer@ces.uwex.edu or 608-930-9850.

The University of Wisconsin Madison – Arlington Sheep Unit will hold it’s Fourth Annual Badger Production Sale on Sunday October 2nd, 2011 at the Public Events Facility at the Arlington Ag Research Station Wisconsin. More information available at http://badgerproductionsale.com/

  or contact Todd Taylor toddtaylor@wisc.edu or 608-846-5858

Selling Polypay and Hampshire Ewe lambs and Ram Lambs, Targhee, Rambouillet and Rambouillet-Booroola ewe lambs.  Polypay and Hampshire flocks are actively enrolled in NSIP and lambs will sell with most current EBV’s. Targhees are also enrolled.

Goat artificial insemination clinic to be held on October 13-14, 2011 in Monroe, Wisconsin.

This two-day course will cover reproductive anatomy, semen handling, AI equipment, effects of management on AI success, and hands-on practice at a neighboring goat farm. Additional course details available on the BioGenics Ltd. website.

The course will be held from 9am to 6 pm at the Green County Justice Center / UW Extension Office, 2841 6th St, Monroe, WI
53566

Registration fee is $200, which includes lunch, snacks and educational materials.  Space is limited to 14 participants.  To register, contact Claire Mikolayunas at  608-890-3802 or mikolayunas@wisc.edu, or return the Goat AI Clinic registration form.

The two-day conference features a wide array of speakers and educational seminars, as well as a cheese tasting reception. The event has evolved and grown over the years, as a growing number of dairy goat farms and supportive infrastructure has propelled Wisconsin to lead the nation in the production of goat milk products. In fact, the 2011 U.S. Champion Cheese is a goat’s milk cheese produced in Wisconsin.

Topics for the October conference include seminars for both dairy goat producers and dairy processors.

For producers, relevant topics include:

• Managing internal parasites (Dr. Hart, Langston University)
• Improving ventilation in goat barns (Dr. Kammel, UW Extension)
• Introduction to milking machine function
• Claws and inflations for goats (Pete Draeger, Coburn Company)
• Biosecurity measures for goat farms (Dr. Patton, WI-DACTP),
• Disease testing for goats (Dr. Sockett, UW Vet Diagnostic Lab)
• Farm transition planning
• Hiring employees
• Virtual Farm Tour of three unique feeding and management systems

Topics relevant to processors include:

• A survey of pathogens on farmstead dairy farms
• A farmer panel on value-added dairy production
• Mammary health and milk quality

In addition, two talks will focus on the use of goats for landscape management.  Jesse Bennett, Julia Ela and Katie Baumann will discuss recent research and on-going evaluations related to the restoration of oak savannah in southwestern Wisconsin with managed grazing of goats.

Other conference events include:

• Oct 21 Cheese Reception, featuring award-winning Wisconsin goat milk cheeses
• Oct. 22 Youth program hosted by the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association and University of Platteville students.
• Oct 22 Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association ‘Select Doe and Buck Sale’.

View the complete 2011 Focus On Goats Program.  Register by mail or online via the UW-Platteville site.  Registration fees (lunch and breaks included) are $30 for Friday or Saturday only, $55 for the entire conference, and $15 for the youth program (Saturday only).  A $10 late fee will be charged on registrations after October 7.

Organization of the Focus on Goats conference is conducted with the cooperation of the University of Wisconsin-Cooperative Extension, the Dairy Business Innovation Center, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association.  For more information, contact Claire Mikolayunas at mikolayunas@wisc.edu or 608-890-3802.

Internal parasites represent a significant challenge for sheep and goat producers.  Given proper environmental conditions (temperature and moisture), internal parasites have a short generation interval, making infection and re-infection possible in as little as 3 weeks.  Internal parasites cause anemia in sheep and goats, leading to poor performance, bottlejaw, and possibly death.  The animals most susceptible include, in order of risk:

            – lambs/kids, pregnant ewes/does

            – lactating ewes/does

            – dry ewes/does, mature rams/bucks

High-risk groups may be monitored for internal parasites using fecal egg counts and FAMACHA scoring (only valid for barber pole worm).  Treatment options include strategic deworming early in season, annually rotating classes of de-wormers, rotational grazing management, integrating haying and grazing of pastures, and grazing high-tannin forages.  New and experienced producers should develop a management plan for their herd that is appropriate for their operation.

University of Wisconsin-Extension will be hosting parasite training programs throughout Wisconsin:

June 29, 2011:  Neillsville

For registration, contact Maria Bendixen (Clark County UW-Extension) at 715-743-5121; Program details available on Neillsville Parasite Workshop Brochure

July 21, 2011:  Ashland-Bayfield

For program details and registration, contact Jason Fischbach (Ashland and Bayfield County UW-Extension) at 715-373-6104 ext 253.

Additional programs to be announced soon.  

A Meat and Dairy Goat Judging Program will be held at Public Events Facility of the Arlington Research Station on May 14, 2011.  The program is designed to educate youth, fair judges and goat producers on evaluating the utilitarian and aesthetic attributes of goats.  Two nationally recognized goat judges, Dr. Brian Faris and Tom Considine, will lead concurrent educational tracks on meat goats and dairy goats, respectively.  Both sessions will include live animal evaluation of various classes of animals.

The meat goat training will be led by Dr. Brian Faris, the Kansas State University Sheep and Meat Goat Specialist.  Dr. Faris grew up raising registered and commercial Rambouillet sheep and Angora goats in Texas.  He an experienced meat goat producer and has judged meat goat shows throughout the United States.  The dairy goat judge training will be led by Tom Considine, a second generation dairy goat farmer and American Dairy Goat Association senior licensed judge.  Tom has been an ADGA judge for 23 years, judging all over the United States and Canada.  Tom is currently serving ADGA as a Director, a member on the Executive Committee and chairs the Judge’s Training Committee.  The afternoon program will feature talks on the basics of goat rearing and techniques on “How to be an effective judge”. 

The program will be held from 8:45 am to 2:30 pm and pre-registration is required by May 6, 2011.  The cost to attend is $25, which includes lunch and educational materials.  Please download a registration form for the event on the Programs page.

The Indianhead Sheep Breeders Association will hold its 17th Annual Shepherd’s Clinic and Trade Show on Saturday, February 12th, 2010 at the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College Conference Center in Rice Lake, Wisconsin.  The clinic has been a successful educational, promotional, and social event with over 200 in attendance last year.  The all-day event features concurrent educational sessions for beginning to experienced shepherds on a wide variety of topics, a trade show, a silent auction, a beginner and youth program, and a roast lamb and baked chicken luncheon program including a live auction, awards and scholarship presentation. 

The 2011 keynote speaker will be Susan Schoenian, the Sheep and Goat Specialist at the University of Maryland’s Western Maryland Research and Education Center.  Ms. Schoenian created and maintains the Maryland Small Ruminant Page, an extensive resource dedicated to all aspects of small ruminant production.  She will address the topics of parasite control, breeding sheep for production, and the future of genetic testing in sheep.

Featured speakers will address the topics of sheep handling, shearing and wool handling, forages and fencing for sheep, scrapie, and dairy sheep production:

• Ben Barlett, Extension Educator, Michigan State University
• Randy Cutler, Fencing Specialist and Sheep Producer
• David Kier, Sheep Producer, International Sheep Shearer & Instructor
• Duane Klindworth, Commercial Sheep Producer
• Larry Meisegeier, Dairy Sheep Producer
• Dave Thomas, Animal Science Professor and Sheep Specialist, University of Wisconsin
• Doris Olander, DVM, Scrapie Epidemiologist, USDA/APHIS
• Mary Wallace, Sheep Producer, Wool Judge and Felting Artist
• Randy Welch, Alfalfa and Forage Agronomist
• Vicky and Jeff Simpkins, Dairy Sheep Producers and Cheesemaker

 In addition to this advanced educational program, a concurrent youth and beginner session will cover raising a market lamb for the fair, from selection to feeding and showing.  This program will also feature a sheep skillathon.

Additional information, pre-registration, sponsorship opportunities or trade show reservation information is available on-line at the Indianhead Sheep Breeders Website.  Find links to on-line registration on the Barron County UW-Extension Website.