If you are like me, when the term livestock producers in Richland County is mentioned, your thoughts almost immediately turn to our ranchers who are working with cattle every day. And while our cattle ranchers certainly make up a large portion of the livestock inventory in our county, we still have a fair amount of sheep producers who often times get little or no attention or thought. In February, Richland County will be hosting the Eastern Montana Sheep symposium to hopefully bring some much needed educational programming and shed some light on our other livestock producers in the county.
The plans are still in the works and logistics are being ironed out, but for the most part the schedule is confirmed. The Eastern Montana Sheep Symposium will be held Monday, February 13 here at the meeting room at the Richland County Extension Office. This program will begin at 10:00 AM and end around 3:00 PM with a lunch provided. The exact schedule is still being hammered out, but the topics will include; Ewe Body Condition Scoring and Late Gestation Nutrition, Alternative Feed Stuffs, An Update from the Montana Wool Growers Association (MWGA), Results from a Trace Mineral Study, Integrated Pest Management, and Marketing.
Speakers for this event include Dr. Whit Stewart who is our MSU Extension sheep specialist; Colleen Buck, the Agriculture/4-H Extension Agent in Sheridan County, Chad Page, a masters in science degree student at MSU working on trace mineral supplementation in growing ram lambs; Sam Ortmann a district director with MWGA; and Larry Prager with Center of the Nation Wool in Belle Fourche.
Consider this your “save the date” announcement with more details and a complete schedule to come. There will be a charge at the door as lunch will be provided but all of those details are still being hammered out.
It is my hope that we will be able to fill the meeting room for this event which, to my knowledge, has not been held in Richland County previously. If you are a sheep producer, are looking at getting into the business, are looking at diversifying your operation, or are just generally curious about what it takes to raise some sheep, you are encouraged to attend. As always, if you have questions, you are welcome to give me a call at 433-1206 or send an email to [email protected].
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