Langston University hosts goat and hair sheep field day

The American Institute for Goat Research of Langston University’s School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences will hold its annual Goat Field Day on April 28 at the Institute Goat Farm with registration beginning at 8 a.m.

Whereas in the past the field day was strictly about goats, recently the university added a research flock of Dorper, Katahdin and St. Croix hair sheep so this year’s topics will cover interest areas for hair sheep producers as well. This year’s theme is Preventing Production Losses and the featured morning speakers will be Matthew Branan, of the USDA/APHIS National Animal Health Monitoring System in Fort Collins, Colorado, and David Pugh, director of the Alabama Veterinary Diagnostic Lab System, and Jim Keen from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

In the afternoon, 15 different workshops will be offered. Participants will have time to attend three sessions. The afternoon workshops include: internal parasite control, small ruminant diseases, national sheep and goat health studies, basic herd management, nutrition, farm budgeting, a discussion with meat processors on the type and weights of desired goats and sheep, pack goats, tanning goatskins, cheesemaking, DHI training, USDA/APHIS, Wildlife Services, NRCS, NASS, and AMS programs and information and a half-day fitting and showing workshop.

Registration for the Goat and Hair Sheep Field Day is free but there is a $10 per person charge for the lunch of barbecued goat meat and goat milk ice cream. You can bring your own lunch, if you desire. Regardless of lunch preferences, we ask everyone to pre-register.

For information regarding the 2018 Goat Field Day, please contact Terry Gipson at 405-466-6126 or [email protected].

You can register online for the 2018 Goat and Hair Sheep Field Day by visiting http://goats.langston.edu/2018-goat-and-hair-sheep-field-day.