Kansas Sheep Symposium scheduled for Oct. 26-27 in Hutchinson
The Kansas Sheep Association in cooperation with Kansas State University Extension is sponsoring the first ever Kansas Sheep Symposium Oct. 26 to 27 at the Atrium Hotel and Conference Center in Hutchinson, Kansas.
This will be an event for all sheep producers and will cover a variety of topics, including management tips, online marketing and an industry update. Jeff Ebert, president of the Kansas Sheep Association, said, “Our goal is to provide a program that is beneficial to all of the sheep producers of Kansas, whether they have a commercial, club lamb, seed stock or hobby flock. Hopefully we’ve met this goal.”
The event will begin with a tour of local sheep operations on Friday. Also, on Friday is a producer forum featuring a variety of operating methods, an industry related trade show and time for one on one interaction.
Saturday morning will begin with updates from our industry partners as well as seminars from Brent Stroh, a North Dakota producer of a mixed specie diversified livestock and crop farm, Marvin Ensor, retired extension specialist from Texas who will be discussing small ruminant production, finewool, hair and goats in west Texas.
Ohio sheep producer Susan Shultz, secretary of the American Sheep Industry, will be the main speaker at the noon luncheon and will discuss the role of ASI and more in the U.S. sheep industry.
The afternoon will be broken into several breakout sessions targeted at specific producer groups. Some of the topics included are using flock records to your advantage, developing an online sale and tapping into the handspinner market. Other topics will include management of the sheep flock including nutrition, parasites and pasture management; and an overview of the club lamb industry including thoughts of where it is heading and how to manage the donor and recip flocks.
Speakers at the breakout sessions include, Alison Crane, K-State sheep and goat specialist, Bob Weaber, K-State beef specialist, Marvin Ensor, Brent Stroh, Darin Unruh from Kaufman Seeds, Sally Brandon from the Sheperds Mill, Justin Nathan and Torie Schwartz from Show Circuit online sales, as well as a representative from the Reproductive Specialty Group .
For information on this event, follow Kansas Sheep Association on Facebook and like the event, also on Facebook or contact us at [email protected].
