Sheep management webinar set for Sept. 21

Historically, sheep have been a part of the agricultural economy of New Mexico since the arrival of European settlers.

Today in New Mexico, there are approximately 100,000 head of sheep raised for either wool or slaughter, valued at $19.1 million, according to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s 2019 New Mexico Agricultural Statistics. The wool produced in 2018 was valued at $1.313 million.

To help sheep producers improve the profitability of their herds, a three-part sheep management webinar series will be presented Sept. 21, 23 and 25, by New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service and Department of Animal and Range Sciences. Each session will begin at 6 p.m.

“The webinar series will provide sheep producers information on reproduction management, herd health and nutrition, and how to best market their lambs and wool,” said Marcy Ward, NMSU Extension livestock specialist.

The goal of the Sept. 21 seminar is to provide producers with information on reproductive and selection techniques that can help improve production of a herd.

The Sept. 23 seminar will provide a standard health management protocol that can optimize herd health and performance.

“Nutrition goes hand-in-hand with health, so supplementation strategies both in range and confinement situations will be provided,” Ward said.

“Marketing is becoming more challenging for many New Mexico sheep producers,” Ward said. “The final seminar on Friday, Sept. 25, will provide insight from industry leaders to help producers to find buyers of their products, while achieving good prices.”

To register, visit https://aces.nmsu.edu/newmexicosheep/index_preview.html. A list of presenters for each evening is also available at this website.

NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences offers several Extension publication regarding sheep management. Access the publications at https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_b/#sheep.