Buckeye Shepherd Symposium

New Young Shepherd’s Program to be Introduced as Part of Annual Symposium

The 2017 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will feature a new program for sheep producers aged 18 to 35 as part of their annual event organized by the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association. The symposium will be held December 1 and 2 at The Ohio State University/OARDC campus in Wooster, Ohio.

“A new piece of the symposium this year is a Young Shepherd’s Program to encourage networking and interaction among young sheep producers,” said Christine Gelley, agriculture and natural resources educator, OSU Extension, Noble County and one of the event organizers. “We wanted an opportunity for young shepherds to interact with their peers and learn from each other.”

The program for young shepherds will be on the first evening of the symposium, December 1, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Jake’s Steakhouse, 6655 Lincoln Way E., Wooster, 44691. The program will feature a panel of young professionals discussing their experience, trials, and successes raising sheep.

The Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will begin on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. and continue all day on Saturday until 4:00 p.m. and will be held in Fisher Auditorium and Shisler Conference Center on the OARDC campus. Gelley said the objectives of the symposium are to assist sheep producers with increasing productivity through educational programming from which every segment of the sheep industry can benefit. Speakers and topics featured this year at the symposium are:

• Examining the profitability of several sheep production scenarios with a simulation model will be presented by Dr. Erin Recktenwald, Michigan State University
• The realities of finishing lambs on grass vs. grain and feeding ewe lambs for maximum growth and reproduction will be two presentations by Dr. Francis Fluharty, The Ohio State University
• Update on the USDA scrapie program will be presented by Dr. Mark Lyons, USDA-Aphis
• Breakout sessions will include tracks for sheep reproduction, marketing and economics, and novice and beginner session.
• Tour of the OSU Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) will be available for high-school students

Information about the symposium, registration costs and forms are available at ohiosheep.org/lead or by contacting Christine Gelley at 740-732-5681 or gelley.2@osu.edu.