Released: February 28, 2005

Sheep Day Slated March 19 At K-State’s Weber Hall

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The topic will be sheep and goats – the way they’re fed, marketed, identified, and shown – at Kansas State University’s Kansas Sheep Symposium and Youth Sheep Day March 19, 2005.

The symposium’s producer program starts at 8 a.m. with registration. Coffee and donuts will be served, compliments of Mid-States Wool Growers of South Hutchinson. The registration fee is $15 per couple or adult over 18 years of age. There is no registration fee for those 18 and under to attend the producer program. Lunch will be served on the premises for an additional fee.

Also at 8 a.m., the Kansas Sheep Ambassador Program Judging begins.

Entries for a youth and adult photography contest are due by 9 a.m.

The general session begins at 9 a.m., with topics and speakers to include:

Welcome – Janice Swanson, Interim Head of K-State’s Department of Animal Sciences and Industry.

Romanov-based Commercial Ewes-A Recipe for Profit – Kreg Leymaster, research geneticist, U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Neb.

Animal Identification and National Premise Identification System Implications for Sheep – Scrapie Program Update – George Teagarden, Kansas Livestock Commissioner.

Marketing Your Lambs – Tom Clayman, Superior Farms, Hutchinson, Kan.

A Careful Look at Terminal Sire Breeds – Kreg Leymaster, MARC.

Recent Meat Goat Production Trends in Kansas and Surrounding States – Cliff Spaeth, K-State Research and Extension animal scientist.

Preliminary Results of KSU Meat Goat Feeding and Meat Palatability Studies – Jim Drouillard, K-State Research and Extension and Suzanne Ryan and Mark Corrigan, graduate students in KSU’s animal science department.

K-State’s Youth Sheep Day will run concurrently with the Kansas Sheep Symposium. The cost for Youth Sheep Day is $15 per person. Advance registrations are due by March 8. Registrations will be accepted late and at the door, but late registrants are not guaranteed a t-shirt.

Youth Sheep Day starts at 9:15 a.m. in the Weber Arena seating area. Topics to be discussed through the day are National Animal ID System/Packer Perspective on show lamb carcasses; Equipment Needed for the Youth Lamb Project; What is the Judge Looking For?; Feeding the Show Lamb; and Showmanship/Nose Printing Tips for Success.

A drawing for show lambs and Suther’s Feed Products will be held.

For more information about either event, interested persons can contact Julie Voge at 785-532-1264 or Cliff Spaeth at 785-532-1255.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Mary Lou Peter,
mlpeter@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News