Wood County WVU Extension slates workshop for sheep, goat producers - Parkersburg News
MINERAL WELLS — West Virginia University Extension will offer a small ruminant workshop for sheep and goat producers from 6-8 p.m. April 7 at the Wood County 4-H Campgrounds at 2203 Butcher Bend Road in Mineral Wells.
The Small Ruminant Workshop is the first of a three-part series of Mid-Ohio Valley Agriculture Field Days funded through a Farm Service Agency USDA grant. The series will include workshops on Backyard Poultry and Specialty Crops.
Programs are in partnership with WVU Extension in Wood, Roane, Ritchie, Calhoun and Wirt counties.
The main speaker is Dr. Stephanie Ringler with USDA Animal Plant and Health Inspection. Ringler will teach about parasite control in sheep and goats, in addition to discussing the Scrapie Eradication Program.
She is an expert in parasite resistance to dewormers and is a designated scrapie epidemiologist for USDA. She is also certified to teach FAMACHA certification classes through the Small Ruminant Consortium.
Ed Smolder, representing the West Virginia Shepherds Federation, will discuss Low Cost Lamb Production on Grass. Smolder raises cheviot sheep near Ripley and will teach about rotational grazing management, breed selection and other best practices to increase profits on the farm.
"Grass production, either through pasture or hay is our number one crop in West Virginia. This is the most profitable method of raising sheep and goats. Often, we take this for granted and don't really maximize our potential" J.J. Barrett, WVU agriculture extension agent for Wood County, said. "Rotational grazing will increase the amount of forage a farm can produce. We can raise just as good as grass here as anywhere else in these great United States. Whether we are producing cattle, sheep, goats or horses, pasture production should be our No. 1 priority on our farms."
Worms, gastro-intestinal parasites, are the most significant health problem affecting sheep and goats. They cost farmers millions of dollars each year in production losses, treatment costs and death losses. For sheep and goat producers, especially inexperienced ones, knowing how to control internal parasites in their flocks and herds can be frustrating.
Ringler will discuss parasite control, including FAMACHA. This is a management tool for sheep and goat producers to identify animals that are anemic (low blood iron) and need dewormed. FAMACHA educates producers on parasite drug resistance, proper deworming techniques, and management to decrease parasite loads on pasture. The FAMACHA eye card to assists to identify animals that require deworming.
Incorporation of FAMACHA training into a producer's management strategy will delay the development of parasite drug resistance on the farm and allow producers to identify individual animals that are resistant to the parasites (thus requiring less deworming).
"Sheep and goat producers can benefit greatly from using FAMACHA" Barrett said. "They can treat animals that need dewormed and not waste medicine and money on animals that are healthy. Furthermore, it can identify animals that show resistance to internal parasites."
The goal of the workshop is to provide underserved audiences production education and information on FSA programming available.
Workshops are in partnership with the Farm Service Agency, USDA, WVU Women in Agriculture Network, the Little Kanawha Conservation District, and Lisa Jones, WVU Extension Small Farm Center Director.
For more information or to pre-register, call the Wood County WVU Extension Office at (304) 424-1960, or Barrett directly at (304)-483-4257 or by e-mail at jj.barrett @mail.wvu.edu with questions.
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