American Sheep Magazine March 2026

CONVENTION COVERAGE 2026

Tour participants visit UNR’s Rafter 7 Sheep Barn home to the university’s long running Merino genetics program designed for real-world performance in Western rangelands.

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO AGRICULTURAL TOUR Exploring innovation in agriculture and animal science.

Before convention sessions began, ASI loaded up early for a full-day University of Nevada, Reno agricultural tour. Part field trip, part behind-the-scenes look at how research, education, and real-world production connect. The day opened at UNR’s Greenhouse Complex, where controlled environments support plant breeding, genetics, production systems, and sustainable agriculture, an easy re minder that today’s ag innovation often starts with precision and testing before it ever reaches a field. The University Wool Lab is also housed in this complex, ensuring that the univer sity flock and regional producers have a place to micron test their wool. Next, the group toured Wolf Pack Meats, UNR’s Meat Science Laboratory. The walkthrough highlighted how future industry professionals are trained in processing fundamen tals, food safety, quality control, and value-added product

development, critical pieces of the supply chain that shape how lamb reaches consumers and how confidence is built in the product. The tour finished in the sheep world with Rafter 7, UNR’s long-running Merino genetics program within the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station. Started in 1989 and designed for Western rangelands, Rafter 7 develops and sells animals from two primary lines, purebred Merino and Merino × Rambouillet, with an emphasis on real-world per formance. On the tour, participants learned what makes Raf ter 7 especially valuable to producers is its data discipline and transparency: the program maintains extensive pedigree and performance records (birth, weaning, and wool data), and many sale animals have highly traceable parentage.

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