Sheep Industry News April 2023

Around the States

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WALKER HONORED FOR RANGE MANAGEMENT John Walker, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service range scientist, San Angelo, and professor in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, received the Sustained Lifetime Achievement Award – recognizing more than four decades of substantial contributions to rangeland science and management – at the International Society for Range Management conference held Feb. 12-16 in Boise, Idaho. “The Society for Range Management has been very important in my career,” Walker said. “Most of my mentors were members of the organization, held leadership positions and have received similar awards. It feels good to be recognized alongside the people I respect.” Walker’s passion for sustainable, rangeland-based livestock production has resulted in research spanning the United States, Israel and South Africa. In addition to his work in forage-fed beef production and multi-paddock grazing, Walker is recognized as a pioneer in the field of targeted grazing, having served as editor and co-author of Targeted Grazing: A Natural Approach to Vegetation Management and Landscape Enhancement . Walker has also been a guiding force as the American Sheep Industry Association updates its Targeted Grazing Handbook . He established the Society for Range Management’s Targeted Grazing Committee – a cohort of practitioners, land managers, and research and extension professionals who educate and certify targeted grazing service providers. Further, he was the first to develop near-infrared spectroscopy calibrations of feces to determine the vegetation composition of livestock diets. This optical imaging technology – which utilizes broad-spectrum light to illuminate different chemical compounds – is considered a reliable and cost-effective tool that can assist in guiding rangeland management decisions. Walker’s current research focuses on the selective breeding of goats to consume species of juniper, a woody plant known for its detrimental encroachment on rangelands. In addition to his

primary research focus, Walker has published studies on livestock guardian dogs, rangeland hydrology, wool metrology and carbon cycling on rangelands. Source: Texas A&M AgriLife S.D. PLANS ONLINE EWE SALE/FUTURITY SHOW The South Dakota Sheep Growers Association announced recently that producers are invited to consign to the inaugural SDSGA Online Ewe Lamb Sale and Junior Futurity Show. The sale date is May 8 and the sale will be hosted on the Integrity Livestock Sales (IntegrityLivestockSales.com) online platform. This sale is intended to encourage junior participation in the sheep industry and provide a conduit between SDSGA members who raise purebred sheep and tomorrow’s sheep producers. The sale is sponsored by SDSGA and will be a multibreed ewe lamb sale featuring breeds raised by association members. Ewe lambs sold through this sale and purchased by a junior – 21 and under – are eligible for a Junior Futurity program that starts with purchase and showing of the ewe lamb in shows across the United States, then extends into the next year when the ewe is a yearling (Yearling Fu turity), and eventually as a producing member of the junior’s flock. The association encourages SDSGA members who raise pure bred registered sheep to participate and become involved with this unique program. Guidelines for the Online Sale and Ewe Lamb Futurity Show are outlined at SDSheepGrowers.org – subject to amendment as suggested and needed. This is an all-breed Junior Futurity Program and it is an all-breed sale. You must be a SDSGA member to be eligible to consign to this sale. If you already conduct an online sale, participate in an online sale hosted by someone else or sell animals in a bonded live auction sale, then you can also nominate those ewe lambs for the SDSGA Junior Futurity Program by designating them as entered for this program, paying the nomination fee to SDSGA and complying with the rules. Sheep must be nominated prior to the sale. Source: SDSGA

OPP

New Test — New Strategy No more bottle lambs!

www.OPPsociety.org 952-955-2596 hjneaton@gmail.com

Barbie Casey, M.S. Owner/Nutritionist

Email:smallruminant.consulting@gmail.com Phone: 513-205-7992 www.smallruminantcunsulting.com

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