Sheep Industry News August 2023

Young Researchers Lead State Initiatives

SHEEP GENETICS USA D r. Kelly Froehlich of South Dakota State University and Dr. Chad Page of Utah State University are two of several young state extension personnel that are guiding the American sheep industry into the future. Sheep Genetics USA sat down with them to visit about their roles in the industry. SGUSA: Please share your background and how you became involved in the sheep industry. Froehlich: My godparents helped fuel my interest in sheep at a young age. Every year, one of the highlights of the Minnesota State Fair was going to visit my godparent’s sheep in the barn in addition to visiting their farm in Iowa. When I was around 13, I convinced my parents to allow me to get seven Lincoln ewes. The first few years, I spent a lot of time trying to keep sheep from escaping and my godparents were always a phone call away for all my sheep questions. From there, the flock grew and I was determined to learn all I could about sheep. In

high school, I enrolled in all the online Pipestone Lamb and Wool Program courses available and became involved with the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers. I pursed my education in animal science and had the op portunity to go abroad to New Zealand for my Ph.D. While I enjoyed my time there, I missed my sheep, and was excited to come back to the United States and be a part of the sheep industry here. That was the motivation to apply for my cur rent job. Page: I grew up in Chandler, Ariz., on a small sheep and goat operation. My love of animals was seeded by my grandfather, who spent many hours just watching his sheep and teaching me about livestock animals. Ultimately, I ended up pursuing a degree in animal science with an interest in many disciplines. In grad school, I had the honor of conducting a project that involved many sheep ranchers across Montana. Through interaction with those producers, it didn’t take long to realize that I wanted to work with the great people whose livelihood depend on the sheep industry. Since then, I have completed a Ph.D. focusing on sheep mineral supplementation at the University of Wyoming, and currently serve as an extension sheep and goat specialist while teaching future sheep producers at Utah State University. I continue to meet incredible people throughout our industry and try to serve them as best as I can. SGUSA: What are the projects that you are working on regarding the sheep industry through your re spective universities? Page: Utah State University has a number of projects and new collaborations currently going on. Since my main job descrip tion involves teaching, we try to involve as many undergradu ates as possible. Some projects include mineral research in Cedar City, Utah, with Southern Utah University to help determine effects on range use and forage selection with and without mineral supplement. We have also recently started working with the Utah Department of Natural Resources to graze sheep and goats on invasive weeds in mule deer winter habitat. As many may know, Superior Farms has recently opened the Sheep Discov ery Center in Utah and we have been exploring multiple ways to include them in our programs, including class field trips

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