University of Wyoming Extension News

Tag Archives: Sheep

UW ag college dean receives Wyoming Wool Growers Amigo Award

Dean Frank Galey and the Amigo Award from the Wyoming Wool Growers Association.

The Wyoming Wool Growers Association (WWGA) presented its Amigo Award to Frank Galey, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, citing support of sheep research and outreach programs for producers.

The WWGA announced the award during its joint meeting with Idaho and Utah woolgrowers last month. The WWGA’s executive board decides recipients, said Bryce Reece, WWGA executive vice-president.

The college conducts an annual ram test, installed a sheep GrowSafe feeding system, which allows data collection on an individual animal while in a feedlot with other livestock, and entered into an agreement with the WWGA in late 2011 to house the Von Krosigk Targhee flock at the Laramie Research and Extension Center (LREC).

“Frank has fought pretty hard for us,” said Reece. “The discussion around the table was that few universities are even interested in doing sheep anything any more. Frank has not only maintained sheep activities, but it’s still a strong program.”

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UW Extension advises using repellents to reduce bluetongue risk in sheep

Persistent drought conditions in Wyoming have increased the risk of bluetongue disease in sheep, which is vectored by biting midges.

Scott Schell, assistant entomologist with University of Wyoming Extension, said the early spring and hot, dry conditions Wyoming has experienced favor the reappearance of bluetongue.

“Drought conditions create a lot of mucky edges around receding water holes, which is biting midge larval habitat,” said Schell. “Drought also concentrates livestock around fewer water sources in late summer when the biting midge population peaks.”

According to Schell, the only way to reduce the risk of bluetongue to sheep in Wyoming is the use of repellents. He said that long-lasting, insecticidal repellents, properly applied to sheep in the summer, provide economical protection frombluetongue.

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UW bulletin highlights cattle, sheep, crop, weed research

Powell R&E Center director Abdel Mesbah, left, hands the microphone to extension educator Jeff Edwards of Goshen County during a prior field day session.

Beef cattle, sheep, traditional and alternative farm crops, specialty crops including vegetables, turf grass variety trials and weed control are among research projects covered in the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station’s (WAES) Field Days Bulletin.

This is the publication’s second year.

“The goal of the bulletin is to document and make publicly available the content of research and other activities being conducted by WAES and at the four University of Wyoming research and extension (R&E) centers,” said WAES director Bret Hess. “The bulletin provides a forum for researchers and educators affiliated with WAES to publish results of their activities and to introduce new projects.”

Those attending an R&E center field day will receive hardcopies of the bulletin. The publication is also posted on the WAES website at http://www.uwyo.edu/uwexpstn/ under Important Links on the left-hand side of the page.

Field days begin at 1:55 p.m. Tuesday, July 17, at the Powell R&E Center; 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23, at the James C. Hageman Sustainable Agriculture R&E Center (SAREC) near Lingle; and 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30, at the Laramie R&E Center greenhouse complex at the corner of 30th and Harney streets.

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University of Wyoming study reveals robust Wyoming sheep industry

Wyoming has a robust sheep industry, and sheep production will likely remain a vital part of the state’s agricultural economy for the foreseeable future, according to a study conducted by University of Wyoming researchers.

Published in April, the State of Wyoming Sheep Industry reveals that many Wyoming ranchers still earn a large portion of their income from sheep production.

“Livestock is an important industry for the state and provides a lot of jobs and revenue,” said Brenda Alexander, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.  “There are certainly many places in the state that are particularly suited for sheep production.  In Wyoming, there is also a strong sheep heritage.”

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UW research seeks genetic selection tool for feed efficiency in sheep

Assistant Professor Kristi Cammack

Research at the University of Wyoming to develop genetic selection tools to improve sheep efficiency could help producer profitability.

A four-year, $499,991 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture will fund research into the differences in sheep rumen microbial populations.

“Producers need ways to improve profitability; one way to do this is to reduce feed costs,” said Kristi Cammack, an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.  “Actual measurement of feed efficiency requires collection of individual feed intake data, which is both expensive and time-consuming.”

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