With Dr. Joe Emenheiser

A 3-part series detailing steps to better meat production in your sheep flock. Principles can be applied to goats and other stock as well.

This important, but often overlooked, first step to a successful production system involves the basics of setting goals and making sure that resources, animals, products, and markets are all in alignment. Principles of managing labor, land, and facilities, choosing animal breeds, types, and numbers, and determining the appropriate product(s) and how to market them, particularly in Vermont, will all be addressed.

About the Presenter

Dr. Joe Emenheiser is the former Vermont Extension Livestock Specialist, and he is currently an independent consultant and an Animal Science lecturer at the University of Vermont and Vermont Technical College. He has a PhD from Virginia Tech and his dissertation was on pasture- based  beef systems. Beginning on a small family farm in PA, he has extensive experience in the sheep and meat industries, particularly in the areas of meat quality evaluation and breeding  genetics. He was a member of the Reserve National Champion Intercollegiate Livestock and Meats Judging teams at Oklahoma State University and has worked as a butcher, meat plant supervisor, and livestock supply manager. He has managed commercial flocks as large as 2,200 ewes and was instrumental in developing ultrasound carcass EPDs  for the National Sheep Improvement Program. His purebred Suffolk flock and breeding program has earned national recognition. He lives in Middlebury, VT.

This three-part VSGA Webinar Series is supported by the Vermont Grass Farmers Association and New England Grazing Network. Special thanks to Jenn Colby and Colene Reed at UVM Extension for facilitating this event.  You can click on the hyperlinks to sign up for each webinar in Eventbrite.  You will be sent a digital ticket to the event.

CONTACT: Please contact Dave Martin at settlementfarm@comcast.net with any questions.