Madison, WI – Feed represents the single largest expense for most sheep and goat producers, and forage often are a major component of small ruminant diets. Unfortunately, not all hay is created equal, nor do all ruminants need the same quality of forages.

Learn how to take an accurate forage sample, read a forage lab report, and then allocate your forages based on quality and stage of livestock production during a University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Small Ruminant webinar on Dec. 16, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

The Small Ruminant webinar series, part of Extension’s Farm Ready Research series, provides a new spin on the long-standing and popular sheep production video conferencing series that connected sheep and goat producers around the state.

The topic for the first webinar of this is series – Forage Sampling and Analysis: Why, How & Feeding Forage to Your Flock  – will be led by Todd Taylor, UW-Madison Shepard; Ryan Sterry, Extension St. Croix County agriculture agent; and Ashley Olson, Extension Vernon County agriculture agent. The program includes time for producer questions and discussions.

There is no charge to participate in the sessions, but pre-registration is required to allow access to the session. Extension recognizes that producers are receiving information for many meetings this winter; the Farm Ready Research webinar website http://go.wisc.edu/FarmReadyResearch is your place to find all information about UW-Madison Extension Agriculture programs.

A sample week of Extension agricultural webinars begins on Tuesdays with Badger Dairy Insight from 1-2:30 p.m. and Wisconsin Beef Special Edition from 7-8:30 p.m.; Wednesdays focus on Small Ruminants from 7:30 – 9 p.m.; and then it’s Farm Management Fridays from 11 a.m. – noon.

Contacts: Megan Nelson, Extension Livestock Program Manager, megan.nelson@wisc.edu Gene Schriefer, Ag Educator, gene.schriefer@wisc.edu