- March 2014
- President’s Notes
- Market Report
- New Farm Bill Signed Into Law With Sheep Provisions
- ASI Convention – Record Attendance in Charleston
- Legislative Council Hears From Richards
- Lamb Roadmap Discussions Vary
- Virus Still a Bighorn Issue
- Board of Directors Elect Wixom, Ward
- Avalos Cites Value of Market News
- Parasites a Growing Problem for U.S.
- PERC is Updated on Research Voids
- Heritage Foundation Looks to 2015
- Sheep Improvement Making Strides
- Wool’s Role in Military Wear Explored
- Pasture and Range Improvement Stressed
- ‘Ewe Read’ Gathers Input from Attendees
- Dedication to Sheep Industry
- Wool Excellence Awards
- Make It With Wool Contestants Wow Crowd
- Scanner May be the Wool Tool of Future
- Near Infrared Spectrometry May Help Separate U.S. Wool from Foreign Wool
Pasture and Range Improvement Stressed
RON DAINES
Sheep Industry News Contributor
Producers that keep their costs low are typically high-profit producers. But investing in two additional tools, namely improving genetics and improving range and pasture, can also add to the bottom line.
That’s the premise underlying the University of Wyoming Master Wool Grower Program, which was presented during a pasture and range improvement seminar at the ASI convention in Charleston by area extension educators, Hudson Hill and Barton Stam and livestock marketing specialist Bridger Feuz.
Feuz, an economist, led participants through tools to conduct an economic analysis of potential investments in pasture and range improvements. Hill discussed how managing animal behavior can optimize the utilization of the plants that exist on an operation, whether grasses, shrubs or weeds.
And Stam talked about plant energy being the limiting aspect of grazing, as well as the most expensive, and how producers can manage it beneficially.
The three have been conducting the course for about a decade in several states, and they’d like to expand their geography.
“This is just a taste of the Master Wool Program,” said Feuz. “We are interested in taking it to other states if you are interested.” Contact him at bmfeuz@uwyo.edu.