Small Ruminant Monthly Newsletter

February 2024

Welcome to the Club!

In this newsletter I wrote an article titled "Let's Talk About Grass" this articles discusses things we should be planning; for, which is what grasses we should consider planting to help maximize our forages in the coming months.

The next Small Ruminant Club meeting will be April 30th at 6 pm at the NC Cooperative Extension Center. Please RSVP by April 25th.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to call the office and speak with the Livestock Agent, Skyler Murray or email me at skyler_murray@ncsu.edu.

Let's Talk About Grass

Unfortunately, it is starting to become that time of year when you are starting to run low on your grass supplies that you had been saving up for all summer. On the plus side there are only 1 more month of winter left. It is time to start thinking about spring/summer forages for your livestock.

Do you want to plant grass? Or do you want to change it up and plant a mixed variety? These are some questions to start asking yourself. One thing you should do before you start planting grass is take a soil sample of the area that you would like to plant. When filling out the form make sure to select the grass/mixture that you are wanting to plant to help give you the most helpful results. The results from the soil sample will then help you to provide the correct amount of nutrients needed for your crop to flourish.

When selecting seeds that you want to plant make sure that they are well adapted for this area and for the time of year. You want to select plants that can handle the hot summer months as well as being able to handle some amount of drought stress. If you choose seeds that are not well adapted to this area, then your success rate will go down drastically.

Planning early what type of forage/grass you want to plant is a great idea. Ordering grass seed early is also another great thing to do; that way when it is time to plant you have the seed on hand and are ready to go. I strongly encourage you to look around at the different seed companies and maybe even try coming up with your own mixture to try in your pastures or your hayfields.

I look forward to seeing you at the next Small Ruminant Meeting April 30th. As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

NC Small Ruminant Improvement Program

This winter webinar series is a great series to learn more about small ruminants! The Small Ruminant Producers & Specialists will be available to anwer any questions that you may have. Best of all they are completely FREE to attend.

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Body Condition Scoring

This article was written by the University of Florida. It talks about the importance of looking at the Body Condition Score. It also has great pictures that represent what thin and obese look like on the scale. Something interesting about it, is that it goes into detail of how it would feel if you was handling the animal as well.

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FAMACHA Information

The NC Extension website has more information on parasite control, and educational videos on how to check your FAMACHA score. The website has great information on wormers, as well as Factsheets for external parasites.

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Soil Testing Kits

This article was written by an NC Cooperative Extension Employee. This is a well written article, that covers a variety of helpful topics from how and where do I need to take soil samples to how to interpret the report whenever you get it back.

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Sheep Care Guide

This PDF has great information covering a variety of topics for sheep care.

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Upcoming Opportunities

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NC State University and N.C. A&T State University work in tandem, along with federal, state and local governments, to form a strategic partnership called N.C. Cooperative Extension.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

N.C. Cooperative Extension - McDowell County Center, 60 E Court St, Marion, NC 28752, United States
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