The American Sheep Industry Association’s Young and Emerging Entrepreneurs group has received a grant of $89,580. The money comes from the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center to develop a beginning producer education program. It will incorporate online education, producer workshops, and an online forum.
“We started the conversation at the American Sheep Industry’s Annual Convention about developing a program,” says Dr. Kelly Froelich of the Young and Emerging Entrepreneurs Steering Committee. “We’ve already developed the online curriculum which will be open to everyone.” Because the committee doesn’t want to overwhelm beginners, the program is basic. They’re seeing an upswing in the number of people interested in sheep, and they want to do everything possible to help answer their questions.
In-person workshops will be held in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. A fall lambing school in South Dakota is in the works. For information, go to SheepUSA.org.
