The NDSU Extension Service and North Dakota Lamb and Wool Producers Association have teamed up to hold a two-day program to introduce more people to lamb and wool.
The North Dakota Lamb and Wool Expo will be held Aug. 2-3 at the Stutsman County Fairgrounds in Jamestown, N.D. This is the first event of its kind in the state.
"Because lamb is an uncommon protein for most consumers and many people who raise sheep, we are hosting this event to try to educate sheep producers and potential consumers about lamb," says Reid Redden, NDSU Extension sheep specialist and one of the program's organizers.
"It is not just for sheep people," he adds. "In fact, most of the morning sessions on Aug. 2 would be fun for just about any audience."
Three of those workshops will introduce participants to a variety of topics: cooking with lamb, working with wool and training a stock dog. A fourth workshop that morning, Alternative Sheep Grazing Systems, will be held at the AL Ranch near Woodworth. All four sessions run from 9 a.m. to noon.
Following a noon lamb lunch, the expo will offer workshops on lamb fabrication; lamb quality characteristics; the past, present and future of the U.S. lamb market; flock health management; and the future of the U.S. sheep industry. Other activities on Aug. 2 include a sheep shearing and wool-handling demonstration, a lamb dinner and a shepherds social.
Events on Aug. 3 are a lamb lunch, the Ram Consignor Sheep Show and the Jamestown Ram and Ewe Sale. A vendor fair will be held both days.
The cost of just attending one of the workshops the morning of Aug. 2 or only the afternoon and evening sessions is $25 per person. The full registration for both days of the expo, if registering by July 26, is $45 per adult plus $25 for each addition adult family member and $10 for each child age 5 to 17. The expo is free for children under age 5. After July 26, the cost is $50 per adult and $100 per family.
For more information, contact Redden at 701-231-5597 or reid.redden@ndsu.edu.
To register, visit www.ag.ndsu.edu/ansc.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
