2014 Cornell Sheep and Goat Symposium

The 2014 Cornell Sheep & Goat Symposium will be held on Friday and Saturday 3 and 4 October. The hands-on activities Friday will start with a tour of the Cornell Sheep Farm and explanation of ongoing research and management. The Saturday sessions will be in Morrison Hall on the Cornell Campus, Ithaca, NY. Dr. Dave Thomas from the University of Wisconsin, Madison will give the opening talk on sheep dairying in North America. He will also give a later talk on dairy sheep research at the Univ. of Wisconsin. Other topics include

• Creating a Fibershed for New York – Helen Trejo, Graduate Student, Cornell Apparel & Design

• Integrative Parasite Management – Katherine Petersson, Associate Professor, University of Rhode Island; Anne Zajac, D.V.M., Virginia/Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech; Dwight Bowman, Professor, Cornell University; Jan Liotta, Cornell University; tatiana Stanton and Mike Thonney, Cornell University

• Expanding your grazing capacity – Don Wild, Wild Acres Family Farm/King’s AgriSeeds, past NRCS grazing specialist and Ben Wood, Pinecroft Farms LLC.

• Setting up a herd or flock management program and how your veterinarian can help – Professor Mary Smith, D.V.M., Cornell University.

• Control of coyote depredation in NY – Martin Lowney, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services.

• Keys to successful goat dairy management – Rene’ DeLeeuw, Farm Manager, Ayers Brook Goat Dairy, Vermont Creamery Demonstration Dairy.

• Genotypes of Cornell Dorset and Finnsheep compared with commercial Romneys for the ability to lamb out of season – Christian Posbergh, Undergraduate Honors Student, Cornell University.

• Managing pastures for organic goat & sheep production – Jim Kotcon, Associate Professor, West Virginia University.

• Biology of maternal behavior at lambing time – Natasha Pettifor, PhD Candidate, Cornell University.