Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

Hey Everyone sorry again for the delay in posting. Coursework (mainly organic chemistry) and extracurriculars have taken more time from me than I anticipated. I can't believe that the past month has gone by so fast. I'm going to talk briefly about the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival since it starts tomorrow!!

The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival (sheepandwool.org) is one of the largest sheep and fiber festivals in the country. It's located in West Friendship, Maryland. This year they are celebrating the 40th anniversary, so it'll probably be a big celebration. There are many different events for any fiber or sheep enthusiast to satisfy their needs. The most prominent feature is the number of vendors selling all sorts of wool/fiber related products, from spinning supplies to completed products such as scarves, gloves, and sweaters. There are also a few vendors that cater specifically to shepherds with showing supplies and handling equipment. They even have shearing and sheep dog demonstrations for the public to learn more about sheep.

Half the sheep loaded up before heading off to greener pastures!

The main event, or what I think is the main event, is the sheep show on both Saturday and Sunday morning. The Black Romney show is Sat. morning while the white romney show is Sun. morning. Sheep showing is probably the first way to get the public aware about sheep that may be located a short distance from their homes. While the judging is very subjective to each individual judge, it does provide a basis for shepherds and buyers to determine if they would like to add specific animals to their own flock from another flock. Showing is a good starting point to begin a dialogue with the public to teach them more about agriculture, and the sheep industry specifically. 

Now for an update on my own animals. The lambs have been growing extremely well, much better than they have in previous years. We did use a different creep higher in protein, fat, and energy, which may be responsible for the increased growth that we are seeing in the lambs this year. Also this morning some of our ewes are being taken to their summer pasture, to graze and get some weight back on them after milking heavily for lambing. They will probably stay on pasture for the duration of the summer and (hopefully) well into the fall and continue to graze the grass to reduce the feed bill for concentrate and hay. Our trailer is not large enough for all of our ewes, so it'll be two trips to ensure the sheep are comfortable in the trailer for the short journey.

That's all I have right now, I promise I will try to get the next post up sooner, but final exams may have a different plan for me...