Eastern Kentucky has a growing amount of land that is underutilized for livestock. The regional economy needs multiple options for agricultural producers, and with sheep production once being a major player for the area, consideration of this industry has revived.

The Letcher County Extension Office partnered with the Southeast Kentucky Sheep Association to offer a Sheep Night for interested producers. Speakers from the association and Virginia Tech along with local producers. Over 60 clientele were in attendance to hear about markets, production on strip-mined land and hillside operations, and production strategies along with sampling lamb burgers provided by UK.

As a result of the program, 12 participants verbally reported that they planned to acquire stock to begin building their herd. Another 5 said they planned to expand the small herds they already had, with an emphasis on using strip-mined land. Participants also requested further training on predator control and guard animals.