According to the 2012 USDA Agriculture Census, Crittenden County has over 1,300 head of sheep and lambs ranking it seventh out of the 120 counties in Kentucky. While talking with several of these producers the Crittenden County Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent Dee Heimgartner realized that there wasn't a lot of educational opportunities for the small ruminant producers locally. To help get information to producers Heimgartner worked with Calloway County Agent Matt Chadwick to set up an initial educational program. Chadwick provided information from his experiences as a shepherd and Heimgartner worked with the producers to develop future topics for educational programming.

A total of three night events were held in Crittenden County and one field trip to a UK Sheep Unit Field Day in Lexington. The topics that were discussed including nutrition before breeding sheep, internal and external parasites of small ruminants and how to treat them, and selecting forages and grazing systems. The night meetings averaged attendance was 13 people. Two producers attended the field day in Lexington. Over 50% of the producers plan to make changes to their production practices based on ideas learned during this series. the series sessions were taught by Extension specialists and a local veterinarian. Requests for more educational programs on specific topics have been made and are being planned for the coming fall season.