Sheep grazing stockpiled tall fescue on a Clay County Kentucky Farm

Specialists Involved: Jimmy Henning, Ray Smith, Chris Teutsch, Morgan Hays

The University of Kentucky Plant & Soil Science Department collaborated with the Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office to create an online Small Ruminant Grazing School. The online grazing school will be incorporated into an online course called the Kentucky Small Ruminant Master Class (KY SRMC). The Kentucky Small Ruminant Master Class is designed for producers who have completed introductory level small ruminant education and are ready to move forward, or for producers who have been in the small ruminant business for a few years and are looking to enhance their production systems.

The online grazing school is a critical part of the KY SRMC because forages are a key component to the nutrition of small ruminants. The information provided in the grazing school will help producers:

1) identify and evaluate their current forage inventory

2) determine additional forage options that will help them reach production goals

3) implement forage establishment methods

4) manage forages more efficiently with proper rotational grazing and watering systems

In the process of creating the videos for the course, many UK-AGR publications were evaluated to determine their usefulness with small ruminants. Several were modified to incorporate key aspects of small ruminant production thus making these publications relevant to even more producers across the state.

The KY SRMC will be live to producers by the end of 2021.