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Ohio’s ability to grow the sheep industry

Susan Shultz of DeGraff in Logan County and Daryl Clark of Zanesville in Muskingum County agree, Ohio has the ability to grow the sheep industry.

Shultz whose family has been raising sheep for three generations says the state has a wealth of experience when it comes to mentoring those young people wanting to get started.

“There’s no doubt, even though we say it’s easy to get into raising sheep, there are some animal husbandry techniques that you do need to learn,” said Shultz. “We need mentors and we have them in Ohio, we have people, for instance our family’s third generation sheep, so there’s lots of background.”

Audio: Susan Shultz, Logan Co. (2:00 MP3) 

Daryl Clark of Muskingum County, a former Extension educator lives in a part of the state that he says is ideal for raising sheep.

“What we have down there is really quite a bit of land that if we can manage it for the forage production, which it does real well at, then we end up with a product that the lambs do their own harvesting,” Clark said.

Audio: Daryl Clark, Muskingum Co. (3:00 MP3)

For the past several years, Daryl Clark has been working with the Amish community, a group that is finding sheep a source for steady income.