News

Expanding Indiana’s sheep industry

The American Sheep Industry brought their Let’s Grow with twoPlus initiative to Indiana last week to encourage expansion in the sheep industry.  Bob Benson, an Indiana sheep producer and Executive Board member for ASI, says currently the state of Indiana has around 50,000 breeding ewes and markets roughly 35,000 lambs per year.  He says because of the non-traditional market and because Indiana has the availability for feed, the availability of buildings and land – it puts Indiana producers in a good position to expand their flock.

Stan Poe II is a sheep producer in Franklin, IN, he says now is a definitely a good time to get involved.  Poe tells Brownfield the markets reflect that the sheep industry cannot currently meet their demand.  While Poe says it may be a little more expensive going in at this time, he feels the return on investment will be substantial.  He says there are a lot of new advancements in currently technologies like embryo transplant, artificial insemination that add value to a producers flock.

To learn more about ASI’s Let’s Grow twoPlus program visit www.growourflock.org

AUDIO: Bob Bensen, ASI Executive Board Member (5:56mp3)