Cornell Sheep and Goat Symposium Oct. 2-4

The 2015 Sheep & Goat Symposium at Cornell University is set for 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 2-4.

The event will be chock full of speakers, tours to sheep farms and other learning opportunities.

Included will be:

** A workshop by Cornell Small Ruminant Specialist tatiana Stanton and Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County Livestock Educator Betsy Hodge who will talk about goat and sheep management skills, such as eartagging, hoof trimming, tattooing, drenching, vaccinating, body condition and FAMACHA scoring. Dr. Michael Thonney of the Cornell Sheep and Goat Program will cover hay evaluation

** Dr. Mary Smith, a veterinarian and co-author of Goat Medicine, will conduct a necropsy while discussing how farmers can do their own field necropsies to determine a cause of death in their sheep

** A pasture management talk includes Northwest NY CCE Livestock Educator Nancy Glazier presenting the steps of planning a grazing system; Northern New York Field Crops & Soils Specialist Dr. Kitty O’Neil focusing on pasture renovation and Stone Barns Farm Center Livestock Manager Craig Haney) reviewing the basics of electric fencing and how to determine your equipment needs. A pasture walk will help producers with forage plant identification.

** A session on poisonous plants with Dr. Dan Brown, Cornell Animal Science Nutritional Toxicologist, will show participants a simple test for measuring the amount of cyanide in cherry leaves and walk to the Vet School’s Poisonous Plants garden to learn to identify plants that commonly poison livestock. 


** Veterinarian Dr. Mary Smith will talk about preventing, controlling and eradicating diseases such as foot rot, CL abscesses, Johnes, CAE and OPP

** Veterinarian Dr. Jen Nightingale and Betsy Hodge will discuss nutritional and health management of does and ewes through the critical period from late pregnancy through early lactation.

** Mary Rose Livingston from Northland Sheep Dairy, will discuss her experiences during 2015 studies evaluating whether grazing birdsfoot trefoil pastures can help control worms in sheep and goats

** An Integrated Parasite Management Course will also be offered for farmers and educators wishing to obtain FAMACHA certification.
 
2015 Cornell Sheep & Goat Symposium events on Oct. 3 will be at Morrison Hall on the Cornell campus. Sunday's programs will includes tours at Shepherds Way LLC in Locke, Cayuga County, a dairy sheep and goat farm where attendees will observe some of the newest technology available for artificially rearing suckling lambs and kids, and at Kyle Farms, Avon in Livingston County, which produces a large volume of lambs yearround with minimal stress.

The 2015 Cornell Sheep & Goat Symposium fees are Friday: $10 per person; Saturday: $50 for the first farm member with $40 for each additional farm or family member; Sunday tour is $10 per person if providing your own transportation or $30 per person in a Cornell van.

The 2015 Cornell Sheep & Goat Symposium schedule, registration forms and online registration are available online at www.sheep.cornell.edu/calendar/sheep_goat_symposium.html <http://www.sheep.cornell.edu/calendar/sheep_goat_symposium.html> or by calling Barbara Jones at 607.255.7712.