The first-ever Badger Lambing School was deemed a success by UW Sheep Unit Director Todd Taylor, producer Ryan McGlynn and student employee Mara Quarne. More than 50 beginning and experienced producers attended the two-day lecture and hands-on training in mid-February.
Taylor was satisfied with the turnout. The school was limited to 30 registrations — a couple could count as one registration — and 53 people came to the farm.
“We had people that have had zero years of sheep experience up to a couple that had as much as 30 years,” he says of this year’s class. “We’ve got flock sizes from people that haven’t gotten any yet but are interested in getting into the sheep business up to a couple of flocks that are over 100 head and are just trying to fine tune their techniques and learn some new tricks.”
McGlynn is based out of rural Reedsburg, and rotational grazes about 40-head of sheep and their lambs. He says he attended the school to gain critical information ahead of the busy lambing season. Attendees watched live lambing, and got lessons ewe and lamb management, nutrition, and health and vaccination programs.
Not only that, but the ‘students’ at the Badger Lambing School were interested in all breeds: wool production, meat and lamb production, dairy sheep, and 4-H and FFA project sheep.
The lambing in Arlington didn’t just happen over the Badger Lambing School weekend. Lambing season across Wisconsin continues further into the spring. At the Sheep Unit, Taylor expects 200 ewes to lamb, and about 400 babies on the ground by mid-April.
It can’t be done without help from Taylor’s full-time farm hand, two student employees, and student volunteers. One student who benefits from her work at the UW Sheep Unit in Arlington is Quarne. She’s one of the two student employees on the farm. She’s a junior at UW-Madison studying animal science. She hopes to pursue a veterinary technician position following graduation. She’s also a sheep producer out of Blair.
“I think I started about two and a half years ago. It’s like a home away from home. I get to see lambs and help another producer in the industry while I’m not at home,” she says. “During the lambing season, that’s chaotic, but I love it. There’s always a ewe and a lamb to meet you at the door.”
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