Arkansas Extension Small Ruminants

Our third meeting in our 2026 Sheep Success Series is coming up August 29 from 9:00 to 12:00 at the Faulkner County Extension Office. Please call and register at 501-329-8344. Topics for this session include electric fencing, guardian dogs, and lamb processing. If you have been to some of the first meetings remember to bring your three ring binder. For all new people I will have binders for you.

Can't wait to see everyone on August 29th!!

The Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Based Animal Health Technology Workshop and Training at the Fort Valley State University, Georgia, was incredible! Two days of presentations, discussion, and demonstrations about cutting-edge technology applied as non-invasive methods for early detection of diseases in small ruminants. Thank you very much, Dr. Tom Terrill, Dr. Aftab Siddique and their students for sharing how to use innovative techniques, such as bioelectrical impedance, radio frequency, biosensors, transponders, GPS and autonomous drones. The applications are broad and more studies are planned to make them available for producers.

Help us spread this flyer. . .

Department Of Animal Science - UA two-day retreat at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Livestock & Forestry Research Station in Batesville to discuss current challenges and future opportunities to improve teaching, research and extension. We also had the presence of the administration, government agencies and stakeholders. At the end, a quick tour to visit the facilities and check out the projects.

Farmers' markets play a vital role by connecting local farmers directly with consumers, boosting community health, and supporting local economies. Good resources available below.

Celebrate National Farmers Market Week with us!

Every purchase at your local market supports family farms, strengthens local economies, and cultivates a healthier future for all. Learn more about the importance of farmers markets at farmersmarketcoalition.org

Ready to start growing and selling at the farmers' market? Check out ATTRA's Farmers Market Resources here: https://buff.ly/b38I1OV — and stay tuned for spotlights on resources for different products you can grow and sell.

Bad news for our small ruminant industry

🚨ANIMAL HEALTH ALERT🚨
USDA APHIS confirmed classical scrapie in a sheep slaughtered in a facility in Oregon.

APHIS and state animal health officials recently initiated an investigation to determine the flock of origin. The affected animal did not have an ear tag. This case is a reminder of why tagging compliance and surveillance participation are critical to safeguarding flocks nationwide.

Please read the full ASI press release here: https://champ.ly/XD8kUh9y.
For additional information regarding scrapie, visit: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/sheep-goat/scrapie.

ASI will not be monitoring social media comments as the USDA investigation is ongoing.

Do you like podcasts? The latest ASI Research Update Podcast with Dr. Tom Murphy (USDA/ARS) covers "breed and age impact lamb performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality."

The latest episode of the ASI Research Update Podcast features guest Tom Murphy Ph.D., a sheep geneticist with the USDA/ARS Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska. Dr. Murphy explores how breed and age impact lamb performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality.

Subscribe and listen to our podcast wherever you listen!

Sound Cloud: https://champ.ly/_2kLQmM9

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/04hALNYgngsQtuS80CIavQ

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/influence-of-breed-and-age-on-lamb-performance-meat-quality/id6786873645?i=1000776890619

Economics of Livestock Guard Animals_Extension Result Demonstration A comparison of pros/cons and economics of owning livestock guardia...

📸 The 2026 ASI Photo Contest is now open!
ASI is once again inviting farmers, ranchers and photographers to share the images that best capture the sheep industry. Be sure to review the updated categories before entering.

Submit your best photos by 5 p.m. MT on July 31, 2026 to [email protected] and put “2026 ASI Photo Contest” in the subject line. Photos posted in the comments will not be officially entered.

More information at https://champ.ly/ycPUOqLL

RESEARCH SHARE

The environmental impact of goats: uprooting the narrative

Every few years, an old story resurfaces in the popular media: goats are especially harmful to the environment because they uproot plants, preventing them from regrowing and thus turning grasslands into deserts. The destructive tendencies of goats in these accounts have “unleashed some of the worst dust storms on record”, overgrazed Mongolia’s “once verdant land”, and prevented entire ecosystems from growing back. However, what evidence exists to demonstrate that goats are uniquely predisposed to uproot grasses and cause untold environmental damage? When we turn to the scientific literature on goat grazing habits, we find that there is a lack of evidence to support the claim that goats dig up plant roots. This leads us to scrutinize the putative role that goats have played in causing overgrazing, ecological decline, and ultimately, desertification. What emerges reverses the widely held view; rather than causing desertification, goats are best equipped to deal with its effects. The physiology of goats makes them particularly well-suited to exploiting marginal ecological zones created through changing climate patterns. The final section calls for a revaluation of goats. Frequently raised by some of the most economically and environmentally marginalised populations across the world, goats offer these communities a degree of food security that is unmatched by other livestock species. What if built into the cost of a cashmere sweater is not environmental decline, but economic support for communities bearing the brunt of shifts in global climate patterns that are out of their control and not of their making?

Source: Frontiers, March 2025

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/animal-science/articles/10.3389/fanim.2025.1544366/full