Production and Financial Benchmarking Workshops for sheep producers set
Workshops will strive to create production database for profitability
Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, [email protected]
Contacts: Bill Thompson, 325-653-4576, [email protected]
Dr. Reid Redden, 325-653-4576, [email protected]
SAN ANGELO – Sheep producers serious about turning a profit should plan to participate in any of four upcoming free Production and Financial Benchmarking Workshops, organizers said.
The four workshops, all with similar curriculums, run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with lunch included. They are provided through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service offices in Gillespie, Edwards, Hood and Reagan counties and the Let’s Grow campaign of the American Sheep Industry Association.
“These workshops are dedicated to making sheep and wool producers better able to calculate and interpret key financial and production measures,” said Bill Thompson, AgriLife Extension economist in San Angelo. He and Dr. Reid Redden, AgriLife Extension state sheep and goat specialist at San Angelo, will conduct the workshops.
The workshops will be:
– May 18, Fredericksburg, AgriLife Extension office in Gillespie County, 95 Frederick Road.
– June 1, Rocksprings, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Station at Sonora, State Highway 55 between Sonora and Rocksprings.
– June 16, Granbury, AgriLife Extension office in Hood County, Annex 1, Room 22, 1410 W. Pearl St.
– July 11, Big Lake, AgriLife Extension office in Reagan County, 1430 N. Ohio St.
“The idea for this project is to start and grow a database of successful practices sheep producers, no matter what the breed, can expand upon and profit from,” Thompson said.
“We are in a very competitive global market. I view these workshops as a tool for increasing the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of U.S. wool and lamb producers, here and abroad. We all like to think we are running an efficient operation, but the truth is until you accurately measure your efficiency and compare it to something or someone else’s operation, you really don’t know how well you are doing. Determining that information is the whole idea behind benchmarking.”
Topics to be covered will include:
– Calculating production and financial measures.
– Production and financial benchmarks.
– Benefits of producer working groups or peer advisory groups.
– Creation of the Shepherds for Profit database.
Thompson said participants will be invited to submit data for inclusion in the Shepherds for Profit database. He said participation is voluntary and data provided will remain confidential. Full disclosure of the data to be collected and what information will be included in the database will be explained at each workshop.
Then a statewide workshop in the fall will summarize the collected and benchmarked data as well as illustrate practical applications of this data to ranch/flock management plans.
Though free, participants must preregister one week in advance of the workshop they choose to attend. For more information or to preregister, go to http://agrilife.org/sheepandgoat/shepherds-for-profit.
Thompson and Redden can be reached at 325-653-4576. More information is also available through any AgriLife Extension office in the participating counties.
