Wisconsin Has Room For More Sheep

MID-WEST FARM REPORT - MADISON

Sheep have been part of Wisconsin agriculture since our state’s beginning. In the 1800s, Wisconsin was actually the second-largest producer of sheep in the nation. While we’ve fallen in rankings since then, Wisconsin has room for more of these wooly ruminants. Peter Orwick is the executive director of the American Sheep Industry Association. He tells us about some of the opportunities and hurdles that face sheep producers today. We start with agrivoltaics. He says regardless of your opinion of solar panels dotting the countryside, renewable energy farms are where sheep can thrive while keeping land in production agriculture. In other news, he says the lamb meat market is thriving - that's an area where the industry can grow production. When it comes to wool, demand is down, and the association is working to open new markets for wool, such as with the U.S. military. And finally, in this election cycle, animal agriculture was under attack. The sheep industry was pleased that livestock restrictions and hurtful ordinances were shot down by voters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.