Dr. Haley Linder, Assistant Professor, OSU Ruminant Nutrition
Dr. Brady Campbell, Assistant Professor, OSU State Small Ruminant Extension Specialist
Sheep 
producers across Ohio are invited to participate in a new research project conducted by The Ohio State University focused on understanding mineral availability and mineral status in sheep flocks. The project, Mineral Status Across Ohio Sheep Farms, is funded by the Ohio Sheep & Wool Program and is led by Haley Linder and Brady Campbell, Assistant Professors in the Department of Animal Sciences at The Ohio State University.
Mineral concentrations in soil, forage, and water vary widely across the state, yet many flocks rely on standard mineral mixes without knowing whether they match local conditions. This project aims to characterize regional mineral trends by collecting soil, forage, water, and blood samples from sheep farms across five Ohio regions (NW, NE, Central, SW, SE).
Participating producers will receive farm-specific mineral results, including blood mineral status and environmental mineral data. All sampling supplies and laboratory costs are covered by the project. Producers will also be asked to share basic management information, such as their current mineral and nutrition program, to help interpret results.
Both pasture-based and confinement operations are eligible, provided soil and forage can be sampled from the field(s) where forage fed to the sheep was grown.
Producers interested in participating should contact Haley Linder (linder.129@osu.edu) or Brady Campbell (campbell.1279@osu.edu). Recruitment will occur in Winter 2025, with sampling planned for Spring 2026.
a program at The Ohio State University dedicated to advancing production agriculture through the use of field-scale and applied research. The 2023 eBarns Report is a combination of the research conducted on partner farms and Ohio State agricultural research stations throughout Ohio. Current research is focused on enhancing animal production, growing high-quality forages, precisions nutrient management and to develop analytical tools for digital agriculture.
tails have long given sheep producers across the globe problems — but a research project spearheaded by Washington State University graduate student Brietta Latham could eliminate the trait.
Smith-Lever Act called for establishment of Extension program within land grant universities. The Act spells out that Extension is to disseminate “useful and practical information on subjects related to agriculture” and to disseminate reach being conducted at the experiment stations (OARDC – Ohio Agriculture, Research, and Development Center – here in Ohio).
decreasing numbers of sheep extension agents, sheep research professors and small ruminant DVMs, our options for finding knowledgeable experts are becoming more limited. At the same time, the number of sheep “experts” on Facebook, YouTube, and other social media is growing exponentially. Today, sheep producers are able to obtain “expert” advice from across the country or around the world in a matter of seconds. While advances in technology have shaped the way we communicate information, it has also led to a plethora of misinformation that is often presented as fact, either intentionally or unintentionally. So, how do we navigate through this quagmire of information to determine whether the advice we receive is based on truth and facts or hearsay and half-truths? How can we determine if the “expert” really has the knowledge, skills, and experience to provide us with unbiased, accurate answers to our questions?
for harvest. Whether directly involved in production agriculture or a consumer of its products, most associate this time of year with combines harvesting soybeans and corn in the field or farm stands filled with pumpkins and apple cider. However, for livestock producers and especially those raising ruminants, harvest looks a bit different. This time period is the final push for grazing corn fodder/stubble, stockpiled forages, or annuals planted in the late summer before environmental conditions force producers off of pasture and into the barn or drylot to feed grain and hay. For those that planned ahead, well done! Each of these options provide high quality feedstuffs that are self harvested by the animal, resulting in a cheaper feed source. For those that weren’t able to sacrifice the land or weren’t prepared for planting, no worries, there is always next year.
border of Southwestern Montana and Eastern Idaho lay the rangelands that comprise the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) U.S. Sheep Experiment Station. My interest in sheep production and my nephew’s enjoyment of road trips, led us on the three-hour trek from Bozeman, Montana to Dubois, Idaho last week to set foot on the influential sites where many American sheep research and rangeland management discoveries originated. After catching up over lunch at an old-fashioned soda fountain in Ennis, Montana, we crossed the Idaho border, and continued on through beautiful stretches of native rangelands peppered with cattle grazing as we followed winding gravel roads to Dubois.