By Gary Joiner
TFB Radio Network Manager
Training the next generation of shearers by offering the most cutting-edge technology available to harvest wool is the goal of the Third Annual Sheep Shearing School in San Angelo Jan. 13-15.
The school is a collaborative effort among the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, the American Sheep Industry Association and the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association.
Registration is open for the school, which will be held in San Angelo.
Individual registration is $150 for Texas residents and $250 for non-residents. The minimum age is 16 years old. Students will receive a sheep shearing handbook and DVD. Previous students will receive a $100 discount.
Applications must be submitted by Dec. 1.
“We teach the basics of the shearing pattern. A lot of it is you learn how to handle the animal so you don’t hurt yourself or the animal and how to harvest the wool efficiently,” said Dr. Reid Redden, Extension state sheep and goat specialist at San Angelo, in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “We update shearing equipment, handling equipment and the most advanced shearing technique and process that we have available to us.”
Redden said the heart of the fine wool sheep industry in Texas is in and around San Angelo. But there are smaller flocks of sheep popping up all over the state and the nation. And he said some of those are just too far away for major shearing crews to get to, so there’s a growing demand for small flock shearing.