Indiana sheep shearing school open for registration
The Indiana Sheep Association’s shearing workshop will have tracks for beginner and advanced shearers. (Photo provided) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Program is sponsoring a shearing school, hosted by the Indiana Sheep Association (ISA), on Saturday, March 14, at Purdue University’s Sheep Unit.
The statewide workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET at 5480 ASREC Lane, West Lafayette. Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m.
“There is a continuous need for new sheep shearers as the older generations retire,” said Gerald Kelly, manager of the Purdue Sheep Unit and shearing school co-organizer. “The Purdue folks are happy to help the industry, just as we have for more than 150 years.”
Anyone is welcome to register, regardless of experience level, to learn the skills and methods required to shear a sheep successfully. ISA will continue to offer an advanced class to run alongside the beginner class. The advanced class will be offered to shearers who have had instruction on shearing previously, can shear a sheep on their own and have the intent of shearing professionally. All instructors will be experienced shearers, including organizer and master shearer Matt Kennedy, whose family members have been shearing school instructors for generations.
The purpose of the advanced class is to assist promising shearers with fine-tuning techniques that will decrease stress and increase the number of sheep they can shear in a day. There will be demonstrations and hands-on practice for setting up sharpening equipment and grinders, as well as opportunities to gain experience sharpening combs and cutters.
For beginners, a registration fee of $50 will cover the cost of the workshop, lunch and required shearing equipment, though participants are encouraged to bring their own equipment if they have it. The class will be capped at 20 beginners and five advanced participants. The beginner and advanced registration forms can be found at indianasheep.com and must be mailed to Emma O’Brien, ISA executive director, at 6840 S. 280 E. Lebanon, Indiana 46052. The completed registration form with the fee enclosed must be received by March 10 or before spots fill up. As part of registration, attendees must sign a liability waiver.
About the Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Program
The Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Program was created to support educational, promotional and research efforts involving sheep in Indiana. Funds for the council are collected from the sale of all sheep in Indiana — 0.5% of the net market price of each sheep sold. All funds collected by stockyards, sale managers, producers and others should be sent to the council’s business office at Purdue. More information can be found on the program’s website at indianasheep.com/checkoff.php.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
Writer: Emma O’Brien, executive@indianasheep.com
Media contact: Olivia De Young, odeyoung@purdue.edu
Sources: Gerald Kelly, gkelly@purdue.edu
Agricultural Communications: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu, 765-494-8415