Northwest Junior Sheep Expo

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

The Northwest Junior Sheep Exposition being held in Moses Lake July 18 and 19 was first started in 1969 in the Ellensburg area before moving to Moses Lake, and is now held in conjunction with the Washington State Ram and Ewe sale. WSU Extension Animal Sciences Regional Specialist Sarah Smith explains about the unique quality of the expo.

SMITH: The unique thing about this show is that we used to have the carcass data on these lambs. Now without Superior being available we use ultrasound for that one portion of the show. So we still try to really incorporate carcass information - growth performance, but we also have shows that go after genotypical appealing animals too.

When it first began the expo was open to both youth and adults, but is now primarily open to youth ages 8 to 21.

SMITH: They come here with the whole idea of being able to showcase their lambs and learn. And because we incorporate both the carcass traits along with performance traits, such as average daily gain, hopefully we’ll get kids that are learning to produce an animal that is market ready, that is demanded by today’s consumer and industry - not just one that is eye appealing or the latest trend for the show industry.

The two day event has a full roster beginning on Friday at 9am with the animal check-in and health screening.

SMITH: So once Friday hits at noon we’ll be showing basically all into the evening and then starting back up at 8:00 in the morning on Saturday. So there’s lots of activities for people to see during those two days.

Tomorrow Smith will talk about the the events Skillathon Contest and judging.

That’s Washington Ag Today.

I’m Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.