Lamb 509 short course offered again

COLUMBUS – Ohio State University Extension’s Lamb 509 short course is being offered again after a two-year absence. The program is tailored to producing and marketing quality lamb products.
Roger High, OSU Extension state sheep program specialist, said it may be several years before this course is offered again.
“There is a participation limit of 32 spaces, so it will be first come, first serve.”
Details. Lamb 509 will take place Dec. 12-14 at the Department of Animal Sciences Building on the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences campus.
Registration is $125 per person and covers meals, program materials and parking passes.
Participants are encouraged to register by Nov. 26. The program runs from 1-8:30 p.m. Dec. 12, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 13 and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 14.
The objectives of the course are to improve the competitive position of Ohio lamb producers through marketing high-quality, consistent lamb products; educate through hands-on training the factors that influence prices received for market lambs and lamb products; provide an overview of muscle-quality attributes affecting lamb; discuss the management, environment, nutritional and genetic factors that contribute to muscle-quality differences; and enhance the understanding of the production chain between producer and consumer.
Topics. Topics scheduled for Dec. 12 include live animal evaluation, ultrasound evaluation, grid pricing, lamb harvest, taste panel evaluations and a quality and product quiz.
The Dec. 13 schedule includes grading procedures, carcass and retail fabrication, processing and product development and quality and the consumer.
The program will wrap up Dec. 14 with such topics as: measuring muscle quality, microbiology and food safety, influencing tenderness, carcass and retail values, reviewing processed products and a question and answer session.