Networking in the Sheep Industry

The sheep business, like all of agriculture, is changing rapidly. It is becoming obvious that in order for sheep producers to continue to make a living raising sheep they must increase flock size, employ superior genetics and state of the art technology, reduce input costs, utilize sound business strategies and access a stable market price for lamb and wool. We need to start making these changes in order to remain economically competitive in the future. The sheep industry is just starting to move from a commodity to a product oriented industry. As this shift develops it will require producers to change to meet the requirements set by the rest of the market chain. If producers cannot provide the product that is required, they will not be able to compete. These changes should not be feared by producers but rather looked u pon as new opportunities. The future looks very bright for producers who are willing to change to meet the new demands of the industry. Producer networking is one way producers can address the changes that need to be made to survive in the future. Likely the same old ways of doing business won\u27t be profitable in the future