NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

May 27, 1999

Meetings Set on Dakota Lamb Growers Cooperative

A series of informational meetings on the Dakota Lamb Growers Cooperative will be held around the region during the next two weeks.

"The sheep industry has provided some excellent opportunities for producers to diversify and improve profitability," says Roger Haugen, sheep specialist with the North Dakota State University Extension Service. "The producers who will continue to prosper are those who take an innovative approach by looking at marketing alternatives like those proposed by Dakota Lamb Growers. Producers need to consider if their business goals will be advanced by involvement in a project like this."

The cooperative hopes to direct market premium lambs to selected niche markets and restaurants by later this summer.

Meetings will be held at 7 p.m. local time in:

• Rolla on Wednesday, June 2, at the Rolette County Courthouse.
• Oakes on Thursday, June 3, at Ye Old Cafe.
• Bowman on Monday, June 7, at City Hall.
• Watford City on Tuesday, June 8, at the McKenzie County Courthouse.
• Steele on Wednesday, June 9, at the Lone Steer Motel.
• New York Mills, Minn., on Tuesday, June 15, at the Extension Service Office in the County Office Building.

Haugen says Extension specialists and members of the cooperative will use the meetings to outline the goals and organization and to discuss the kind of lambs the cooperative will require.

The cooperative's goal is to process and market about 20,000 lambs a year in cooperation with processing plants in Casselton and Jamestown. The initial idea for the cooperative came from the Valley Wool Producers and has been developed with assistance from NDSU, the Lake Agassiz Regional Council, the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives and the North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission.

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Source: Roger Haugen (701) 231-7645

Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629