Texas A&M AgriLife Sheep and Goat Extension

09/11/2026

Thank you Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service Floyd County and Hale County - Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for having us up to talk sheep at the GRAZE conference!

09/10/2026

Join us September 12 from 5–7 PM for an evening focused on helping families strengthen in their sheep and goat projects.
Topics will include validation, fitting and clipping rules, daily care, and hands-on showmanship led by experienced coaches who enjoy working with young exhibitors.
Come learn, ask questions, and build confidence for the upcoming show season!

09/08/2026

The Texas Make it With Wool contest is in Fredericksburg! Join us this next week!

🗓️September 19, 2026
📍Fredericksburg, TX
🔗www.TexasMakeItwithWool.com

08/31/2026

AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) executive director officially released movement restrictions for areas of Texas previously deemed as New World screwworm (NWS) Infested Zones. Following months of coordinated surveillance and eradication activities, designated areas of Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, La Salle, and Webb Counties were released from New World Screwworm (NWS) movement restrictions on August 31, 2026, marking a significant milestone in Texas' ongoing NWS response.

Read the full press release:https://www.tahc.texas.gov/news/2026/2026-08-31_EDO_NWSZoneReleases.pdf

08/30/2026

08/29/2026

New Podcast Episode!

The August episode of the American Sheep Industry Association’s Podcast breaks down what the New World Screwworm means for sheep producers on the ground. Host Jake Thorne sits down with Dr. Rosie Busch, UC Cooperative Extension and UC Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, to discuss current cases, official regulations, and practical management strategies.

Subscribe and download our podcast wherever you listen!

Spotify: https://champ.ly/gmhqpbWu

Apple Podcasts: https://champ.ly/kaFI6B4r

Amazon Music: https://champ.ly/DON5b4gR

08/28/2026

The AI photo maybe has a few inaccuracies but we appreciate seeing promotion of our industry anywhere. Angora goat numbers might not be as robust as they once were, but Texas still has around 70,000- many of which are in this traditional area. Angora producers deserve recognition for being some of the most knowledgeable and passionate small ruminant producers of all.

For most of the twentieth century, the majority of the mohair produced in the United States came off goats raised in one stretch of Texas hill country. 🐐

The Edwards Plateau — Rocksprings, Sonora, Junction, Menard, Ozona — turned out to be almost perfect Angora goat country: rocky, cedar-covered, too thin for row crops, but full of browse. Ranchers ran sheep and goats where cattle could not make a living, and by mid-century Texas dominated American wool and mohair production so completely that the world price was set by what came out of these counties. Rocksprings billed itself as the Angora Goat Capital of the World and meant it.

The work was done by traveling shearing crews, many of them Mexican American families who moved ranch to ranch through the season and could clip a goat clean in a couple of minutes without nicking it. A good shearer was courted the way a good pitcher is courted.

Federal wool and mohair incentives ended in the 1990s, and cheap imports, predator losses, and labor shortages did the rest. The pens are still standing on a lot of those ranches, mostly empty now.