Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Doug Willhite <drwillhite@earthlink.net>]

Hi Folks,

The following forwarded message is intended for the seed, garden &  
animal husbandry e-groups.

Have a great week!
doug

___________________________________________________________

http://chihuahuavalley.net

___________________________________________________________

Begin forwarded message:

From: "info@premier1supplies.com" <info@premier1supplies.com>
Date: April 20, 2010 1:00:56 PM PDT




NewsletterApril / May 2010



In This Issue

MESSAGE FROM THE OWNER
Meat goats vs. hair sheep vs. wool sheep: a comparison - by Stan Potratz

PREMIER TIP
Preparation for New Chicks

VIP ARTICLE
Goats – Internal Parasites

RECIPE
Poppy Seed Salad



Meat goats vs. hair sheep vs. wool sheep: a comparison

The demand for meat from all three (and thus price/lb) is high. It's  
likely to remain high for several years. So which of the above is  
best for your farm or farmstead?

We at Premier have all three. Here are our personal thoughts re their  
suitability to our area (Southeast Iowa):

1a. Meat goat (Boer) positives:
Less bothered by gnats and flies in our hot, humid summers.
Coyotes tend to avoid them (perhaps due to the horns?).
Nothing is more cute than baby goat kids.
Excel at gradually converting brush and trees into pastures, and they  
thrive while doing so.

1b. Meat goat negatives:
Prone to foot issues when grass or soil is wet/ We treat and trim often.
Very susceptible to internal parasites if exposed to damp grass  
that's held sheep and/or goats in prior year. Solution is to keep  
them in a feedlot or allow them to browse brush (worm larvae rarely  
climb more than 6 inches, apparently).
Prolific—many twins and triplets. But goat kid survival rate on our  
pastures if left to themselves is less than lambs from wool or hair  
sheep.
Will kid on their own. Need to assist is rare.
Will contaminate buildings, lots and pastures with hair which reduces  
the value of wool from sheep on the same property.
Value produced/acre per year and per hour is less than with wool or  
hair sheep.

2a. Hair sheep positives. We have Romanov/Dorper/Katahdin. Romanov  
are, technically, wool sheep:
Less bothered by gnats and flies than wool sheep.
Less affected by the oppressive heat and humidity of our summers.
More likely than our wool sheep to wean over 1.8 lambs/adult ewe if  
lambed on their own in May in pastures without dystocia or mis- 
mothering issues. Currently we simply stay out of the lambing  
pastures except to collect any dead animals.
Easier to handle than meat goats—no horns; will sit on their butts  
for foot-trimming; move smoothly through sorting systems.
Less likely to locate fence weaknesses than goats.
Limited need to shear. (Some wool still grows; we occasionally remove  
it for appearance purposes.)
Do better on our lush spring/summer grass pastures than meat goats.
Requires less labor hours to produce 10/100/1000 lambs in Southeast  
Iowa than goats or wool sheep.
Small to moderate ewe size enables higher stocking rates.
Less affected by internal parasites and foot issues than meat goats.
High % of lambs will finish on grass if it's high in TDN and dry matter.
No need to crutch if stools become loose (as it does if grass is lush  
and wet).

2b. Hair sheep negatives:
Less appealing to my eye—which, admittedly, has been programmed for  
60 years to like wool sheep.
As with goats, mixing hair sheep with wool sheep (even if they never  
breed) will reduce value of wool due to hair contamination.
Unless a large wooled terminal sire is used, the smaller size of the  
typical ewe and ram means the lambs will finish (be fat enough to  
sell) at a lower size. That often means fewer $$ per lamb sold/ewe.
Not quite as easy as wool sheep to drench, vaccinate, etc. in groups  
in chutes. (Wool tends to limit an animal's movement in tight  
situations).

3a. Wool sheep positives (medium- and long-wooled breeds):
Rising value of wool means that value may soon exceed the cost of  
shearing—if no hair is present and clip is uniform.
Lambs finish at a higher weights and offer more potential $$/ewe/year.
Easier to handle in pens, lambing jugs, etc.
Easier to fence than goats.
Breeding stock suitable for shed lambing is readily available.

3b. Wool sheep negatives:
Not easy to find ewes selected for easy-care pasture lambing in high  
stocking rate situations. And when you do, they tend to be expensive.
It costs $5/ewe to shear (inclusive of our labor), so it doesn't pay  
unless wool is worth more than 65¢/lb.
More prone to fly strike than goats or hair sheep if manure becomes  
loose and stains fleece. Also true if wool becomes wet and isn't able  
to dry out rapidly.
Many farm-flock ewes and rams have evolved and/or been selected to  
succeed in the show ring—and so tend to have reduced stomach capacity  
as % of body weight. They thrive if fed hay and grain daily but often  
don't do well if their sole food source is our high-moisture pasture  
forage in May and June.
Note: I know that many have strong feelings on this subject, so the  
probability of folks disagreeing with me is high. We offer to publish  
alternate views in future newsletters. All comments must be well- 
written and polite.

Best wishes to you all.

Stan Potratz, Owner


PREMIER TIP


Preparation for New Chicks

It is that time of year again to get your chicks. But are you ready  
for them? Following are a few things to do in preparing for the new  
chicks.

Clean and disinfect the area where the chicks will be living. A  
cleaner such as Lysol Disinfectant Spray is effective, doesn't leave  
fumes and is safe to the birds.

Young chicks require a very warm living area. Temperatures for young  
Layer chicks should be 95-96 degrees F, and for Broiler chicks, 85  
degrees F. We recommend using the Premier Heat Lamp . Adjust the  
temperature as needed by moving the heat lamps higher or lower. If  
the chicks huddle together, they are too cold. If they all move away  
from the lamp's heat, they are too hot. Ventilation is important, but  
don't confuse that with drafty, which is harmful to the chicks'  
health. As the chicks get older, reduce the heat each week by 5 degrees.

Keep the water and the feed separated by enough space to keep the  
feed dry. If the feed gets wet, ergot fungus can form and it can kill  
the chicks. A good feeder is the Trough Feeder . This feeder works  
well because its curved slots discourage perching, resulting in fewer  
droppings in the feed. Clean water and plenty of it is very important  
for young chicks. Premier's Pop Bottle Waterer and Vacuum Waterer are  
reliable and easy to use.

Be sure to have enough waterers and feeders so all the chicks have  
easy access. Start chicks on a crumble starter feed; pellet feed is  
too large. Good luck!

by Premier sales consultant, Kolby Freeman


VIP ARTICLE

Goats – Internal Parasites
Plan an integrated parasite management program

Regardless of weather, controlling worms (Barberpole worm, Haemonchus  
contortus, figure 1 below) is likely to be more challenging this  
summer for producers than last year because of the lack of the  
dewormer Prohibit (aka Levasole, Tramisol). The company making the  
chemical for Agrilabs, the dewormer manufacturer, halted production  
of the chemical, and no other chemical company has FDA approval to  
manufacture the product for them. A chemical company is currently  
working to get the appropriate FDA approvals and inspections before  
beginning production.


Bottom line, we will not have Prohibit for the first part of the  
summer and likely not for most of the year. Prohibit has been the  
drug of choice for those whose worms have developed resistance to  
Cydectin. If you plan to stay in the goat business, you are going to  
have to spend more time managing worms than previously (management is  
much more than deworming). Things are now a lot different than when a  
worm control program entailed the producer deciding what dewormer to  
use, how much and how often.

The first article in this series covers designing parasite management  
plan and the second article discusses dewormers and possible  
alternative dewormers that may be suitable. We need to have a plan so  
that one day we do not wake up with a worm crisis that we are unable  
to deal with and bail out of the goat business in desperation.

This plan includes steps in management that suppress worms and  
monitoring for worm problems and treating the animals that need  
treated. Also, culling and planned mating can improve the genetic  
resistance of animals to parasites. If genetics are improved and good  
management used, little dewormer will be needed and there will be  
little development of dewormer resistance.

The management factors we will discuss include grazing management and  
genetics. More details about worms and management appeared in  
articles in this magazine last year and are posted on the Southern  
Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control's website under  
"Parasite control for goats: A series of six articles". Another good  
article from ATTRA is located here. If you do not have computer  
access, your local library or extension service can access these  
articles for you and print them.

Our previous parasite control programs in bygone years were built  
around attempted eradication of worms or the fewer worms we had, the  
better. We now know that the consequence of this strategy is the  
development of dewormer resistance. And when we have resistance to  
all our dewormers, we are unable to keep animals alive and we have to  
go out of business.

Our new strategy is to control worms below a level that impairs the  
goat's health, use management practices to prevent worms and then use  
dewormer only when necessary and in such a way that we do not  
increase dewormer resistance.

The Barberpole worm lives in the abomasum or true stomach and lays  
eggs which end up in the fecal pellet. These eggs hatch in the pellet  
and develop to infective larvae in about 5 days during the warm  
summer. Infective larvae cannot get out of the pellet unless the hard  
crust on the pellet is softened by rain (about 2 inches in a months  
time) or several days of heavy dew and then the larva is carried by  
the film of water (from dew or rain) up the grass about 2-3" high.  
The sheep or goats become infected by consuming grass that has these  
infective larvae on them while grazing. Therefore, if we have fewer  
eggs in the fecal pellets, we have fewer infective larvae on the  
pasture. Two ways to reduce egg numbers are to deworm around time of  
kidding (doe is very susceptible to worms while lactating) so that  
pasture contamination is reduced. This is the only time that one can  
justify blanket deworming of all animals. The second way to reduce  
number of eggs is to cull the animals that produce the most eggs.  
Worms (and their consequent eggs) are like wealth, not equally  
distributed among all individuals (Tom Craig, Parasitologist Texas A  
& M). Fifteen percent of a herd carries 50% of the total worms in  
that herd. Thirty percent of the herd carries 70-80% of the worms.  
Therefore, by culling only 15 to 25% of the herd, we can reduce  
infective larvae on the pasture by more than half.

Later in this article, we will discuss how to identify these animals  
using the FAMACHA technique. Termperate species worms are of lesser  
importance overall (but they are of major importance when you lose an  
animal to them). These are worms that like cooler weather such as  
winter and spring and may cause significant problems especially at  
these times of the year. These worms are the brown stomach worm  
(Teledorsagia circumcincta or Ostertagia ostertagi) and black scour  
worm (Trichostrongylus colubriformis) and their main symptoms are  
loose stools and scours and a poor-doing animal. They do not cause  
anemia like the Barberpole worm and therefore will not cause a change  
in FAMACHA scores. The main symptoms are loose stools and a poor- 
doing animal. Management practices that control the Barberpole worm  
will also control these temperate species. The difficulty in control  
is that since they only cause loose stools and poor animal  
performance, they may be overlooked.

Stocking rate is major factor in how heavily contaminated a pasture  
is. If you double the number of animals on an acre, you double the  
number of infective larvae as well as doubling the number of mouths  
picking up larvae. If you have two goats per acre, stocking rate is  
not much of a factor, but if you have sufficient forage growth to  
stock 6 goats per acre, you will have more worm problems. There is a  
goat producer in Virginia who used a stocking rate of 2 does per acre  
and has culled his wormy animals over the years and no longer needs  
to deworm his goats. Also, there is the "barn effect" which are  
places that animals congregate such as around the barn, under trees  
or at the waterer. In these areas, since there is a high animal  
density, there are more pellets and more humidity under trees and  
around water trough, and shade from the sanitizing effect of sunlight  
and the grass is grazed closer to the ground, all factors that  
increase parasite problems. Rotating pastures will reduce the effect  
of being around a barn (tree or other shelter) and if you move your  
water trough with each pasture, instead of watering from a common  
lane, this will also reduce parasite problems. Goats usually do not  
need shelter during the summer, especially if they have brush or  
trees for shade.

Pasture rotation can reduce or increase parasite problems depending  
on the circumstances. The dotted line in figure 2, see above, shows  
the larva dynamics in a tropical island where every day is humid and  
warm, but temperatures do not get over 95 degrees F. Basically larvae  
begin hatching around the first week and pasture contamination with  
larvae peaks at day 14. Larvae die off as they run out of body  
stores, declining substantially by 4 weeks after pellet deposition  
and dropping even further after 6 weeks. Therefore, for a pasture  
rotation to be most effective, animals need to be moved out of the  
pasture before infective larva are present, about 5 days if there is  
rain or heavy dew, longer if there is no rain or dew. The pasture  
needs to be rested a minimum of 4 weeks, six weeks is better  
(improved grasses cannot be rested this long without nutritional  
value of the grass declining severely). A solution is that after  
three to four weeks, the pasture can be hayed or grazed with another  
species of animal. No one knows whether mowing the pasture reduces or  
increases pasture infectivity and it likely is different for  
different forages and forage mass, height of cut etc. Rotation  
grazing systems utilizing 4 pastures and 1 week in each pasture may  
not be better than continuously grazed pastures, because animals are  
on them too long (larvae have hatched and are beginning to infect  
them before pasture rotation) and the pasture contamination is still  
significant when animals come back three weeks later.

Also, since most of the infective larvae are in the lower two to  
three inches of the grass, animals need to be moved off a pasture  
when they are grazing below a 4" residual grass height so they don't  
consume infective larvae. This is affected by both stocking rate and  
our pasture rotation program. Patch grazing can also greatly increase  
our worm problems. This is where goats graze their favorite patches  
of grass very short, like a golf green, because the grass that grows  
back is very tender and nutritious. It is especially common in  
bermudagrass pastures but may also be present with other grass  
species. These heavily grazed patches have high numbers of infective  
larvae because animals spend a large portion of their time grazing  
these areas, resulting in more fecal pellets (and worm eggs), and  
since these animals are grazing close to the ground, they pick up  
large numbers of infective larvae which results in very high levels  
of worm infection and often death of some animals. Patch grazing can  
be controlled by rotational grazing.

The species of pasture plant can also have a significant effect on  
larvae. If goats are browsing, they are not grazing close to the  
ground where the infective larvae are and therefore, do not pick up  
infective larvae. Goats can browse the whole summer long without  
needing to be dewormed. Goats that are grazing sorghum sudan to a  
6-8" stubble height have the same benefit. Eastern Gamagrass must be  
grazed carefully so as to leave an 8" high stubble and animals  
grazing this high do not pick up infective larvae which are located  
within two or three inches of the ground. One solution to parasite  
problems may be to find a brushy area that you can rent (often the  
use is free to clean it up) and put your goats on it (may require  
electric fencing). Most likely, a lot of acreage in your area need to  
be cleaned up by goats.

Several tannin containing plants do reduce fecal egg counts as well  
as egg hatch and larval development success rate. It is possible to  
graze Does and their kids on a predominantly sericea lespedeza  
pasture the whole summer without requiring deworming. Feeding sericea  
lespedeza hay or pellets for several weeks also helps reduce worms in  
the goats that it is fed to. But, all tannins are not created equal,  
while sericea, chicory and sainfoin tannins are effective against  
worms, the oak tannins are not. Plants that form a dense sod such as  
bermudagrass create a humid micro-environment that is optimal for egg  
hatch and larval development. More open types of pasture such as  
native range and brushy areas are not as conducive to the development  
of infective larvae.

There are several methods of decreasing pasture contamination in  
addition to a period of rest. Making hay will remove most of the  
infective larvae from the pasture. The larvae that are baled up in  
the hay will die quickly and the hay will no longer be infective. If  
you are using an annual pasture such as sorghum-sudan during the  
summer or small grain during the winter, and these fields are tilled,  
larvae that are buried deeper than an inch by the tillage die.  
Cospecies grazing can clean up infective larvae. Since cows and  
horses are not infected by the parasites of sheep and goats, they can  
be grazed with or alternated with sheep and goats to control  
parasites. When cows and horses consume the infective goat larvae,  
the larvae does not attach and ends up dead in the poop.

The immune system is the animal's first line of defense against  
worms. Three management factors that affect the immune system are  
nutrition, genetics and stress. Some animals have a genetically  
stronger immune system than others and we can breed for animals that  
are more resistant to specific diseases including worms. Young  
animals are more susceptible than mature animals because of an  
immature immune system. Lactation also depresses the immune system  
making lactating does more susceptible to worms. Sickness (such as  
pneumonia, coccidiosis or even an injury) can also depress the immune  
system as can any stress such as shipping. Therefore, animals in  
these categories need closer monitoring for worms since they are more  
susceptible. The immune system also responds to nutrition. The immune  
system seems to have the lowest priority on nutrients and when the  
animal is short on any nutrient (protein, energy, minerals or  
vitamins), the immune system will get less of that nutrient and be  
depressed. Therefore, good nutrition (not excessive) and reducing  
stress will reduce problems with worms.

FAMACHA is a technique developed for determining when individual  
animals need dewormed. The technique estimates the degree of anemia  
in an animal since the Barberpole worm sucks blood and causes anemia.  
When the degree of anemia is severe enough to impact animal health  
and production, the animal is dewormed. The degree of anemia is  
measured by matching a card with color chips of varying shades (red/ 
pink/pale) to the eye mucous membrane color. Mucous membranes are  
areas of tissue in the body where the capillaries are close to the  
surface of the tissue and therefore the color of the tissue  
represents the color of a thin layer of blood. The tissue is normally  
red due to the high number of red blood cells. With anemia (low level  
of red blood cells), the tissue turns a lighter shade of pink (more  
pale) and eventually white when anemia is severe. Mucous membranes  
are located inside the vulva (dairy goat producers check goats here  
when they are on the milking stand), the mouth and gums and the  
inside of the eye socket (FAMACHA checks the inside of the lower  
eyelid). With the FAMACHA program we check animals every two weeks  
during the worm season (weekly if worms are a severe problem) and  
match the color of the eye mucous membrane to one of the color chips  
(eye scores 1 through 5, 1 being red and 5 being very pale). Animals  
that score a 4 or 5 are dewormed. Some individuals such as lactating  
animals and young stock are dewormed when they are scored a 3.  
Further details on the FAMACHA procedure are locatedhere.

By keeping records of the individuals requiring deworming, you will  
notice some animals require little deworming and others a lot of  
deworming. There is a genetic component to worminess that has a  
moderate heritability. A local producer found that 40% of his does  
were dewormed twice or less while 20% of his herd was dewormed 6  
times during the warm season. He culled all those requiring deworming  
6 times. He found a similar story with his four bucks, one was not  
dewormed, buck #2 three times, buck #3 four times and buck #4 six  
times. The latter was culled (bucks contribute more than half the  
genetics to a herd!). For replacements, he is mating the 40% of does  
that were dewormed twice or less to the buck that was not dewormed.  
The 20% of the does that he culled were probably producing over half  
of all worm eggs (and infective larvae). So, next year, he should  
have less than half the number of infective larvae on pasture (all  
other things being equal) which will greatly reduce worm problems in  
and of itself.

All breeds of sheep and goats have some individuals that have some  
resistance to worms, but some breeds have a greater proportion of  
resistant individuals, due to natural (animals with most worms die  
first) or artificial selection (selected by man). Breeds originating  
in humid areas had natural selection or man may have selected animals  
for worm resistance so the animals survived and produced, whereas  
animals in low rainfall areas were not bothered by worms since there  
was not enough moisture for the eggs to hatch and develop and  
therefore, there was not natural selection and no reason for man to  
select for worm resistance. Consequently, one would expect these  
breeds to have a lower proportion of resistant animals.

The producer needs to lay out a parasite management program much like  
you lay out a goat production program, utilizing sound, well thought  
out, plan and execute accordingly, then revise your plan based on the  
results. We select from some of the above management techniques to  
prevent parasites that are appropriate for our farm and implement  
them. We monitor infection level of animals with FAMACHA and/or fecal  
egg counts. We deworm only the animals that FAMACHA indicates need  
dewormed. We keep records on animals were dewormed (who and when) for  
culling and management purposes. Then, we revise our plan next year  
based on problems and mistakes that we had this year.

You then need to select other management practices that can be  
implemented on your farm. You may need to do something you have never  
done before, can you reduce your stocking rate by making hay or  
grazing with another species of grazer or culling problem animals?  
Producers in Northern climates can tolerate higher stocking rates due  
to a shorter Barberpole season, but they have more problems in the  
Fall, Winter and Spring with temperate species worms which cannot be  
monitored with FAMACHA. If you cull your animals that are management  
problems, it can help reduce stocking rate. After the first year,  
when you have data from FAMACHA, you can cull those animals that  
required deworming the most. The only time that your entire herd  
should be dewormed is around the time of kidding/lambing. If your  
animals have low fecal egg counts at this time of year due to  
genetics or management, they may not benefit from being dewormed.  
Outside of kidding time, deworm only those animals that FAMACHA  
identifies as needing to be dewormed.

How can you change your grazing program to reduce worm problems?  
Rotational grazing should be very high on your list because it is  
almost impossible to control worms if your animals are grazing only  
one pasture unless you have a very low number of animals per acre.  
Ideally, you need about 8 pastures. When the weather is warm, it  
would be ideal to move animals to the next pasture in rotation five  
to seven days after beginning grazing (before infective larvae are  
available) and to be able to rest those pastures from animals for at  
least 6 weeks during which most infective larvae will die. Also it is  
important that you do not graze closer than 4 inches above the ground  
since most infective larvae on the grass are within 2-3 inches of the  
ground. Stocking rate and rotation grazing have to be coordinated so  
that animals are not forced to graze close to the ground. One problem  
is that when improved grasses such as bermudagrass are rested 6  
weeks, forage quality becomes very low. These forages need to be  
harvested before the end of six weeks rest. This can be done by  
haying or grazing with another animal species such as horses or  
cattle (stocker calves may work well) three or four weeks after  
animals were removed from the pasture. Unfortunately, we do not know  
if mowing is a beneficial practice or not.

Sericea lespedeza, if we have it, can be very beneficial in reducing  
fecal egg output and larval development. However, it may not be cost  
effective to plant sericea lespedeza since establishing most forages  
costs $100-150. per acre. Sericea lespedeza hay/pellets can also  
provide some of these benefits and feeding sericea hay will also help  
to establish a stand of sericea lespedeza (from the seed in the hay).  
Chicory is another forage plant with tannins that may reduce fecal  
egg output. Do you have brush for your sheep and goats to graze?  
Maybe your neighbor will allow your goats to graze his brush to clean  
it up. Summer grazing of sorghum sudangrass or Eastern Gamagrass is  
also beneficial in that animals graze higher than 8 inches above the  
ground. Which of these techniques can you implement in your grazing  
system?

The third item is to help your animal's immune system to fight worms.  
Make sure that animals are well fed (not necessarily fat) by  
monitoring body condition since nutrition is necessary for the immune  
system to be fully functional. In addition, we need to make sure that  
we have provided the animal with sufficient minerals and vitamins to  
support the immune system. Protein supplementation can booster the  
immune system so that worm problems are reduced. Most producers will  
need to supply some type of high quality (not necessarily high- 
priced) mineral for their animals. Producers need to avoid stressing  
their animals such as by shipping, but also realize that a lactating  
doe/ewe is under stress and that severe weather and other stressful  
events make our animals more susceptible to worms and therefore need  
to be closely monitored.

Hopefully, we have recorded FAMACHA data during the warm season and  
at the end of the season we can evaluate the data to tell us how well  
our parasite management program is working and tells us how well the  
animals are coping with worms. Look at how many times each animal got  
dewormed. Some animals get dewormed a lot and others little. So, the  
animals that get dewormed the most usually have the least resistance  
to worms, and so are candidates for culling. Those that get dewormed  
the most, also produce more eggs and consequent infective larvae for  
the rest of the animals in the herd and so it helps everyone in the  
herd if we cull those that got dewormed the most. We may need to cull  
20-30% of the herd the first year and fewer the second and subsequent  
years because we have improved genetics. Also, evaluate data from the  
bucks closely, because they provide over half of the genetics of the  
herd. Culling the bucks that need deworming the most will help  
improve the genetics of the whole herd, and reduce deworming needed.

If we look at the percent of animals in our herd dewormed each time  
we do FAMACHA, it tells us what time of the year that we have the  
greatest worm problems and we should focus our attention on modifying  
our worm control program to reduce problems at that time of the year.  
We may need to learn more about biology of the worm to explain why we  
are having the problem and be creative in finding a solution. We can  
also look at the % of goats needing dewormed over years and see if we  
are continuing to make progress on improving our worm control program/ 
worm resistance genetics, or if we become slack and go backwards.

Management practices to reduce worm problems

Reduced stocking rate
Rotation grazing especially with long rest period
Don't graze forages below 4 inches high
Graze tannin-containing forages such as sericea lespedeza or chicory  
Graze sorghum sudan or Eastern Gamagrass. *Graze brush or other browse
Alternate grazing with cattle or horses
Make hay on regrowth after grazing
Deworm around kidding time (not needed if herd has low fecal egg count)
Use FAMACHA program to deworm only animals that need to be
Keep records on animals dewormed

Steve Hart is a Goat Extension Specialist at Langston University in  
Oklahoma. He conducts research on internal parasites and presents  
parasite workshops. He is also a member of the Southern Consortium  
for Small Ruminant Parasite Control

Steve Hart
Goat Extension Specialist
Langston University in Oklahoma
shart@luresext.edu

This article taken from Goat Rancher Magazine


ANNOUNCEMENT

Immediate Openings

Premier, a growing mail-order agribusiness near Washington, IA,  
(www.premier1supplies.com) has positions in the following areas:

Marketing Copywriter - FT - In house
Position Summary: Write targeted, effective copy to market products &  
services for e-store, catalog and print media. Assist Product  
Development Team/CEO with correspondence. Ability to meet deadlines  
and coordinate with other departments
Requirements: Bachelors Degree in any of the following disciplines:  
English, Journalism, Advertising/Marketing.
Work Experience: Minimum 1-2 yrs advertising/copy-writing experience.  
Proficiency in Word, Excel, Adobe InDesign. Excellent verbal and  
written communication skills. Experience in brand marketing/brand  
creative in mail order industry preferred. Working knowledge of sheep/ 
goat/poultry/small farm industry also preferred.

Quality Control - FT - In house
Position Summary: Perform quality checks of incoming products.  
Participate in the review of all design, manufacturing, purchasing  
and testing of products to meet quality requirements. Study and  
understand product's features, benefits, uses and improvements.
Requirements: 1-2 yrs experience. Mechanical aptitude. Proficiency in  
Excel and Word. CAD experience a plus.

Graphic Artist - FT - In house
Position Summary: To design, develop, and implement computer- 
generated artwork for e-store/catalog/print media. Participate in  
initial planning meetings. Understand the editorial concepts of  
project and graphic needs. Take projects from concept to completion.
Requirements: 2-4 yr degree in Graphic Arts & 2 yrs work experience.  
Proficient in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Word and Excel.

Shipping/Receiving - FT/Seasonal (April to Sept.)
Position Summary: Pull products to fulfill orders for prompt  
shipment, enter receipt of incoming shipments into computer, verify  
information and quantities, prepare computer documentation.
Requirements: 1-2 yrs experience. Must be able to lift 70 lbs. Typing  
skills: 50 WPM. Forklift certification a plus.

Premier offers health/dental/life ins. benefits, 401K plus annual  
merit bonuses. Please send resume and cover letter by mail or e-mail  
at:jpotratz@premier1supplies.com

Premier
Attn: Jean Potratz
2031 300th Street
Washington, IA 52353

No walk-ins. No phone calls please.

RECIPE

Poppy Seed Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 c sugar
1/3 c lemon juice
2 tsp onion, finely chopped
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c oil
1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Put all ingredients in a jar. Close, shake and refrigerate.

Salad:
Combine several kinds of lettuce and spinach in serving bowl. Top  
with dressing just before serving and garnish with slivered almonds  
and Craisins.

From Jacque Sieren, Premier employee


Fencing | Clippers and Shearers | Ear Tags | Poultry Supplies |  
Equipment | Wild Bird Feeders and Seed
Copyright 2010 Premier1Supplies
2031 300th Street, Washington, Iowa 52353, US • Contact Us
Phone: 800-282-6631 or 319-653-7622 • Fax: 800-346-7992 or 319-653-6304
Hours: Mon. - Fri.: 7am - 6pm (March - June) and 7am - 5:30pm (July -  
February)
Sat.: 8am - 12 noon, CST.