Grants available to grow the livestock industry

Sep 09, 2019

By Ben Gavelek

The Indiana State Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications to grow the state’s livestock industry.

As part of a matching grant, the funding is available to non-profit organizations, commissions and associations in the following livestock species: cattle, swine, sheep, equine, goats, poultry, camelids, ostriches, cervidae, bison, aquaculture and rabbits.

“While Indiana is a national leader in many livestock sectors, there’s always room to grow,” said Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch. “It’s important that we continue to develop this industry, as it remains critical to our agricultural economy and food system today.”

The competitive grants can be used for a variety of projects, such as promoting a livestock show, exposition and convention, or conducting a new event. They can also be used to support new or existing markets, in an effort to grow Indiana’s production, processing and distribution capacity.

Proposals must be submitted electronically by Sept. 30, 2019. If selected, the program will reimburse up to 50 percent of the amount spent on the project.

“Whether it’s researching new markets or promoting a livestock show, take advantage of this opportunity,” said Bruce Kettler, ISDA director. “We have thousands of livestock operations in Indiana, and we want to benefit as many as we can through this program.”

Source : in.gov

Video: Cleaning Sheep Barns & Setting Up Chutes

Indoor sheep farming in winter at pre-lambing time requires that, at Ewetopia Farms, we need to clean out the barns and manure in order to keep the sheep pens clean, dry and fresh for the pregnant ewes to stay healthy while indoors in confinement. In today’s vlog, we put fresh bedding into all of the barns and we remove manure from the first groups of ewes due to lamb so that they are all ready for lambs being born in the next few days. Also, in preparation for lambing, we moved one of the sorting chutes to the Coveralls with the replacement ewe lambs. This allows us to do sorting and vaccines more easily with them while the barnyard is snow covered and hard to move sheep safely around in. Additionally, it frees up space for the second groups of pregnant ewes where the chute was initially.