The 'Business of Sheep' was the focus of the Saskatchewan Sheep Development Board's recent AGM and Symposium.

Executive Director Gordon Schroeder says there's a lot of optimism in the industry right now as they see younger families entering the industry. 

"We're seeing larger commercial operations expanding. So we're quite optimistic about the future of the industry, even though we're going through a little bit of a low right now, but prices are picking up as well. So we're confident in 2024. "

Currently, Saskatchewan has about 800 sheep producers with about 62 thousand ewes.

He says while they've seen a bit of a dip in the market, the fundamentals for a strong market are still there.

"Where we're seeing the growth or the interest is from younger producers or younger people that want to stay in the agriculture industry.  The sheep industry is a lower capital investment to get in. "

Schroeder adds that with a good commercial operation, your margins are good, so they've seen interest that way just to stay in agriculture, because the the capital investment is reasonable.

He says another sign of the growth of the industry is the interest they see in their  'Getting Started with Sheep ''The Basics'' Workshops' which are continually filled.

The next event is coming up on March 1st and 2nd in Saskatoon where they cover the basics of the sheep industry from purchasing your flock to health and nutrition, facilities, lambing, predation, marketing, shearing, and wool.

Individuals looking for more information on the sheep industry and upcoming workshops can find the details here.