Ontario Sheep Farmers-OSF-District 10

Another new initiative from District 10 is the Sheep & Greet. This idea came from a producer concern they weren't able to attend our regular district meetings. All the D10 producers who attend have so much fun at our meetings, and we frequently get off-topic talking about our farms & our collective passion for sheep. So, we decided to add a purely social meeting! ... We will be holding monthly (to start) Zoom meetings during the weekday/evening. We're going to have some interesting guests to talk about different aspects of the industry. This is open to all sheep producers no matter where you reside. Please join us for lots of sheep chatter, some laughs, and to connect with your fellow farmers. Our first meeting is on November 25th at 7 PM Mario Leclerc of AgTrek Nutrition will join us to discuss forage analysis and how to read your reports. Our Sheep & Greet coordinator is Colleen Acres, so you can contact her or the page if you'd like to be involved as a speaker. We look forward to having you join us!

PRODUCER PARTNER - KARBERRY FARMS Wool & Notions Mountain, Ontario It is quite satisfying to be able to produce, raise or grow something and be able to use or apply this something in a productive and meaningful fashion. From growing your own vegetables, raising poultry or other livestock for meat or breeding stock, it all requires knowledge, time and careful study, a desire to keep learning and a passion for this work in order to continue in good times and bad.... For 8 years I have had the privilege of preserving and conserving a small primitive breed of sheep: Shetland sheep. They are highly valued for their naturally colored and soft, versatile wool. Although they do not produce a large carcass, the meat is lean and sweet. To offset the costs of feed, over the years, I started a wool business selling fleeces, roving and skeins of wool. In order to have a more diverse inventory, I have bought fleeces from local shepherds, which in turn helps them cover some of the costs of shearing. I now have more commercial wools and hand dyed wool to appeal to a wider audience. My work has been validated by people who desire to buy my products. Wool is a wonderful and unique natural product that deserves more recognition for all its beneficial properties. So, buy wool and stay warm this winter! Karen Kauth Karberry Farm Mountain, Ontario www.KarberryFarm.ca

Fabric is at the seamstress' for our second round of masks! We will have some new patterns & colours this time as well as children's sizes. If you are specifically looking for some smaller masks please let someone on the exec know so we can make sure they are made (no commitment needed). Most masks will be in adult sizes again. ... There is still a very limited number from our first run available, you can contact Brigitte for more information on sizes. Shipping is available at cost, and has been quite reasonable! Thank You for your support of District 10 initiatives.

Despite all the hardships 2020 has brought to so many, today is a good day to stop and remember for a moment how lucky we really are. To live in such a beautiful and free country, to live the way of life we choose, and for our sheep. Thank you to all our troops, past and present, for your service. #LestWeForget

District 10 is introducing a new initiative to highlight and promote local businesses which sell our products. This weekly Friday feature will showcase wool sellers, restaurants that serve lamb, butchers, small grocery stores, and other small businesses which help to support ours. We'll be posting about these businesses on our Facebook page and including them in the monthly D10 Newsletter. ... CV-19 has been hard on all small businesses, we want to join together and help each other. Please feel free to send contact information for any business you feel would benefit from this program to [email protected].

Zoom meeting reminder Friday at 7 PM https://mailchi.mp/943a5245041c/zoom-meeting-reminder

The first of our masks are ready! Limited quantities of men's & women in our 3 new patterns. More will be available shortly. ... Yes, we can ship at cost! See more

Newsletter for October 2020 / Bulletin Octobre 2020 - https://mailchi.mp//newsletter-for-october-2020-bulletin-o

A well deserved honour for the wonderful seamstress who made our masks! More fabric is on order and we're expecting to be restocked mid/late October

JOIN OUR TEAM! Interested in becoming more involved in district 10 and helping to organize fun and educational events like the sheep expo or car tour? We've created a Microsoft team account to help everyone stay in touch... It's free and available on both desktop and mobile, it's an easy way to create and share files as well as video/text chat. https://teams.microsoft.com/join/affhqwi0e8tb

SHEEP MASKS FOR SALE Proceeds from the sale of the masks will be used to fund district events (and the masks themselves were made by a local seamstress in support of the House of Lazarus Food Bank in Mountain) Masks are $10 each... These fitted masks come in 2 sizes womens/teens or mens/xl There are 3 different colours Blue & White (Suffolks) Peach (yarn ball sheep) Black & White (swirled pattern) Each mask includes two double thickness filters. They can be separated to use a single layer, kept as a double layer, or not used at all (the filter will need to be trimmed to fit) Each mask has a removable nose wire and it is recommended that it is removed before washing. Each mask also has adjustable elastics. Slide the elastic through the casing and you’ll see where it is tied. You can make it a little tighter, or a little looser. Please contact either Brigitte or Vanessa to arrange pick-up or mailing if you're interested. Thank you for helping to support our district and this great local charity.

Thank you to everyone who came out in person or virtually to our AGM last night. (We will be putting out a newsletter in the next little bit with more details for everyone) Because our time was short a few people were not able to ask questions to the OSF board that they wish to, so we will be putting together an e-mail to send along from the district. Please send your questions to [email protected] if you have any. ... Your 2020-2021 District 10 Executive is as follows: President: Fred Baker Vice-President: Ghislain Mayer Treasurer: Brigitte Meunier-Grimes Secretary: Vanessa Durand At our AGM we voted to form a committee to help run the Sheep Expo and we are looking for volunteers!

OSF D10 Reminder: Zoom Meeting Tonight - https://mailchi.mp/a0/osf-d10-reminder-zoom-meeting-tonight

D10 August Newsletter / Bulletin Août - https://mailchi.mp/dbc84/d10-august-newsletter-bulletin-aot Includes very important information about our upcoming AGM September 4th Maintenant, disponible en Francais

American Sheep Industry is having its next webinar on the 4th August 2020 at 8PM EST Protecting the Flock from Highly Contagious Diseases Resources in the Secure Sheep and Wool Supply Plan Presenter: ... Danelle Bickett-Weddle, Associate Director Center for Food Security and Public Health Iowa State University, College of Veterinary Medicine Host: Dr. Jay Parsons, Department of Agricultural Economics University of Nebraska-Lincoln Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/regist/7778541598027663376

Meeting is open! Looking forward to chatting with everyone. We'll be talking to Jamie about market opportunities as well as what we want to do about our upcoming AGM Join Zoom Meeting... https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85197622505 See more

OSF D10 Reminder: Zoom Meeting Tonight - https://mailchi.mp/1a/osf-d10-reminder-zoom-meeting-tonight

The exec is working hard to update our contact list ahead of our (virtual) AGM in September so that we can get information about participating out to everyone once we have it. You MUST be registered with OSF in order to vote. If you're unsure if you're registered or need to update your contact information please contact the page or our email address: [email protected] ... Thank you to everyone who has already responded to our inquiries with updates. (If you'd like to be removed from the OSF producer list, or just from receiving our newsletter, we can do that too)