The international visitors, consisting of sheep producers, educators and representatives of producer and farmer associations from Ohio, have a strong interest in developing local markets, particularly for quality lamb.

Leading the tour, which will also travel to Armidale, Dubbo, Condobolin, Holbrook and Goulburn, is Dr Paul Kuber from The Ohio State University in Columbus.

Paul knows the Harden area well after working at Harden Abattoirs in the late 1990’s procuring lambs for the export market to America while working for Evergreen Lamb, a division of Superior Farms of Davis, California.

The group arrived in town Tuesday evening after a stop off at Petal Falls Orchard before touring Tony Manchester’s property at Kingsvale, O’Connor’s Oxton Park Shearing Shed and Prosser’s Laughing Cow Dairy in the afternoon.

Now an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, Dr Kuber focuses on developing new products and on fresh meat palatability.

Faculty and staff in the University’s Department of Animal Sciences, as well as external stakeholders in Ohio, have a personal and professional interest in the US sheep industry, offering a strong nucleus for research and for developing markets for lamb.

Dr Kuber and his colleagues have found that touring other countries, seeing how both large and small livestock operations work, and how processing facilities are run and regulated, is the key to developing their own local markets in Ohio.

“We are aiming to get a bit of understanding on the sheep marketing and operations in Australia,” he said.

“We are a diverse group and all have different reasons for being on the trip but our main focus in on Australia’s sheep industry.”

Throughout their two-week Australian tour the group will be visiting livestock production facilities, an abattoir, wool processing facility, fruit growing operations, vineyards plus will include a stop off at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney.

Dr Kuber said dwindling auction markets for livestock sales in the USA have made it imperative for producers to investigate alternative markets.

“This tour will expose the group to Australian agriculture,” he said.

“Most of those travelling with me are working with producers, most of them small, to build local and sustainable markets in the USA.

“They are here both to learn and to pass on their knowledge to NSW producers.”