07/10/2026
Join us for an exciting weekend sponsored by the National Sheep Improvement Program. The weekend program will kick off with a farm tour of Goeken Family Farm on Friday, July 24, followed by afternoon educational sessions at the Clay County Fairgrounds 4-H Center. Both programs are free of charge. The weekend will culminate with the NSIP Center of the Nation Sale starting at 11 a.m. Central Time on Saturday, July 25.
The tour will feature Goeken Family Farm, a 1,200-head commercial Polypay flock that uses both terminal and maternal NSIP rams. They have been raising sheep for 25 years and using NSIP rams for the last 15 years. They utilize accelerated lambing with about one-third of the flock each year to optimize year-round production.
Kevin Goeken and his son, Noah, will lead the tour, which will give you great ideas to take home and use in your own operation. They use 11 hoop barns converted from hog finishing barns. They have a dedicated handling system in one of the barns that allows them to quickly sort, vaccinate, and weigh ewes and lambs. They also have a specialized milk replacer facility attached to their heated lambing barn.
Dr. Andrew Weaver will facilitate a discussion on ram selection using EBVs and phenotypic evaluation, with the opportunity to view some of the rams in production in the Goeken operation.
Free registration for the tour and/or the educational program is available at https://go.ncsu.edu/nsipeducationalprogram26
