Great news! Local shearer, Matt Gilbert has gotten approval for his new woolen mill. He expects to start processing wool in Ukiah by this fall. See the attached Ukiah Daily Journal article.

Please help me by completing the UCCE Livestock & Range Social Media for Program Delivery Survey at: http://t.co/C9koJHUPp5

Social media for UCCE Extension delivery is generally faster and less expensive than traditional methods that included workshops, paper newsletters, radio spots and newspaper and trade journal articles. While those methods will continue, I need to justify using the new methods like Twitter, Blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn groups.

It's important to evaluate impacts on clientele such as you who are taking this survey and who read my blog. Measurable impacts are often very hard to come by unless I ask. Your responses will also help guide me in writing future blog articles that will be useful to you.

I hope you will take the short time to complete this survey as it will help me to not only improve my program delivery but help me explain how important these types of delivery methods are for UCCE. Thanks in advance for your time!

"Lamb markets -- Is there an app for that? Well, yes, as a matter of fact there is. Producers can tap into auctions and prices at any time - while checking on the sheep, between meetings or during lunch.

The American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) has launched its first mobile application providing lamb and wool market information to anyone with a smartphone or tablet. The free market app is available for both Apple and Android operating systems.

"ASI is pleased to offer market information to anyone in the industry with a smartphone," remarks Peter Orwick, ASI executive director.

ASI worked closely with Randy Hammerstrom, officer in charge at the Greeley U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) Livestock, Poultry and Grain Market News division, to hand-select the portions of the USDA reports to offer in this first version of the industry market app.

"The app offers a good variety of national reports as well as market results from seven auction barns from around the country," emphasizes Hammerstrom. "Producers can access price data as the information is made available by USDA."

"This app will provide the industry with the convenience of valuable market data anywhere, anytime," says AMS Administrator Anne Alonzo. "Partnerships between USDA and the sheep industry are a critical component to supporting American producers."

The app is titled ASI Market News which can be downloaded from Apple's App Store or the Android Store. From the front page, users can select to search national reports or action reports.

"Producers' thoughts on the usefulness of this tool as well as any ideas on additional information that would be valuable to access from the app is appreciated," says Orwick. "This is a work in progress and we want to provide you with the best possible product."