PIKETON, Ohio — On Nov. 5 vintners and shepherds came together at the Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon for Wine and Lamb Field Night. An event designed to educate, inform and entertain.

The afternoon featured educational programming. Seminars on grape management and sheep grazing preceded a vineyard tour and a grazing demonstration. The evening included a lamb cooking demonstration followed by a lamb and wine pairing dinner, which consisted of four to five cuts of lamb; five Ohio wines, sides, and a dessert.

The event was the brainchild of Dr. Maria Smith, Viticulture Outreach Specialist, and OSU Noble County Extension Educator, Christine Gelley.

“Christine and I were having a conversation about programming after a Spotted Lanternfly workshop in Caldwell, Ohio in November 2021,” Smith said. “ We were discussing the compatibility of wine and lamb pairings but also the potential for using sheep to graze vineyards.”

“We thought this would be a great collaborative event to bring attention to this as an opportunity for the sheep producers to find alternative grazing land but also as a means of lower-impact weed and turf management for vineyards.”

Grazing sheep in vineyards is an ancient practice that is gaining acceptance across the nation. The benefits of the practice include reducing the need for herbicides, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing the soil’s organic matter and nitrogen levels.

This is the second vineyard grazing demo OSU Extension has hosted this year, the first being the AARS Kingsville Field Day for grape producers in August. 

The educational opportunity was a collaborative effort.

“This event has taken a serious group effort between our main planning group (myself, Christine Gelley, Brady Campbell, and Dirk Dempsey), with support from OSU administration and our industry partners,” Smith said. “We’ve been meeting bimonthly to coordinate event space, permitting, catering, food preparation, wine availability, and educational programming.” 

Ohio State University South Centers provided the staffing and event space, Nick & Kathy Forrest did the lamb cooking demonstration, and the following wineries provided event wines: Ferrante Winery, Gervasi Vineyards, Harpersfield Vineyard, M Cellars, and Kosicek Vineyards 

Financial support for the event came from the Ohio Sheep Producers Association, Ohio Grape Industries Committee, and the Pike County - Ohio Farm Bureau.

The venue was filled to capacity. “We were very happy with how the event went,” Smith said. “Around 50 participants from across central and southern Ohio and numerous sheep and grape producers attended as well as the general public interested in horticulture and animal sciences.”

The Piketon location made sense for a number of reasons. “We had a few discussions on location, but chose OSU South Centers at Piketon because it is as a somewhat central location to serve stakeholders in southern Ohio,” Smith said. “Logistically, it also houses one of our OSU research vineyards, has access to event space with A/V capabilities, and we could transport live sheep between OSU-owned facilities.”

Dr. Smith felt the highlight of the event was the networking and connections made between the respective industries. “We also love to see Ohio consumers educated on our industries and respond positively to the products that our industries offer,” Smith said. 

Of course, hands-on activities and demonstrations are always a highlight; the vineyard grazing demo, lamb cooking demo, and wine and lamb dish pairings. 

Having the opportunity to reflect on the timing and structure of the event the organizers came away with a few ideas to enhance Field Nights. “Our takeaway was that we need to take our show on the road and do more future collaborations like this,” Smith said. “Some things we might change would be starting a little earlier to give each session more time, but otherwise, we were very happy with the flow of the day and programming.”