The annual Tennessee Sheep Shearing School has become one of the top shearing instructional classes east of the Mississippi River! Students travel hundreds of miles to get the hands on training it takes to become a person who wants to shear their own sheep or to become a professional and earn a living shearing animals.
The date for the 2026 shearing school will be March 20-21, 2026, at Middle Tennessee State University in the Tennessee Livestock Center. Dillion Jones will be the instructor with assistance from Dr. Warren Gill and other members of the TSPA board. Cost for the 2 day course is $300. 4H/FFA and previous shearing school attendees are $150. Students are encouraged to bring their own shears, extension cord and plywood or carpet to shear on. Sheep are provided.
Shearing sheep is a physically demanding task requiring strength as well as flexibility and endurance. Students should be able to handle sheep, demonstrate ability to safely set sheep on dock and maintain control of sheep. Minimum age to attend is 16, with parent assisting student with all aspects of training.
As we get closer to the school date, more specific details regarding parking, schedule, and equipment will be sent to you. Please register with an email address you check regularly, so you receive these important updates. Once you have paid, you place in the class is secure. We limit the class to 20 students. Last year, the class was full more than a month before the class, so sign up early.
The shearing school is designed for either beginner or experienced shearers who wish to improve their skills. One of the most important aspects of the school is information about maintenance and care of sheep shearing equipment. School will start with registration at 10:00am on Friday. At 10:30 AM there will be a discussion of equipment care and maintenance and at 1:00 PM we will start shearing. On Saturday at 8:00AM we will continue with the hands-on shearing instruction. The course will continue until all sheep are sheared (usually by noon).
If you have questions, please email or call Dee Wolters at 931-698-8293, info@tennesseesheep.org. More information about the school can be found on the TN Sheep Producers Website: www.tennesseesheep.org
Some action shots from the 2023 Shearing School in Murfreesboro, TN!
Gestation in sheep varies from 142 to 152 days with the average being 147 days. Just like people, individual pregnancies can vary, gestation periods of 138 to 159 days are not unheard of. Ewes carrying multiple lambs tend to have shorter gestations while male lambs (and heavy birth weight lambs) are usually carried for longer than female lambs. The form above calculates the lambing date based on a 147 day gestation period.
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