Livestock Home Study Courses

All three courses are available through the postal service and the sheep and meat goat courses are available through internet/email. Each course has six lessons that are to be completed weekly. The lesson topics include basic production information, reproduction, nutrition, health, marketing, and financial issues. Each lesson has information about the topic and a worksheet for producers to complete and mail or email back to the instructor for comments. Producers can also submit any questions that they would like answered.

Melanie Barkley, Bedford County Extension Educator, said "Each course is a great way for producers to learn new information without having to rearrange their schedule to accommodate a meeting. Producers can study the lessons at their leisure in their own home." The worksheet questions are designed to ask producers about their current operation so that comments from the instructor are tailored to participants' individual situations to help them improve their management skills.