Beef and Sheep and Meat Goats, Oh My!

         Penn State Extension will be offering three Extension Home Study Courses this winter, beginning February 1, 2012. The purpose of the courses is to teach producers about production principles for beef, sheep or meat goats that will help their operations become more profitable.

         All three courses are available through the postal service and the sheep and meat goat courses are available through email/internet. Each course has six lessons that are to be completed weekly. The lesson topics include basic production information, nutrition, health, reproduction, 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 Extension Office for comments. Producers can also submit any questions that they would like answered.

         Melanie Barkley, Bedford County Extension Agent, 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.

         According to Barkley, over 1,400 producers from across the country have taken one or more of the three courses. Comments following the courses show that information contained in the courses is very beneficial and that producers are able to adapt the information for use in their own operations.

         For more details or to sign up for a course, go to http://guest.cvent.com/d/sdqb58 or call 877-489-1398. To speak to one of the instructors you can contact the Penn State Extension Office in Bedford County at (814) 623-4800 or in Fulton County at (717) 485-4111. Cost for the course is $45.00 if taking over email/internet (sheep and meat goat courses only) and $80.00 if taking through the postal service. Deadline for registration is January 23, 2012.