UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Meat-goat producers looking for information on how to make their livestock enterprise more profitable can take advantage of a home-study course offered by Penn State Extension this winter.
The course, which begins Feb. 2, 2022, will cover profit-enhancing production principles for raising meat goats. Lessons are available through email and the internet or through conventional mail delivery. The course contains six weekly lessons.
Lesson topics include production basics, 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 Penn State Extension for comments. Producers also can submit questions they would like to have answered. An additional feature started last year is the option to join three Zoom meetings to review worksheet questions and answers. Zoom meetings can be accessed by computer or by phone.
"This course is a great way for producers to learn new information without having to rearrange their schedule to accommodate a meeting," said Melanie Barkley, extension educator based in Bedford County, who is coordinating the course. "Producers can study the lessons at their leisure in their home. The courses are designed for beginning producers and for those who wish to start a livestock operation in the future."
Worksheet questions are designed to assist producers with analyzing their current operation. Greg Strait, extension educator from Fulton County, serves as the course instructor. Strait addresses comments to participants' individual situations to better help them improve their management skills.
According to Barkley, more than 1,500 producers from across the country have taken this course.
"Producers' comments following completion of the course show that information offered in the course was very beneficial for them," she said. "Producers are able to adapt the information for use in their own operations."
Visit Penn State Extension online for more details or to sign up for a course, or call 877-345-0691.
To speak to one of the instructors, contact the Penn State Extension office in Bedford County at 814-623-4800 or in Fulton County at 717-485-4111.
The cost for each course is $50 if taken via email and the internet, $85 if taken using U.S. Postal Service delivery with information on a thumb drive, or $125 if taken using U.S. Postal Service delivery with paper copies of the information. The deadline for registration is Jan. 24, 2022.
For more information, contact Barkley at 814-623-4800 or meh7@psu.edu.