CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 07/26/13

UGA Extension to hold Master Goat Farmer Course

By Merritt Melancon

Northeast Georgia Cooperative Extension agents will host a six-week Master Goat Farmer Certification course at the UGA Livestock Instructional Arena Aug. 6 through Sept. 14.

The course will cover basics — like how to raise a herd of healthy meat goats and properly graze them — as well as the latest information on business planning, maintaining dairy goats, building fences and goat health. The class will meet Tuesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Instructors include Will Getz from Fort Valley State University, Scott Sell from Clemson University, Dennis Hancock of UGA Extension, local goat farmers, veterinarians from the UGA College of Veterinary Sciences and UGA Extension agents familiar with goat farming.

This is the third year UGA Extension has offered the Master Goat Farmer Certification. Even farmers who have been through the course before are sure to learn something new, said Banks County Extension agent Bob Waldorf.

“There are always new questions from the farmers because goat farming is still relatively new in Georgia,” Waldorf said. “There’s still just not that much information about there about goats.”

Farmers will also have the chance to meet other local goat producers and share the lessons they have learned over the years.

Registration for the class is limited to 75 participants and registration ends Tuesday, July 30. The class costs $100 which includes all course materials, speaker fees, refreshments, meals and a T-shirt.

For more information about the class, call the UGA Extension office in Banks, Franklin, Madison, Stephens, Elbert, Jackson or Morgan counties, or call Waldorf directly at (706) 677-6230.

Merritt Melancon, a public relations manager for the UGA Terry College of Business, previously served as a public relations coordinator for the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Extension.

Authors:
Merritt Melancon
Experts/Sources:
Robert C. Waldorf
Photos of goats cleaning up the banks of Tanyard Creek near Baxter Street in Athens. Students from the UGA College of Environment and Design installed the goats as part of service-learning project.
Photos of goats cleaning up the banks of Tanyard Creek near Baxter Street in Athens. Students from the UGA College of Environment and Design installed the goats as part of service-learning project.
Photos of goats cleaning up the banks of Tanyard Creek near Baxter Street in Athens. Students from the UGA College of Environment and Design installed the goats as part of service-learning project.
Download Image
Due to last year's rainy summer and this winter's frigid temperatures, beef cattle around the state have struggled to maintain good health. CAES News
GrassMasters course aims to improve forage production across northeast Georgia 01/04/17 Merritt Melancon
Facing severe drought and hay shortages, northeast Georgia cattle farmers were as eager as anyone to see 2016 in the rearview mirror.
Beginning farmer training through the UGA Cooperative Extension Journeyman Farmer Certificate Program starts in August. CAES News
Registration is now open for the second year of UGA Extension Journeyman Farmers program; classes start in August 07/27/16 Merritt Melancon
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is set to offer a second year of the Journeyman Farmer training for beginning and young farmers this August.
Two steers graze on sorghum/sudangrass hybrid forage at the UGA Eatonton Beef Research Unit as part of a 2014 study on grass-finished beef forages. CAES News
UGA releases 2014 Farmgate Value Report: Beef's up, cotton's down and chicken's still on top 10/29/15 Merritt Melancon
Led by increases in forestry and livestock values, Georgia’s agricultural output increased by $484 million in 2014, making agriculture, once again, the largest industry in the state with a value of $14.1 billion. According to the most recent University of Georgia Farmgate Value Report, published earlier this month, the value of Georgia’s livestock and aquaculture industries increased by almost 36 percent from 2013.
UGA agricultural economist Nick Magnan and his colleague Grace Motey interview women who work buying and selling peanuts at a market in Ghana. CAES News
UGA agricultural economist pinpoints what makes international development projects work 10/02/15 Merritt Melancon
What is the best way to help people in developing countries build food security? That’s the question at the center of University of Georgia agricultural economist Nick Magnan’s research.
A new grant-funded collaboration between the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Fort Valley State University, AgSouth Farm Credit and Georgia Organics will provide training to beginning farmers in Georgia to help them build their farms into sustainable and profitable businesses. CAES News
UGA forms statewide partnership to create training program for beginning farmers 02/10/15 Merritt Melancon
Starting in October, a new training program will offer beginning and young farmers crash courses in business planning, vegetable and fruit production and goat husbandry to provide them with a strong foundation to help grow their new businesses.
Pictured are in-line feeders delivered by AgrAbility to a farmer in Fitzgerald. CAES News
AgrAbility program helps Georgia farmer in need 01/13/15 Jordan Hill
A small-town Georgia farmer, George Burke of Fitzgerald, counts his blessings for the much-needed assistance he received from the National AgrAbility Project, a program that helps physically disabled farmers, ranchers and other agricultural workers.