NEW GLOUCESTER – Demand for sheep and goat meat is rising, and Maine farmers can learn how to take advantage of the trend at the 2004 Maine Shepherd and Goat Herder’s School on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22 and 23.

On Oct. 22, participants can tour three sheep and goat operations in central Maine: The Stony Knolls Farm in St. Albans, the Baptist Hill Farm in Corinna and the No Wahala Farm in Hudson.

After that participants will tour the new pilot kitchen of the Food Science Department at the University of Maine in Orono and see how food scientists help Maine farmers develop new food products. Participants will need to provide their own transportation for the tour, but maps and a schedule will be provided.

Marketing will take center stage on Oct. 23. The marketing summit is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. at the Pineland Commons in New Gloucester.

Featured speaker Bob Herr of Narvon, Pa., will address the marketing of sheep and goats in the Northeast. Other speakers will include market specialist and sheep producer Wendy Reinemann, Extension food science specialist Russell Hazen, Extension livestock specialist Kenneth Andries and agricultural economist Mark Hews. Participants will try a selection of lamb and goat dishes at a special banquet that evening.

The school is organized by University of Maine Cooperative Extension with support from Pineland Farms, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Maine Sheep Breeders Association, the meat goat associations of Maine, and MTI Weigh Systems of Rhode Island. Registration fees vary for the tour and the summit.

For registration material, call Cooperative Extension at 1-800-287-1471 or see a link to the Maine Shepherd and Goat Herder’s School on the Web site www.umext.maine.edu.