A whole lot of goat producers will be extremely interested in
what Chris Ferland has to say at the fifth annual Goat-a-Rama
April 7 in Tennille, Ga.

Ferland is the feasibility analyst for the University of Georgia
Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. In one of two
seminar sessions during the Goat-a-Rama, he’ll tell about his
study of whether a goat slaughter and marketing cooperative is
feasible in Georgia.

“We’ve had calls from all over Georgia and several other states
about the potential for a such a cooperative,” said Sidney Law, a
Washington County Extension Service agent with the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“A lot of people are planning to come a long way for that one
session,” he said.

All You Ever Wanted to Know

But they’ll find much more to interest them than that. From a
petting zoo to cheese-making to exhibits and a goat folks social,
the Goat-a-Rama will provide just about anything anybody ever
wanted to know about goats.

Here’s something you may not have known: goat meat, or chevon
(pronounced “CHEV’n”) has about the same calories as boneless,
skinless chicken breast but 26 percent less fat. It also has more
than twice the iron of chicken breast — significantly more even
than beef or pork.

The Goat-A-Rama will start at 9 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. at the
Farm Bureau Ag Center at 882 Grady Mertz Road in Tennille — near
Sandersville, Ga. Admission is free.