UMaine Cooperative Extension Offers Sheep Shearing School
Contact: Richard Brzozowski, 207-780-4205
CUMBERLAND, Me. — University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Sheep Breeders Association (MSBA) will offer a hands-on sheep shearing school on Saturday, March 24 at Sunrise Acres Farm, 42 Winn Road in Cumberland. It will begin at 8 a.m. and will continue into the early afternoon. There is space for 22 participantsm with pre-registration recommended. Those who are interested should call UMaine Extension’s Cumberland County office at 800-287-1471 for registration and information.
The course fee is $20.00 per participant and includes lunch. The public is invited for free to watch sheep being shorn. Participants should be in good physical health as shearing sheep takes leg, back and upper body strength.
Shearing instructor David Averill and Extension Educator Richard Brzozowski will lead the workshop. Joan Rolfe of the MSBA will demonstrate table shearing, proper wool handling, and the procedure for skirting raw wool, in order to prepare sheep owners for Maine’s traditional spring shearing and pasture season.