Come join Rural Vermont and Mary Lake on Saturday, August 17th at NewGrass Farmstead in Wolcott for an on-farm slaughter and processing workshop. This is an opportunity to learn about the need for culling as part of livestock management and the benefit of on-farm slaughter to ensure quality of the entirety of life for the old beloved livestock animals. In the first half of this 2-part workshop, participants will learn how to humanely slaughter a culled ewe. In the second half of the workshop, participants will learn how to efficiently butcher and process a ewe.
The workshop will be hosted by Gwyneth Harris at NewGrass Farmstead where she specializes in raw cows' milk, Clun Forest sheep, pastured meats, small batch wool yarns, and working border collies...
Workshop instruction will be guided by Mary Lake. Mary Lake is a professional itinerant slaughterer, butcher and sheep shearer who lives in Tunbridge. Mary learned the craft of slaughter through several years of full-time work with the Royal Butcher in Randolph, which is a USDA inspected slaughter facility. Her expertise and engagement through testimony was essential for the improvements to the On-Farm Slaughter law.
At the slaughter workshop, Rural Vermont will present the updates to federal and state on-farm slaughter regulation, particularly around the proposed clarifying language being advocated for by Rural Vermont and its partners. There will be plenty of room for questions and discussion throughout the event.
Ticket Price: $70
Registration: Registration and advanced ticket purchase is required and a minimum attendance of 7 people per workshop is needed for this event to take place. Please bring our own drinks and lunch for this event - snacks will be provided.
A Special Note About Workshop Pricing & Registration:
Rural Vermont works alongside farm hosts, instructors, and other non-profits to bring a variety of workshops and peer-to-peer learning opportunities to our members and communities throughout Vermont. Our ticket prices are built on the needs of the community, the needs of the farm hosts and instructors, and the structure of the workshop itself. We work hard to provide accessible, quality programming and to also pay fair compensation to our farm hosts, our instructors, and to cover the cost of managing and producing our workshops. As such, our ticket pricing varies from workshop to workshop and we strive to keep our pricing within a fair range. Thank you for participating and learning alongside us!
This workshop is generously sponsored by Hanover Co-op Food Stores.