LUCE Connects Farmers and Experts at 2025 Midwest Goat Expo

Lincoln University’s Dr. Tumen Wuliji demonstrates how to measure the loin eye of a goat using an ultrasound at the 2025 Midwest Buck Sale Goat Expo in May.

Homesteaders, small business owners and specialists shared their skills and tricks of their trades in May at the 2025 Midwest Buck Sale Goat Expo in Sedalia, Missouri.

The Goat Expo — hosted at the Missouri State Fairgrounds — is an annual industry event for goat enthusiasts and producers to learn about the latest advancements in goat farming and breeding.

Lincoln University Cooperative Extension (LUCE) collaborated with Midwest Buck Sale to provide workshops during the expo, where attendees learned advanced practices and how to get the most value out of their goats.

Speakers stationed in the fairgrounds’ FFA Building gave in-depth presentations on topics such as reproduction, wool processing, meat processing and more.

Dr. Homero Salinas, an assistant professor at Lincoln University of Missouri (LU) and the small ruminant state specialist for LUCE, organized the workshops. He got involved with the Goat Expo about five years ago when the group behind the Midwest Buck Sale invited him to speak.

Salinas became an advisor to the organization and began looking for grants to expand the educational offerings of the expo, eventually leading to last month’s workshops, where 14 speakers gave detailed instruction and recommendations across two days.

The first day focused on advanced reproduction. Speakers from Lincoln and other organizations spent the entire day covering advanced reproduction techniques, reproductive anatomy, genetic selection, reproductive management and more.

Largely, the sessions featured single speakers, apart from an afternoon panel on real-world challenges and a Q&A at the end of the day.

Maranda Weathermon, an artist and homesteader, gives workshop attendees a hands-on presentation on wool processing at the 2025 Midwest Buck Sale Goat Expo in May.

By dedicating an entire day to reproduction, attendees received a comprehensive education beyond what could be learned in a single session. Salinas explained this structure was the product of feedback from earlier workshops.

He said that a couple of years ago, people seemed to be losing interest in educational events. Upon investigation, Salinas discovered that farmers were tired of hearing the same surface-level information at every event they attended.

Farmers did not want simple presentations with basic information — they wanted depth.

In response, specialists began leading deeper discussions at workshops, going beyond basic recommendations to explain the how and why behind those practices and the consequences their implementation may have.

Since then, people have shown far greater interest in attending workshops, Salinas said.

While the second day of workshops split its focus, there was no shortage of depth.

Maranda Weathermon, of Angry Sheepdog Studios and Oddball Homestead and Shearing, is a Missouri-based homesteader and artist. She led a session on wool processing and demonstrated to attendees how to process goat wool for different purposes.

Throughout her presentation, Weathermon handed out wool from different goats and stages of processing. She also brought several wool processing tools and invited attendees to try them out themselves.

After her session ended, Weathermon and her husband, Pietro “Monti” Monticelli, stuck around answering questions and talking with attendees. The homesteading couple is passionate about their work and happily gave tips on getting into the shearing business and working with wool.

Attendees worked together to butcher and process a goat carcass during a workshop at the 2025 Midwest Buck Sale Goat Expo in May.

In another session, Dr. Tumen Wuliji, a researcher and professor of animal science at Lincoln, gave one-on-one instruction on how to use an ultrasound device to measure the loin eye in goats. The loin eye is a major back muscle, and it’s measured to determine livestock’s value for meat and breeding.

Wuliji, along with a couple of his colleagues, demonstrated how to use the device and what to look for when measuring.

During what was by far the most popular session of the day, Kyle Whittaker, an engagement specialist for the University of Missouri Extension, taught attendees how to butcher and process a goat.

Whittaker didn’t just lead a lecture. Rather, he invited attendees to join him in processing the harvested goat. With his guidance, the group cut up the goat, ground the meat and hand-molded patties for goat burgers, which were then grilled and served for lunch.

Salinas said this was the third year the expo included the meat processing session, and it’s always popular with attendees.

Lincoln University’s involvement in the Goat Expo is an excellent example of what Salinas described as a continuous need for innovation. Just like a business, LUCE must continue to evolve and improve to keep people interested in workshops and programs.

University of Missouri Extension Engagement Specialist Kyle Whittaker grinds goat meat for burgers during a meat processing workshop at the 2025 Midwest Buck Sale Goat Expo in May.

Salinas discovered this for himself when he first joined the Lincoln team. Initially, he found it challenging to approach and connect with farmers to offer Lincoln’s services.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Salinas was sent to work remotely. During this period, he began hosting webinars and utilizing social media to connect with people. He said he found this method of outreach to be remarkably effective.

Since then, he has continued to find new ways to connect farmers and other interested people with experts to provide engaging learning opportunities — opportunities like the Goat Expo.

“We’re trying to do things differently," Salinas said. "You know, we have field days where we invite the farmers here. But in this case, we went where the farmers were to have that partnership with them. They win and we win — they’re happy and we’re happy."

Lincoln’s workshops at the Goat Expo were supported by grants from North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Workshop attendees enjoyed goat burgers that they made themselves at the 2025 Midwest Buck Sale Goat Expo in May.

For more information on small ruminant workshops and programming, contact Dr. Salinas at Salinas-GonzalezH@lincolnu.edu.

For other events organized by Lincoln, click here to view the LU event calendar. 

Click here to learn more about the Goat Expo and Midwest Buck Sale.