SOMERVILLE, Maine (WABI) – Every year, Pumpkin Vine Family Farm hosts a contest for their goats.

“We’ve seen the goats come up, the ones that have produced a lot of milk, the ones that have good shapes, learned a little bit about goat farming, goat milking and things like that. So it’s been good,” said Robert Young, who went to the pageant.

“We’re a dairy farm, so of course we gave awards for milk production. I’m an agricultural educator, so I wanted to educate people a little bit more about what it takes to be a dairy animal. So we gave awards for some of the physical structures, body characteristics. We got to talk about what a good, healthy, strong dairy goat needs to live a long time. We want them to live a long time because we love them, and then we gave a few that were more for our personality and for influence in the herd,” explained Kelly Payson-Roopchand, owner of Pumpkin Vine Family Farm.

About 43 of the 100 goats at Pumpkin Vine Family Farm competed for a prize during Sunday’s Pageant.

“Our most influential goat, the goat that got the award for the most influence in our herd, decided she was going to lay down and not come on stage. So every few steps she would lay down, and we didn’t even know if we were going to get her on stage. Some of the goats decided to eat the grapes that we had decorated our pergola with. There’s always something funny that happens when you have goats. That’s one of the reasons we love them,” Payson-Roopchand added.

Because the goats do so much for the farm, this is a way to honor them.

“The only way we can make cheese is if we have milk, and they provide the milk for us. So they work day in and day out, year in and year out. To celebrate and let the public know how much work they do for us, we did this. Crown a few, recognize a few, and then give them some special treats. The goats don’t care about the crowns and the dresses, but they love the alfalfa,” said Keiran Roopchand, who works on the family farm.

The event is also a way to engage the public with the farm and educate them about the farm.

With something as fun as a goat race, that’s not so difficult.

“Every week when we have our market, a big part of the market is a community building. We have vendors here who love to chat. Everyone asks your name and we always have our tables set up so people can come by. So that’s a big part of who we are and why we open the farm to the public every Sunday,” Payson-Roopchand said.

“I had such a great time at the goat festival, it’s just so much fun. I just really enjoy it. I just really enjoy playing the baby goats,” said Phoebe, who went to the pageant.

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