NEWFIELD — It is Sunday morning on Open Farm Day in Maine, and off a dirt road that winds down to Mirror Lake a herd of red deer and hybrid elk graze in one of a series of fenced-in fields.

As a golf cart ferrying a visitor approaches, they lift their heads, the male of the species sporting an impressive rack of antlers.

Edgar and Patricia Dolbec have been raising deer and elk for venison at Applegate Deer Farm for 11 years. The venison, processed by a USDA-certified butcher, has graced the menu of a premiere Portland restaurant and can be purchased in select locations and at the farm.

At the same time, as fuel costs increase, the Dolbecs are tapping into an alternative form of energy, using unwanted cooking oil from area stores and restaurants to fuel their farm equipment and to heat farm buildings and their home.

Applegate Deer Farm was one of 110 farms in 16 counties that took part in Open Farm Day on Sunday.

About 50 farms participated in Open Farm Day in its early years, said Judy Ballard, agricultural promotions coordinator with the Department of Agriculture. The number has grown as people have come to seek out locally grown foods and the farmers who produce what they eat.

Applegate Deer Farm came about, Edgar Dolbec said, when Patricia was looking to do something with the land. He’s retired from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, while Patricia has always been at home, raising their four children.

So they created fields from what was once forested land, installed yards and yards of fencing, and set about to carve out their niche.

The couple gave tours Sunday, their first time participating in Open Farm Day, though they’ve opened the farm to visitors in past years for Maine Maple Sunday.

Why farm deer and elk rather than more conventional farm animals?

“They’re healthy animals that don’t require a lot of care,” said Patricia Dolbec.

That is not to say there’s no work involved. Keeping the fences in good repair is necessary to keep out predators like porcupines, coyotes and even bear ”“ a wily coyote can nudge his way under a fence, creating havoc in the herd.

The Dolbecs are in the process of creating a new pasture, so there will be plenty of grass and clover for grazing, and they’re transplanting wild, high-bush blueberries ”“ Patricia is eyeing an eventual u-pick operation.

When the couple first became involved in deer farming nearly a dozen years ago, it was an up-and-coming niche in Maine’s farming sector. According to the Maine Deer and Elk Farmers Association, venison is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef or pork, appealing to those who enjoy red meat, but want to avoid the higher fat content found in other varieties.

It remains a niche, but as with other industries, the sour economy has taken a toll. While people seem to be interested in where their food originates, they’re also economizing, Dolbec said. And, she added, it is also difficult to compete with venison imported from countries like New Zealand that is sold for less money than the product can be when it is produced locally.

“Consumers go with the best price,” agreed Skye Austin, executive director of the Waterville-based Maine Deer and Elk Farmers Association. “We deal with that with every farm industry.”

The Dolbec’s own herd once sported 140 deer and elk; they now have 18.

“That’s too low,” said Dolbec. Next spring, they plan to expand the herd, using their own breed stock to increase the numbers.

Besides grass and clover, their diet is supplemented by brewer’s grain, which the Dolbecs pick up from Sebago Brewing Company in Gorham. Large bales of hay, now encased in white plastic, will help feed the deer in the winter.

Meanwhile, in one of the barns, there’s an array of receptacles and tanks where biodiesel is refined for their own use.

The Dolbecs turned to biodiesel eight years ago, when fuel bills for the equipment, house and farm shops topped $5,000 annually, Patricia said. Edgar Dolbec met up with Norman Layne, who was exploring biodiesel in a small shop of his own, and soon one of the farm’s outbuildings was converted to manufacture biodiesel.

Each week, Dolbec and Layne collect the used cooking oil, which is filtered to remove solids like batter and crumbs from deep-fried foods, and even they don’t go to waste ”“ they’re tipped into the compost. While the furnace that heats the shops and house burns waste oil, the remainder is further refined through a series of filters until it is suitable for tractors and trucks.

It is all part of life on the farm.

Back in the pasture, the deer lift their heads again as the visitors approach, and one deer “barks” a signal that someone is nearby.

Patricia smiles as she watches the herd.

“There’s lots to learn from them,” she said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report. Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.