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Putting knowledge to work with the people of Maine
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Volume 1 Number 3
| November 2011 |
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| News and events of interest to beef producers in Maine from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Maine, Department of Agriculture, Maine Beef Producers and other agriculture organizations in Maine. |
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 Fall Sales Maine Beef Producers Preconditioned Sale Results
At the November 5th sale there were 59 steers with an average weight of 669 pounds that averaged $726 an animal or $1.08/lb. There were 33 heifers with an average weight of 606 pounds that averaged $623 an animal or $1.03/lb. Three bulls averaged 518 pounds and sold for an average of $579 per head or $1.12/lb. |
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Agricultural Trade Show Program for Maine Beef Producers Association The MBPA will focus on value added marketing for their Wednesday afternoon program at the January 10 to 12, 2012 Agricultural Trades Show at the Augusta Civic Center.
The agenda includes a discussion on the rules and regulations of selling cuts of beef direct to consumers, panel of producers currently selling beef direct to consumers,  processing facilities who work with beef producers to sell their meat direct to consumers and online marketing opportunities of selling beef direct to consumers.
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Beef Marketing Channel Returns
Recently at a NE Livestock In-Service Training, Matt LeRoux, Agriculture Marketing Specialist from Cornell, discussed the six factors that impact the performance of a market channel to evaluate a market opportunity.
- Price & profit
- Associated costs of the market
- Sales volume
- Labor required to sell
- Risk
- Lifestyle preferences
He collected information from New York beef farmers who marketed through direct and wholesale markets to develop a market assessment tool in Excel. The goal was to help farmers learn how much time it takes to sell their beef through the various markets and how much money they get back from that marketing channel. Marketing channels considered included live, freezer trade and farmers' market.
A 1,100 pound animal marketed through the live market would be a 660 pound carcass for the freezer trade (assuming a 60% yield) and 429 pounds of meat for the farmers' market (assuming 65% yield.) Also while it takes an average of 2 hours to market the live animal, the freezer trade averages 6 hours per animal and the farmers' market would average 36 hours (assuming sales of 71.4 pounds per 4 hour market.)
At the time he collected the information farmers received an average of $0.87/pound for their live animals, $2.75/pound for freezer trade and $7.00/pound at the farmers' market. The average profit per hour was $478/hour selling animals through the live market , $230/hour through freezer trade and $69/hour at farmers' markets.
If you are interested in getting a copy of the Excel spreadsheet for Beef & Yield Estimator for Producers that Matt LeRoux developed contact Donna Coffin at donna.coffin@maine.edu or (207)564-3301.
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My Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff for beef promotion and research was passed with the 1985 Farm Bill. Producers approved making it mandatory in 1988 with these tenets:
- All producers and importers pay the equivalent of $1/head every time a beef animal is sold throughout its lifetime.
- One-half the money collected by state beef councils is invested through the beef councils in each state.
- All national checkoff-funded programs are budgeted and evaluated by the Cattlemen's Beef Board, a stand-alone organization of checkoff-paying producer volunteers.
- Cattlemen's Beef Board members are nominated by producer organizations in their states and appointed by the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture
The Beef Checkoff Pr
ogram increases profit opportunities for producers by keeping beef top-of-mind with consumers and purveyors, and by working to ensure a wholesome, quality beef-eating experience every time.
At a recent Maine Beef Council meeting, Judy Powell, distributed a number of sales aids that are available to Maine Beef Producers to educate their retail customers about their beef including their choices (grain-finished, grass-finished, naturally raised and certified or
ganic; retail cuts and recommended cooking methods, and "Confident Cooking With Beef" a must for your freezer trade customer. These point of sale marketing aids are available to you to provide to your customers. Contact Judy Powell at 149 Clark Land, Whitefield, ME 04353-3223 or call (207) 549-5972 or email
mbic@midmaine.com
Producers must pay the checkoff unless someone else pays for them on their behalf. Examples are auction houses or processors who sometimes collect and remit for groups. Checkoff dollars are to be mailed by the 15th of the month following the sale date. Checks are made out to MBIC and mailed to Bank of America, 192 Water Street, Gardiner, ME 04345. There is a form at www.mainebeef.org that can be used.
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| Proper Handling of Livestock Vaccines
Looking at a group of healthy animals can be a very satisfying experience. Especially if you have raised these animals from the time they were born. However, healthy animals don't just happen, they take time and care. One step to keeping animals healthy involves vaccinating them to protect against disease. In order to accomplish good protection against disease, it is important to handle vaccines properly.
To protect your animals against infectious diseases, it is important to vaccinate not only at the right time, but with the right product. Properly handling the vaccine from the time it is purchased to the time it is given to the animals will ensure the best immunity.
When buying vaccines, purchase from a reputable source who will deliver a high quality vaccine. Most vaccines should be stored in a refrigerator. Heat can make the vaccines ineffective, so they should not be allowed to warm up to room temperature at any time. Also, be sure that the vaccines do not freeze. This could also make them ineffective.
If you buy vaccines that needs to be mixed, use only the rehydrating solution packaged with the vaccine. Determine how many animals you need to vaccinate and only mix enough to vaccinate that number. Any leftover vaccine should be thrown away as it loses its effectiveness during storage. For some vaccines, this could be as quickly as one to two hours after it has been rehydrated. So, only mix what you will use in a very short period of time.
Generally, there are two types of vaccines: modified live and killed. Modified live vaccines have been treated so that the disease viruses will not cause the disease, but will allow the animal to produce immunity to the disease. This occurs when the virus reproduces in the animal's body and the animal's immune system then develops antibodies. These vaccines are generally not safe to give to pregnant animals because the vaccine mimics an infection.
Killed vaccines are made from viruses or bacteria that are no longer active. This type of vaccine stimulates the animal's body to produce antibodies which prevent the animal from getting the disease if the animal is exposed. These vaccines can be given to pregnant animals.
Follow label directions for how to give the injection. Some products call for subcutaneous (SQ) injections which are given under the skin. Other products should be given in the muscle (IM). If you have a choice, it is better to give the injection SQ as this will minimize any damage to muscle tissue. The best area to give the injection is in the neck, or in front of the shoulder.
In addition to the injection site, look for the timing of the vaccinations. Be sure to follow directions for age at administration and if another vaccination needs to be given at a later time period. Younger animals tend to need a second injection two to four weeks later. Then, annual boosters are recommended using a single dose. If the animals receiving the injection will be used for meat, make sure you check the withdrawal times. Most withdrawal times are 21 to 28 days after injection.
Handling vaccines properly will help to ensure that the product will produce immunity against specific diseases within your cattle & calves.
Source: Melanie Barkley, Agriculture Extension Educator, Penn State Extension, Bedford County. 2011. http://bedford.extension.psu.edu/agriculture/Livestock/Vaccines.htm
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| 2011 Maine 4-H Beef Team at Eastern States Expo
Thirteen members of the Maine 4-H Beef Team strutted their stuff at the 2011 Eastern States Exposition this fall.
Anna is from Norridgewock, Catherine from Phillips, Shelby from Levant, Lauren from Waldoboro, Meg from East Dixfield, Sage from Dayton, Samantha is from Gorham, Monique from Clinton, Gemma from So. Paris, Evin from Madison, Ben from Limington, and Roger and Tyler from Thorndike.
The team showed a total of 11 heifers and two steers. The Angus heifers placed 4th and 2nd. Belted Galloway heifers had two 1st places and one 2nd. The Summer yearling was Champion and the Spring yearling, was Reserve Champion.
The Herefords from Maine placed 1st and 2nd as well as Champion and Reserve Champion honors. The Shorthorns from Maine placed 1st and 2nd and 1st as well as Champion and Reserve Champion. In the AOB classes, Maine had one entry. A Lowline Angus % heifer took 1st in the Summer Yearling class and went on to win the Championship. The heifer show concluded with the Reserve Grand Champion being chosen from Maine's Hereford Division.
In the steer classes Maine's first steer weighed 1075 and placed 3 in the Light Light weight class. The second steer weighed in at 1335 and placed 2nd and the 1340 pound steer placed 3rd. Two steers went on to place Highly Commended and Commended in their medium weight class, competing with others from the Light Medium and Heavy Medium weight classes.
There were seven Showmanship classes. Receiving the Ripley Award and their respective class are: Gemma (I), Shelby and Samantha (II), Ben (III), Meg (IV), Sage and Lauren (V). Shelby received the Reserve Champion Showperson and Meg is the Commended Showperson.
Skil-A-Thon competition is divided by Junior, Intermediate and Seniors. In the Intermediate division Maine had 3 out of 5; In the Senior division we also place 3 out of 5.
In the Beef Judging Contest Maine had four teams. ME-1 (Shelby, Tyler, Anna & Gemma) placed 2nd. ME-2 (Samantha, Ben and Lauren) were tied for 4th with MA-1 but using the reasons score to break the tie, they were moved to 5th place. ME-3 (Sage, Roger and Catherine) placed 8th and ME-4 (Evin, Monique and Meg) placed 7th. Individually scoring in the top 10 (the top score was 193 from Rhode Island); Tyler placing 2nd with a score of 187, Samantha placing 3rd with a score of 186 and Shelby placing 5th with a score of 183. Well done!
In the Grooming contest each State has one team consisting of three individuals. The Maine team received 1st place. Two Mainers placed in the top five for their age group in the recordkeeping contest. The Maine team placed first in the Educational Exhibit that was on display throughout the event.
The New England 4-H Beef Poster, Ad or Logo Contest are other events kids can enter. In the poster Maine youth place first in the Senior and Intermediate division. In the Ad competition Maine placed second and third in the Senior division and placed first, second and third in the Intermediate division.
Overall Awards consist of the Sweepstakes Award and the Louis A. Malkus Sweepstakes. Maine placed third in the Sweepstakes award.The Louis A. Malkus Sweepstakes Award is given to the individual based on the same criteria as the State Sweepstakes Award. Out of eight awards given, Maine had 3 individuals who received this award.
Donna Flint, Maine 4-H Animal Science Team Coordinator said, "I personally would like to thank the chaperones; Diane and Scot for taking the time and bringing these kids down to West Springfield Mass. Most importantly we should all be proud of the great group of kids that came down with animals or as teen leaders. They all worked together to make a great team."
Source; Donna Flint, Maine 4-H Animal Science Team Coordinator
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USDA TO SURVEY CATTLE OPERATIONS IN JANUARY
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is calling on nearly 50,000 cattle operations nationwide to report the latest and most accurate data on cattle inventories and calf production.
"In New England, we'll be contacting about 1,000 operations in order to measure trends in beef and dairy cattle inventories, calf crop and cattle operations" said Gary Keough director of the New England Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
To make it as easy as possible for producers to participate, NASS offers the option of responding via a secure Internet connection, telephone, mail, or personal interview with a local NASS representative.
Survey results will be published in NASS's Cattle report on January 27, 2012. The report will provide national-level estimates of total inventory, beef cows, milk cows, bulls, replacement heifers, other heifers, steers, calves, and number of calves born during the previous year.
As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by law. NASS safeguards the privacy of all survey responses and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified. All reports are available on the NASS web site: www.nass.usda.gov.
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| To receive Maine Beef News: All Maine beef producers are welcome to subscribe to the Maine Beef News for free. To keep costs down we are asking folks to sign up for the electronic version at http://bit.ly/PPfarming If you prefer surface mailed Maine Beef News, please call Melissa Libby at (207)581-2788 or send your mailing information to UMaine Extension Livestock Office, 134 Hitchner Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04479-5735. Currently we are only able to offer free mailed copy for free to Maine residents. |
Calendar- December 17th, 2011 Beef Quality Assurance Training, 9 am, Fort Fairfield. Pre-registration is required. For more information and to pre-register contact Cindy Kilgore (207) 215-4968 email Cindy.Kilgore@maine.edu.
- January 10 to 12, 2012 Maine Agriculture Trade Show, Augusta. Information on Maine Agricultural Trade Show Wednesday afternoon is the beef program.
- February 1, 2012 Aroostook Winter School - 6pm, Pasture Weed Management and Backyard Beef Production presented by Donna Coffin, Extension Educator. Contact Andrew Plant (207)532-6548 or in Maine 1-800-287-1469 for more details.
- March 10th, 2012 - Livestock 101 - Hands-on session Orono
- March 17th, 2012 - Maine Grazing Conference and Beef Conference - Waterville
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Contact Info
Donna Coffin, Extension Educator
207-564-3301 or in Maine 1-800-287-1491
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