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Putting knowledge to work with the people of Maine
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Volume 4 Number 1
| January 2014
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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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Annual Maine Beef Producer Awards  The Maine Beef Producers Association has been recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of people to produce beef or contribute to Maine beef production since 1989. Recently the award plaques have been updated with 25 names each acknowledging the contribution of those who have improved beef production in Maine. In addition to Pat Bate's Service Award that was presented at the December Beef Conference the Maine Beef Producers Association recognized several folks at the Annual Beef Producer Meeting at the Maine Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta this January.
Beef Producer - Thorndike Family Farm in Strong, Phillips. They have 100 beef animals and have been in business for 30 years. They marketing 75 head a year through the White Elephant Restaurant in Strong.
Youth Award - Evin Fortin, the grandson of Scott Adams is16 yrs old. Evin shows cattle for Scott and is the first to help others. He gives of his time and asks nothing in return for it.
 Seed Stock Award - Old Homestead Farm and Old Homestead Farm, the Next Generation. Breeding high quality Hereford cattle. More recently they have added Lowline Cattle and are making a mark on the Maine beef industry. Chris Payne accepted the award.
 Hall of Fame Award - Pete Dusoe. A most deserving person. Pete has bred, developed, raised, and marketed very good cattle and continues to grow his beef herd. He volunteers to all events pertaining to MBPA, served as president of MBPA in the past and has been the sale manager for the spring and fall feeder calf sales.
This year the MBPA had a raffle at their booth on the floor of the trade show. Winner of a $100 gift certificate to Tractor Supply was Corinna Caron or Corinna.
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 Maine Grass Farmers Network Grazing Conference The 10thAnnual Maine Grass Farmers Network Grazing conference will be held on March 15th in Fairfield on the campus of the Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield, ME. This year, the focus will be on grass based livestock systems. soil quality in pasture-based systems. Forrest Pritchard, farmer / writer / speaker is the keynote speaker "Economics of Grass Based Livestock Systems."
Other presentations available at the conference include: Balancing nutrition in forage based systems...how to interpret your forage analysis and use it; You can't to that here... or maybe you can stockpiling winter forages and bale grazing; Opportunities for multi-species grazing; Double Duty... Cover crops as forages; Aggregating meat sales to reach institutional markets; Grass based sheep operations in the Northeast; Trouble shooting fencing, from design to containment; Understanding lime sources...what are your options for raising soil pH?
The Maine Grazing Conference is co-sponsored by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Maine Grass Farmers Network, and the Maine Beef Producers Association.
Registration and information is available by calling the University of Maine Cooperative Extension office in Waldo County at 207-342-5971 or by visiting the website http://umaine.edu/livestock/mgfn/conference/
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Educational and Research Needs of Maine's Food Based Economy
Cooperative Extension at the University of Maine is determining the educational and research needs of Maine's food-based economy. Maine's Beef Industry is an important part of that economy, and as such, Cooperative Extension wants to know what it is doing well and what can be improved. What are your highest priority research and educational needs? How well do Extension members collaborate with your industry? If you could change anything about Extension, what would it be? Your views will be confidential as to source. Please send your thoughts to: Michael Eckardt, Ph.D., Cooperative Extension, 5741 Libby Hall, Room 107, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469 - 5741 (207) 581-3116, michael.eckardt@maine.edu
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 Preliminary More Maine Meat Survey Results
At the January Agricultural Trades Show Donna Coffin, Extension Educator presented the preliminary results of the More Maine Meat Survey sponsored by the UMaine Extension and the Maine Sustainable Agriculture Society.
A total of 171 folks completed the survey. Here is a breakdown of the farm size and type of livestock raised by the folks who completed the survey.
It was decided to reopen the survey to be sure all interested livestock producers (especially those with larger herds) had a chance to complete the survey questions. See the link below to go to this survey.
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 More Maine Meat Survey The University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Sustainable Agriculture Society have initiated a project to try to improve opportunities for everyone involved in Maine's meat industry. The More Maine Meat project has a wide array of activities, but its primary goal is to "significantly increase the amount of meat that is produced, processed, distributed, and sold in Maine, and simultaneously increase wealth among those involved in Maine's meat industry." As part of this broad effort UMaine Extension Educator Donna Coffin is implementing a survey of producers in order to better understand the needs and opportunities within the industry and to help us establish and implement an appropriate plan of action. We are asking you to supply information that will go towards those ends. The survey's Web address (URL) is http://umaine.edu/livestock/more-maine-meat-survey/ Please take the time to fill out the survey 20 minutes. By doing so, you will be supplying us with much needed information about Maine's meat industry and, if you so choose, will be entering in a random drawing for one of four $50 prizes. Once you complete the survey (you do not have to answer all questions), you will be given instructions on how to enter the drawing. Your responses to the survey will not be linked to your entry in the drawing. |
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Items of Interest
- Do you have enough forage this year? One old rule of thumb - half your hay left by February 2nd. This factsheet will help you figure out how much hay and forage you need for the rest of the year and how much hay and forage is left in your barn and silo.
- Penn State Livestock Home Study Courses 2014 - beef, sheep, meat goat or swine operations. Study at your own schedule. $50 via email, $85 via postal service.
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Peterson Farm Bros These young farmers are having fun making song parodies about their life on a beef and hay farm. They also take the opportunity to educate non-farmers about life on a farm. One of their videos was shown at the beginning of the Maine Beef Producers educational session at the Maine Agricultural Trades Show. Turn your sound up and enjoy!
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iMeasuremap.com is a quick way to measure plot of land, length of property line or area of a field. Maps are provided by Google.
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Maine Beef Producers Association Website - New Look Coming!!!!
The Ma ine Beef Producers Association is in the process of updating and redesigning their website. A committee has been established to work with a web designer to make this site an asset to the members of MBPA, potential members and people interested in finding out about beef production in Maine. The committee welcomes your suggestions and recommendations to make this site as helpful as possible. Please send your suggestions to:
Bob Dusoe, rjdusoe@uninets.net
Dan Costain, dancostain@gmail.com
Phil Newcombe, pnewcombe@kvcc.me.edu
Jenn Grant, findviewfarm@juno.com
Donna Coffin, donna.coffin@maine.edu
or Jacob Guimond, jacob.guimond@maine.gov |
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.
Please note that we do not sell or share your contact information.
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 Join the Maine Beef Producers Association
The Maine Beef Producers Association is accepting dues for the 2014 year. Annual dues are $35. for an extra $25 you can get a year subscription to County Folks. For more information on this organization and for membership application go to
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Featured UMaine Extension Publications
The following agriculture related Extension publications are available or can be ordered at the Extension Office nearest you. You will notice that some publications are free and some have a cost recovery charge. Many other publications are available for free online or may be purchased at our secure publications web site.
- Forage Production for Pasture-Based Livestock Production #2205 Covers plant morphology (and effects on management), ecology of plant communities in forage-livestock systems; soil fertility and fertilizers; nutrient management; environmental impacts of grazing; pests, weeds, and diseases; and establishing forage stands. 141 pages., 2006. by NRAES $25.
- Managing and Marketing for Pasture-Based Livestock Production #2206 Provides an introduction to pasture-based livestock production, including sustainability, benefits, and the science and art of pasture-based systems. covers defining vision, mission, and goals; using resource inventories in farm planning; allocation of farm resources; and direct marketing; as well as marketing feeder cattle, dairy, and hay. 116 pages, 2006. by NRAES $22.
- Forage Utilization for Pasture-Based Livestock Production #2204 Covers forage assessment and budgeting (including nutrient requirements for dairy, beef, sheep, goats, and horses), cool- and warm-season forages, extending the grazing season, supplemental pastures, hay and silage (mowing, harvesting, storage systems), and management tools (fence systems, watering systems, lanes and feeding pads). 185 pages, 2007. by NRAES $27.
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Calendar
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March 1, 8, 15, 22, and April 5,
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March 7 -8, 2014
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March 15, 2014
Maine Grazing Conference, 9:15 am to 4:00 pm, KVCC, Fairfield. Registraion $75 with discounts for sudents, MGFN and MBPA members.
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May 16 - 18, 2014
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May 17th, 2014 MBPA Preconditioned Feeder Calf Sale at Northeast Livestock Expo
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Contact Info
Donna Coffin, Extension Educator
207-564-3301 or in Maine 1-800-287-1491
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Information in this newsletter is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned in this newsletter. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.
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