Small & medium sized farm operations, and specialty crop fruit & vegetable growers, now have access to low-interest loans for capital purchases of supplies (sorting bins, wash stations & other food safety-related equipment.) Also, funds can be used to build or upgrade permanent facilities to store commodities such as grains, hay, renewable biomass commodities, fruits & vegetables. Qualified facilities include grain bins, hay barns and cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables. Facility designs need to be able to be certified by an engineer, but many lumber yards will do that if you buy all your construction materials from them. Permanent engineered hoop houses can also qualify.  FMI go to www.fsa.usda.gov or your county FSA

 

by Jenn Grant

The Maine Beef Producers Association is once again accepting applications for the Calves for Kids program. The deadline is May 1st, 2014. Youth applying will be asked to come for an interview before the Calves for Kids committee at a later date. This program, started in 2007, has given 17 youth in the State of Maine a heifer calf. The program gives a youth an opportunity to have a registered beef heifer to show and start a herd. The youth's obligation is to breed the heifer to a registered bull and give back to the program the first heifer calf. If they do not get a heifer calf born after a few years they are obligated to pay the MBPA $1000. Of the 17 heifers that have gone to youth so far, 10 were either donated or bought by MBPA and the other seven have come back from the youth.  Applications can be found at the MBPA Website  or you can e-mail Jenn Grant at Findviewfarm@juno.com.

• Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network NMPAN is a national network of people and organizations creating and supporting appropriate-scale meat processing infrastructure for niche meat markets. Small and mid-sized plants - when available at all - can lack capacity, equipment, appropriate inspection status, and the human and financial capital to upgrade or expand. To meet this need, NMPAN assists processors, producers, buyers, regulators, and others involved in this growing sector by coordinating, distributing, and developing information and resources to improve access to processing infrastructure and the long-term stability of this sector. 
• Is Endophyte a concern for Maine Beef Producers? Recently a few beef producers have contacted UMaine Extension concerned that Endophyte infected fescue or ryegrass may be adversely affecting their pregnant cattle. In other states Endophyte (fungus) infected pastures can cause abortions and/or poor weight gains in cattle that graze these grasses. Donna Coffin, Extension Educator is putting together a research project to try to assess if our fescue or ryegrass pastures are infected, how wide spread the infected grasses are in Maine and how much of a concern it should be for beef producers. She is looking for beef producers who have had unexplained abortions occur in their cattle placed on pasture during the summer. If you are interested please contact her at (207) 564-3301 or donna.coffin@maine.edu  
• Get Real Get Maine is the website managed by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Farmers can list the agriculture products that they sell on this website - including live animals! It is free to get a listing. When requests come into UMaine Extension offices asking where folks can buy local meat or breeding stock, one place they are referred to is the Getrealmaine.com site. You can go to it and click on the <Producer Login> then <start your application> is located part way down the page.  If you already have a listing be sure to update your information with the <Current Member> login. This is a portal that schools and institutions use to find sources of local meats.  

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