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News and events for Maine Beef Producers from University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry, Maine Beef Producers Association and other agricultural organizations in Maine.
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- Management Intensive Grazing - Move the Water with the Cattle - Animals that travel more than 600 to 900 feet from their paddock to get water can reduce overall performance and concentrate manure and urine in the walkway. Click here for more information.
- Beef Basics at Aldermere - The annual weekend to focus on beef educational opportunities. If you are just starting a beef enterprise, this weekend can help you learn some of the basics to assure your herd will stay healthy and productive. Click here for more information.
- USDA NASS Beef Survey - Another survey? Yes, last year this survey found that our national beef herd was the lowest number since 1973 when they started this count. Results of the survey will be released the end of July. Click here for more information.
- Smooth Bedstraw Management - starts with mowing before it goes to seed! See what else can be done to get this invader under control. Click here for more information.
- Veterans...Join us for a Day on the Farm - your chance to get out on a farm and learn about starting and operating a farm business. Plus you get to check out a farm. Click here for more information.
Items of Interest
Featured Resources
Events & Announcements
Newsletter Subscription Information
Quick Links
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  Management Intensive Grazing - Move the Water with the Cattle
Beef producers who practice Management Intensive Grazing are better able to manage and utilize their fields since there is a more uniform distribution of manure and urine nutrients according to Kabel Thurlow, Michigan State University Extension Beef Educator. Whether animals are required to go to their drinking water source or the water is moved with them can also affect the manure and urine nutrient distribution.
Research shows that if grazing animals travel more than 600 to 900 feet to a water source, the whole herd will go at the same time. There is a higher chance that some animals will be pushed away from the water and not allowed to drink. This can result in reduced growth and performance due to insufficient water consumption. Also, the alley way to the water source will accumulate 15 to 20 percent of the manure and not spread uniformly in the pasture.
Some points to ponder:- There are three types of grazing:
- Continuous - never moved
- Rotational - moved every 10 to 90 days
- Management Intensive Grazing (MIG) - moved every 1 - 9 days
- MIG give the best forage utilization and uniform nutrient dispersal
- Move the water source with cattle, keep within 600 - 900 feet of the paddock
- Cows drink 15 percent more if water is in the grazing paddock
- 15 - 20 percent of manure is dropped in lanes if cattle have to walk to water source
- Average meat animal recycles 70 - 90 percent of nutrients back to the pasture in the form of urine and manure
Source: Thurlow, K., Do Pasture Management & Nutrient Management Go Hand in Hand?, Michigan State University Extension, 2015. |
 Beef Basics Weekend at Aldermere Farm, July 25th & 26th! Are you a farmer? Want to be a farmer?!? Many options for everyone! Become certified to do Artificial Insemination at our 2 day clinic... join us for a market lamb clinic Saturday morning from 9 to 12... at Aldermere Farm, 70 Russell Av., Rockport.
Bring your own animal or pick one of ours to learn how to show and clip at our hands-on Fitting and Showmanship beef clinic Saturday afternoon and Sunday!
Or come to our beef Basics day on Saturday where local vets and other beef specialists will walk you through the basics of raising cattle, breeding options available to you, medical emergencies kit ideas, and more!
Call or email with any questions hbaker@mcht.org or 207-236-2739. Link to the registration form here.
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USDA SURVEYING CATTLE OPERATIONS 
In July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will survey 9,300 cattle operations nationwide to provide an up-to-date measure of U.S. cattle inventories.
"In July 2014, NASS reported the all cattle and calves inventory in the United States at 96 million head, which was the lowest since the series began in 1973," said King Whetstone, Director of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, Northeastern Regional Field Office. Obtaining the current count of cattle will serve as a strategic decision-making tool for producers and the entire agriculture industry."
During the first two weeks of July, Northeastern Region producers will have the opportunity to report their beef and dairy cattle inventories, calf crop, death loss and cattle on feed operations. To make it as easy as possible for producers to participate in the survey, NASS offers the option of responding via the Internet, telephone, mail or a personal interview with a local NASS representative.
"This information helps producers make timely, informed marketing decisions and plan for herd expansion or reduction. It also helps packers and government evaluate expected slaughter volume for future months and determine potential supplies for export," Whetstone explained.
As is the case with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is confidential by federal law. NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only state- and national-level data, ensuring that no individual producer or operation can be identified.
The July Cattle report will be released on July 24, 2015. This and all NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov. For more information, call the NASSNortheastern Regional Field Office at (800)498-1518.
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 Smooth Bedstraw Management
Smooth Bedstraw is invading less intensively managed hay and pastures in Maine. If your fields are turning white the end of June to the first of July, you may have a thriving population of Smooth Bedstraw. It take multiple methods of attack to subdue and overcome this growing pest. (Yes, weeds are a pest)
Our publication #2278 outlines what it is and how to manage. Briefly here are the points of attack. Click here for publication.
- Manage your hayfield by testing the soil and keeping nutrients and pH at levels where grasses and legumes will thrive. Apply nutrients and lime as needed.
- Keep bedstraw plants from flowering, setting, and spreading seed, no matter which additional control option you use. If you manage hayfields, try to get the haycrop mowed before bedstraw sets seeds. This will help control the spread, give the grasses a more competitive edge, and also provide you with a better-quality crop. Be aware of a second flowering and seed-production period in August!
- Make sure to control the spread of seed. Mowers, balers, rakes, and tedders can carry substantial amounts of seed from infested fields to clean fields. Remove any source of seed from equipment when moving from field to field. Research is still inconclusive about the spread of bedstraw via manure applications.
- Tillage and rotation is very effective in killing perennial crowns and new seedlings that may develop. Consider a weed-controlling cover crop such as buckwheat or sorghum-sudangrass hybrids as part of your reseeding regime. Remember that a new seeding will need optimum management to keep smooth bedstraw from reinvading the field.
- If using an herbicide such as Crossbow, Milestone, or Forefront R&P, make sure you control the weed's seed rain during the season prior to application, and understand that all broadleaf plants, including desirable clovers or alfalfa, will also be killed. If you decide to use glyphosate to renovate a pasture and kill perennial crowns of bedstraw, controlling seed rain is also critically important. Glyphosate treatments are most effective in late-summer applications.
- Since bedstraw is so invasive, a neighborhood approach may be necessary to slow down the spread of this weed.
- A well-managed, fertilized hayfield with a dense stand of perennial forages will be a good defense against invasion by smooth bedstraw.
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| Join us for A Day on the Farm
Farmer Veteran Coalition and the USDA's Risk Management Agency have partnered to bring you this series of educational onsite workshops. There are a total of four workshops to help you in starting up and operating your farm business, as well as best practices to operate optimally.
You will gain insight into:
- How to start and manage a farm business;
- Business planning for your farming operation;
- How to build a local support network;
- How you can receive and provide support and assistance through your support network;
- Best practices to minimize and manage risk;
- Loss management to most effectively recover from a loss; and
- Much more!
These events are free, but registration is required. Maine's workshop is July 23rd.
Register today for the workshop by clicking here.
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- The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has released an updated version of its Farmers' Guide to Value-Added Producer Grant Funding. The guide includes changes to the program from the 2014 Farm Bill. The guide also provides clear information on the program's application requirements, including a step-by-step description of the application and ranking processes.
- University of Maine Analytical Lab and Soil Testing Service click here for website -They analyze soil, plant tissue, compost, manure, irrigation water, wood ash, fertilizers, organic residuals and other materials for nutrient content, organic matter, lead and other trace elements.
- Update Hay and Straw Directory If you have excess or are in the position to sell hay or straw, consider using the Maine Hay and Straw Directory. It is free to use. More information is available online, or call Cooperative Extension 1.800.287.1426.
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Featured Resources
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Webinars:
Beef Webinars & Videos - University of Nebraska - Lincoln UNL Beef team has archived their beef related webinars on one website. Some of the topics include: Fly control for pastured cattle. Click here to view these free webinars.
Publications:
Visit the UMaine Extension Cooperative Extension online Publications Catalog for beef information, such as:
- Watering Systems for Livestock #7129 A consistent supply of high-quality water is vital for livestock. This fact sheet includes information on quick-move systems, pasture pumps, ram pumps, sling pumps, and solar pumps. 4 pages. © 2002, 2010 by University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Download it for free or buy a color copy $0.75.
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Newsletter Subscription Information
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The Maine Beef Newsletter (MBN) is now received by over 600 readers, has been offered as an educational resource by University of Maine Cooperative Extension since 2011. As of January 1, 2015, the MBN will be transitioning to electronic-only delivery. There will still be three ways to receive the MBN from your local UMaine Extension:
1) Maine Beef Newsletter remains available online for free! You can sign up to receive the newsletter through your email or view the archived issues anytime at http://bit.ly/PPfarming If you currently do not have an email, you can get one for free from several email hosts. If you do not have a computer, community libraries have computers for you to use to access information on the Internet and to view your email.
2) Those with no email can opt to pay an annual subscription to receive the newsletters monthly for $15/year. More details on how to subscribe will be provided later this fall.
3) A third option is to come into the Piscataquis or Penobscot County Extension Office and pick up a free printed copy of the newsletter.
4) Maine Beef Producers Association members who do not have an email on file will receive a printed copy of the newsletter as a benefit of their membership.
We appreciate our readers referring others to the newsletter, and sharing it with your family and friends.
Thank you for your continued support of the MBN, providing valuable agricultural information from Extension for beef producers and those interested in the beef industry in Maine since 2011.
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Maine Beef Producers Association
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 Join the Maine Beef Producers Association
The Maine Beef Producers Association is accepting dues for the 2015 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 http://bit.ly/19oljzu Special Offer!! Join now and your dues are paid until the end of 2016! You get an extra year!
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Events & Announcements
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- July 23 - RMA & Farmer Veteran Coalition - Summer Series Workshops - A Day on the Farm - 9 am to 4 pm Ireland Hill Farms, 282 Nickerson Road , Swanville. Four free workshops onsite to help you in starting up and operating your farm business, as well as best practices to operate optimally. Register here.
- July 25 & 26 - Beef Basics Weekend at Aldermere Farm, 70 Russell Dr., Rockport. A two-day training workshop for farms that have beef cattle and/or individuals who are looking for information necessary for starting a beef cattle farm. Many guest speakers will share their knowledge and expertise related to beef cattle farming. Click here for more information.
- July 26, 2015 Maine Open Farm Day - through the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Encouraging the general public to tour the farms that their food comes from.
- August 26 & 27, 2015 Maine Farm Days - at Misty Meadows Farm in Clinton.
- November 7th, Pre-conditioned Feeder Calf Sale 11 am, sponsored by the Maine Beef Producers Association, Richmond.
- September 12, 2015 Northern Maine Rural Living Day at the Littleton Ag Museum. More details later.
- October 17, 2015 - Livestock 101 at the Witter Center, University of Maine, Orono. More details later.
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Mission
University of Maine Cooperative Extension is the major educational outreach program of the University of Maine with offices statewide. UMaine Extension provides Maine people with research-based educational programs to help them live fuller, more productive lives.
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Quick Links
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Local Weather Anytime
Many farming activities are driven by the weather. Our local National Weather Service in Caribou has meteorologists on staff 24 hours a day. They are willing to talk with you about rain predictions for your town. Give them a call at 492-0180. Or check out their online detailed maps at http://www.weather.gov/car/. |
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Contributors
Donna Coffin, Extension Educator
donna.coffin@maine.eduGoal
The goal of the Piscataquis & Penobscot Farming Newsletter is to provide timely information on the production and marketing of crops and livestock grown in central Maine.
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The University of Maine does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, including transgender status and gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director, Office of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, 207.581.1226.
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Photos unless otherwise indicated by Donna Coffin.
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