Your Monthly News & Updates |
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News and events for the Maine Beef Producers from the 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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Infrastructure needs survey is critical for your industry |
The Maine Departments of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Marine Resources; and Economic and Community Development invite you to help identify how best to support your industry, should any federal or state funding become available to support investment in Maine's heritage industries.
The survey should only take three to five minutes to complete and is anonymous. Compiled results will be posted on the DECD website upon the survey's closing. Please respond by Friday, April 12, 2021. We value your dedication to Maine and rely on your input to inform decision-making moving forward.
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UNH Farm Viability Farmer Interviews ($50 incentive) |
The Food Systems Lab at the University of New Hampshire is conducting a research study about increasing farm income and local and regional food production in New England. To be considered for an interview, please fill out this 10-minute online survey: tinyurl.com/unhfarmersurvey. For questions, contact Dr. Ike Leslie at isaac.leslie@unh.edu or 603-862-2384.
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What's New?
- Maine Cattlemen's College - all virtual
- Maine Beef Producers Association Annual Meeting
- Communication with MBPA Members
- Stop, Check, Prevent Lyme Disease
- Meat Fraud Detection Tool
- Clemson Beef Cost Calculator
- Real Maine Tutorial
- From Farm to Table Fare
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- Harvesting Maine Video Participants
- Free RFID Tags
- MBPA Website & Online Membership
- National Beef Prices
- Items of Interest
- Featured Resources
- Upcoming Events
- Newsletter Subscription Information
- Mission and Quick Links
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4th Annual Maine Cattlemen’s College — Virtual!
April 19 – May 3, 2021
Location: Virtual! Registrants will be sent the link for all presentations. Presentations will be open for viewing from April 19, 2021, through May 3, 2021. Links to videos will be sent prior to April 19, 2021.
Cost: Free!
Registration required. A $5 donation for the Maine Beef Producers Association Scholarship Fund is optional. Donate here.
Description
The Maine Cattlemen’s College will provide up-to-date information to Maine beef cattle producers and allow Maine beef cattle producers an opportunity to meet leaders in the industry and fellow producers to share ideas and innovations. All proceeds to benefit the Maine Beef Producers Association Scholarship Fund.
Join us for the 4th Maine Cattlemen’s College online. This year, we have invited speakers from Maine and beyond to present on important topics related to the beef cattle industry.
- Dr. Jeff Lehmkuhler, University of Kentucky: Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition
- Dr. Kendall Samuelson, West Texas A&M University: The Importance of Preconditioning Calves
- Dr. Zach McFarlane, CalPoly University: The Importance of Selecting Quality Bulls
- Rick Kersbergen, University of Maine: Making Sure You Have Enough Forage
- Chef Rob Dumas, University of Maine: Grinding Beef for a High-quality Burger (includes a cooking demo)
- Dr. Colt Knight, University of Maine: Processing Yields and Processor Expectations
- Donna Coffin, University of Maine: Selling Beef in Maine
- Dr. Juan Romero, University of Maine: Storing Wet Brewers Grain research project results
Beef Judging Class
In addition to the invited speakers, we will be hosting an online youth beef judging class. Youth Clubs and Individual youth members are encouraged to register and participate in an online judging event where youth will place a class of market steers and give reasons why they ranked the animals the way they did. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top participants in both the Youth Club and Youth Individual classes. Adults may participate for bragging rights only.
Prizes
Group
- First Prize: $75
- Second Prize: $50
- Third Prize: $25
Individual
- First Prize: $50
- Second Prize: $35
- Third Prize: $25
Pineland Natural Meat has generously agreed to match the cash prize awarded by the Maine Beef Producers Association.
Scholarship Fundraising
The Maine Beef Producers Association will also be hosting a silent auction to benefit the MBPA Youth Scholarship Fund. For more information, visit Youth Scholarship Fundraiser on their website.
If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact Melissa Babcock at melissa.libby1@maine.edu or 207.581.2788 by April 9. If requests are received after this date, we may not have sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements.
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Maine Beef Producers Annual Meeting
May 6th by Zoom (note the date change)
6:30 pm
We will hold our annual meeting via Zoom during our scheduled on May 6th Board Meeting. All members of 2020 are invited. The business we need to conduct during that meeting is to elect Board members.
Also, announcement of annual MBPA Awards and Scholarship Awards.
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Communication with MBPA Members
Through membership feedback it has occurred to us that we have not been communicating our activity very well. In an attempt to do better we will be sending out our minutes to our mail list and making them available to the extension service for the Maine Beef News Letter. We will also continue Facebook posts. Thanks to membership for this suggestion. We welcome all feedback.
Next Meeting: Our next meeting will be on May 6th at 6:30.
Russ Florenz
Secretary, MBPA
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Stop. Check. Prevent.
Lyme Disease in Maine
With warmer weather on its way, Lyme Disease Awareness Month is here again! There were 1,118 cases of Lyme disease in 2020. While this is lower than 2019, tickborne disease remains a serious threat in Maine.
The 2021 Lyme Disease Awareness Month theme this May is “Stop. Check. Prevent.” Please remember to:
1) Use caution in areas where ticks may be found.
2) Wear light-colored clothing that covers arms and legs.
3) Use an EPA approved repellent such as: DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon
eucalyptus.
4) Perform tick checks on yourself, family members, and pets daily and after any outdoor
activity. Take a shower after exposure to a tick habitat to wash off any crawling ticks.
For more information:
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Meat Fraud Detection Tool
The researchers used the MasSpec Pen to examine the molecular composition of grain-fed and grass-fed beef, chicken, pork, lamb, venison and five common fish species collected from grocery stores. Once the device's tip was pressed against a sample accurate analysis was possible by mass spectrometry. The whole process took 15 seconds, required no preprocessing, and the liquid extraction did not harm the samples' surfaces.
Then the team developed authentication models using the unique patterns of the molecules to distinguish pure meat types from each other, beef based on feeding habit.
For these samples, the models had 100% accuracy identifying the protein source, which is as good as the current method of PCR and approximately 720 times faster.
The researchers say they plan to expand the method to other meat products and integrate the MasSpec Pen into a portable mass spectrometer for on-site meat authentication.
CREDIT: Adapted from Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c07830
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Some of the challenges involved with direct marketing beef include processing wait times, quality assurance, product advertising, consumer freezer space, and knowledge of how to prepare meat at home.
The beef cost calculator’s primary objective is to compare the cost of purchasing fresh locally produced beef to the cost of a similar product in the retail market. In addition to this primary objective, the beef cost calculator helps to answer the questions:
1. How much does it cost to raise a beef animal for direct market sales?
2. How much should I charge for meat sold as whole animal or partial carcass? How much should I charge for retail cuts?
Source: Bernt Nelson and Steve Richards, Clemson Cooperative Extension,
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Real Maine Tutorial
April 15th at 1 pm
There will be a tutorial and live Q and A. If you're curious about this free membership and promotion program, or need instructions to update your existing profile, consider joining us!
We will answer common questions like:
- How to become a member and complete your profile
- Requesting a password re-set
- Profile basics—must do items for a complete profile
- How to add pictures to your profile
- Promotional opportunities: add guest content to the Real Maine blog, partake in Open Farm Day, promote year-round events and more!
“Real Maine” is a program of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. It connects people with Maine farmers and food producers.
Join the Real Maine tutorial webinar here.
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‘From Farm to Table Fare’ Video SeriesJoin Chef Robert Dumas and Dr. Colt Knight for a crash course in preparing locally-sourced meat!
In each video in the series, Chef Rob and Dr. Knight highlight a different cut of meat from a local farm here in Maine. Prepare for things to get DELICIOUS!
The videos will be released through UMaine Extension Facebook page and placed on the UMaine Extension Livestock page. Farms are encouraged to like and share videos to their Facebook pages. The hope is that producers can share these tips and tricks with their consumers to help sell more products that might not be flying off the shelves.
Beef producers willing to donate cuts of meat to be used in preparing future videos can contact Colt Knight.
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“Harvesting Maine,” a new video interview series from MDACF that helps people meet Real Maine members. The series of casual video interviews launches spring 2021. It showcases farmers, growers and producers who work to make a variety of Maine agricultural products available and accessible year-round.
If you’re a Real Maine member with first-hand experience in Maine agriculture, and you’re willing to showcase your work to help people learn why agriculture matters — consider this opportunity!
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The MBPA website has information about the association, the board of directors, and forms for awards, activities, and sales.
You can join the association online and pay by credit card on a secure site.
There is an option to pay by mailing the information to Sally Caverly by either printing off the form from the website, or completing the pdf version of the form and mailing to her.
Members have the opportunity to have their farm listed with a photo, description of their farm, and a link to their own farm website. You can add this information when you join or send the information and digital photo to Russ Florenz at info@mainebeefproducersassociation.com
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Free RFID Tags Still Available
Cattle Producers are encouraged to participate in a FREE RFID (electronic ID) ear tag program.
The USDA is temporarily offering these tags to cattle producers to encourage usage of the RFID tags which will be mandatory by January 2023.
If you have any questions related to these tags, or the Animal Disease Traceability Program, email Donna Flint or call (207-557-4623). Thanks!
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National Beef Prices
Notice the drop in production last year in May and drop in production this past week.
National Monthly Grass Feb Beef Report - includes wholesale and retail (direct to consumer) prices of cuts of meat as well as small and very small producer carcass prices. Also includes grazing fees per AUM for 17 state survey.
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Information
Grants & Loans
- Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Ag Development Grant ($50,000) deadline April 22, 2021.
- Maine Association of Agricultural Fairs - 2 ($1,000) Scholarships for post-secondary education in related agriculture field. Deadline for application is April 29th. Here is the application.
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Northeast SARE’s Partnership Grant program funds projects conducted by researchers, educators and agricultural service providers working in direct partnership with farmers to encourage design and implementation of innovative solutions to current sustainability challenges related to production, marketing and/or household and community well-being in Northeast farming and food systems, or to strengthen working partnerships between farmers and agricultural service providers to advance sustainable agriculture.
Equipment, supplies, etc.
Agriculture Jobs
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Calculator:
Videos:
Websites:
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Maine Beef Producers Association |
Join the Maine Beef Producers Association.
The Maine Beef Producers Association is accepting dues for the 2021 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 and online payment go to http://www.mainebeefproducersassociation.com
The Maine Beef Producers Association has a Facebook page. Like and follow to get the fastest information from Maine Beef Producers Association. Facebook
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Newsletter Subscription Information
The Maine Beef Newsletter (MBN) is now received by over 720 readers, has been offered as an educational resource by University of Maine Cooperative Extension since 2011. As of January 1, 2015, the MBN transitioned to electronic-only delivery. There will still be four ways to receive the MBN from 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. If you are interested in subscribing send a $15 check made out to UMaine Extension to Piscataquis County Cooperative Extension, 165 East Main St., Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426.
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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Mission
The 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.
Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.
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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/.
Need Pesticide Credits
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Contributors
Donna Coffin, Extension Educator
Colt Knight, Extension Specialist
Goal
The goal of the Maine Beef Newsletter is to provide timely information on the production and marketing of beef grown in central Maine.
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.
Photos: Donna Coffin unless indicated otherwise.
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Open Monday - Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm
307 Maine Ave Bangor, ME 04401 207-942-7396 or 800-287-1485
Piscataquis County Office - website
Open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm - Closed Tuesday
165 East Main St Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426 207-564-3301 or 800-287-1491
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