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LEESPORT - With grading
standards, consumer demands,
and today’s economics en
couraging beef producers to grow
a leaner carcass, it is essential
they evaluate their animal’s
carcass qualities. This analysis
will help sharpen the judging eye
to select the right kind of animal.
Feeding programs and breeding
genetics can also be analyzed when
carcass evaluation is made.
For these reasons, the Berks
County Cattlemen’s Association
and the Penn State Cooperative
Extension Service in the southeast
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As
America adjusts its eating and
cooking habits to reflect changing
lifestyles, chicken is keeping pace
with today’s demands (or good
nutrition and preparation with
ease.
Not too many yean ago, moat
chicken was sold whole, the
National Broiler Council notes.
Then came an era of cut-up
chicken, packaged in select parts.
Now, in addition to individual
parts, consumers may choose from
a whole new range of fresh, as well
as frozen, chicken products.
Beef cattle booklet available from AAA
ST. JOSEPH, MO - TIME OUT
-It’s Time to Rethink the Cow
Business is the title of a new beef
cattle planning booklet, available
Jan. 1, from the American Angus
Association.
Designed to help commercial
cow-calf producers to stop and
take a second look at their
operations, the 12-page publication
Hog/pig numbers drop two
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania
hog and pig inventories totaled
780,000 on December 1, according
to the Pennsylvania Crop and
Livestock Reporting Service. This
inventory was down two percent
from a year earlier, and 18 percent
less than the inventory 0f960,000 on
December 1,1963.
Breeding stock, at 85,000 was
down six percent from hurt year.
The inventory of hogs for mufcet
declined two percent from
December 1, 1964 to 695,000. The
pig crop for the year, December
1964 through December 1965,
totaled 1,071,000, a drop of eight
percent. Sow farrowing for the
spring pig crop were down 12
percent to 68,000 with an average
of 7.8 pigs per litter. For the fall pig
crop sow farro wings frere down
three percent to 66,000 with; an
average litter raft of 8.2 pigs per
Uttar.
Berks Co. to offer
beef evaluation program
invite yea to participate in an “On-
Foot (Mtofl Beef Evaluation
Program sbJh. SI, and Jan. 23, at
Peters iNlfears Meats in
Lenhartsvflto fctofctotsvllle is
located Q» Ms 78 (22)
between Hamtof sad ABantown.
The live evatoaticn will take
place on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Animals must arrive at 6:30 p.m.
Mr. Larry Marshall, buyer for
Moyer’s Packing, will help
evaluate each animal.
The carcass evaluation will be
conducted by Or. William Hen
ning", Penn State Extension meat
specialist, on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Chicken keeps pace
with changing lifestyles
Time-consuming cutting and
boning have been virtually
eliminated by the varied selection
of boneless chicken breasts,
thighs, nuggets, strips and fillets
found in the fresh meat counter.
There are also ready-to-cook items
like Chicken Kiev and boneless
breasts marinated in an Italian
sauce or fresh breaded drumsticks
and thighs.
The variety of frozen chicken
entrees is extensive. Packages of
frozen diced chicken meat, chicken
breast strips, patties and nuggets
features original illustrations by
cowboy cartoonist Jerry Palen.
Using Elmo, Palen’s famous
cartoon rancher, the booklet ex
plores some of the misconceptions
that have governed many aspects
of the beef cattle industry in recent
years.
In the booklet Elmo concludes
for example, that single trait
U.S. inventories of all bogs and
pigs was estimated at 52.3 million
head on December 1. This is three
percent below a year ago, and
eight percent less than December
1,1963.
Breeding hog inventory at 6.78
million was two percent below last
year and down eight percent from
two years ago. The market hog
inventory at 45.5 million was three
percent below a year earlier and
down eight percent from two years
ago.
The 41.1 milUon head on
December 1 in the 10 quarterly
reported states were down three
three percent from a year earlier
and seven percent less than
December 1,1963. These 10 states
account for approximately 79
percent of total U.S. hog and pig
inventory.
The U.S, pig crop for the 1965
totaled 86.0 million head, one
The carcass will be analyzed for
loin eye, backfat, quality grade,
maturity and yield grade.
Any beef producer in the
southeast counties of Pennsylvania
is invited to bring one animal. Cost
is $lO, which will pay your dues for
the Berks County and Penn
sylvania Cattlemen’s Association
plus a subscription to the Livestock
Breeders Journal.
For an application form, call the
livestock Extension agent in your
county or contact Clyde Myers at
the Berks County Agricultural
Center, Leesport, 19533. Phone 215-
378-1327.
are also available. And of course,
frozen fried chicken parts.
Chicken franks and chicken
bologna are capturing larger
shares of that market than ever.
Also available are chicken lovers,
chicken salami and pastrami and
chicken ham. Some companies are
marketing chicken sausage
patties and researchers predict
that new technology will soon
make available ground chicken.
Convenience, economy, variety
and low fat content are the reasons
for the growing importance of
chicken in the nation’s diet.
selection has actually worked to
decrease his overall beef
producing ability and cut his in
come, rather than the opposite.
The booklet, which sells for $1 to
cover shipping and handling, will
be available from the American
Angus Association after January 1,
1986.
percent
percent below 1964 and eight
percent below the 1963 pig crop.
The December 1964-May 1965 pig
crop was slightly up from a year
earlier. The June-November 1965
pig crop was two percent less than
a year ago. A total of 5.67 million
sows farrowed during June-
November 1985, three percent
below a year earlier. The litter size
during this period averaged a
record 7.67, compared with 7.54 a
year earlier.
U.S. hog producers intend to
have 5.59 million sows farrow
during the December 1965-May
1986 period, up fractionally from a
year ago.
Primary data used in setting
these hog estimates were obtained
from a sample of fanners across
the United States using probability
surveys. Information was
collected by mail, telephone and
personal interviews.
Drug residues costly
for many reasons
ALEXANDRIA, VA. - When
federal meat inspectors detect
illegal drug residues in a
slaughtered animal, that
producer’s entire shipment may be
held until tests show that no illegal
residues remain. As a result,
money is lost - and few livestock
producers can afford to have their
profit margin squeezed any
tighter.
But there are more far-reaching
problems associated with illegal
drug residues, notes the Animal
Health Institute. On the whole,
meat inspectors find very few
slaughter animals with illegal
residues. But even a few reports of
Keep Feed Samples
One of the current buzz words in
the poultry industry is monitoring.
Fundamentally this is nothing
more than keeping track of things
that happen. Moat poultry
producers make observations or
maintain records which can be
helpful in assessing production
problems. These records include
information about the feed being
utilized. Unfortunately, in most
instances, actual feed samples are
not available.
Attempting to determine the
cause of production problems
usually includes having a sample
of birds posted at a diagnostic
laboratory and making visual
observations of conditions in the
poultry house. Should the birds
receive a clean bill of health from
the diagnostic laboratory and no
management factor can be
determined to have been involved,
the production problem is often
attributed to the feed, especially in
production problems of short
duration.
Observations can be made of
bird health and poultry house
management; however, the feed
has probably been consumed and
i is no longer available for ob
servation and analysis. This is true
unless the producer has a
monitoring program which in
cludes collecting and maintaining
samples from each feed delivery.
If feed samples have been main
tained from each delivery of feed,
they could be submitted for
analyses and data would be
available to either support or
reject the conclusion that feed
contributed to the problem.
To be practical, a feed
monitoring program must be
simple and require a minimal
amount of time, but must result in
samples that are representative.
The following eight steps
prescribe a procedure to monitor
feed quality:
1. Purchase one dozen quart jars
with lids.
2. Two times per week, collect a
sample (one quart) of feed from
the auger delivering feed from the
Ulegal residues tend to erode
consumer confidence in the safety
of our food supply. That’s
something no one in the industry
can afford.
Many times, illegal drug
residues are caused fay human
error - administering the wrong
amount, failing to observe the
withdrawal time, and so forth.
These mistakes can be avoided by
taking a few extra minutes to
carefully read and observe what it
says on the drug label. That’s the
message of the “eye-clock”
symbol you see on drug packages:
“Take time, observe label
directions.”
Forest
On Fowl
by
Forest Muir
Penn State Extension Poultry Specialist
bulk bin into the poultry house.
This sample should be collected
while the auger is running. The
quart jar should be passed brick
and forth under the auger until
filled. A definite schedule for
sampling should be developed with
the samplings at least two and not
more than four days apart.
3. Record date and time feed
sample was collected, feed type,
feed delivery date, feed supplier
and other pertinent data on a piece
of paper and seal in the jar with the
sample.
4. Construct a shelf of sufficient
size that the twelve jars can be
placed on it in single file. The shelf
should be located in a cool, dry
place.
5. Place the feed sample on the
shelf.
6. The 12 jars will allow ac
cumulation of two feed samples
per week for six weeks. They
should be placed on the shelf in
order of collection (from oldest to
most recent).
7. After all 12 jars are filled, the
sampling procedure is to empty
and dean the jar containing the
oldest sample and collect a new
sample. Move all the samples on
the shelf ahead one position and
place the new sample on the shelf.
This procedure will assure that the
samples are in order with the
oldest sample at one end of the
shelf and the most recently
collected sample at the opposite.
8. After each sample is collected
it should be compared to
previously collected samples with
regards to feed color and texture.
Implementation of this simple
feed sampling procedure is an
important part of a flock
monitoring program. Since most
feed-related problems are isolated
to individual batches of feed, the
feed is often consumed before the
problem is recognized. The
establishment of a sampling
procedure will ensure that a feed
sample from a previously
delivered load of feed will be
available for analysis.