F2-ljn&star Farming, Jlaturdiy, August' Is,‘ Focus On For months, Pennsylvania red meat producers have been paying into a special statewide account to promote their product in a “check off’ program. They’ll see what their money is accomplishing, when they visit Ag Progress Days August 18-20. A special tent will feature exhi bits and demonstrations about red meat and the way it is being adver tised and promoted to the consum er, accenting to Bill Henning, assistant professor of* animal sci ence, who is coordinating this tent and the dairy and livestock tent at Ag Progress Days along with Jud Heinrichs, assistant professor of dairy and animal science. There will be exhibits from the Pennsylvania Beef Council, the Pennsylvania Pork Producers, the Pennsylvania Sheep and Wool Growers, the Pennsylvania Meat Marketing Program, the Pennsyl vania Veal Council and Penn State Cooperative Extension. The tent will also offer red meat preparation and cooking demon strations. Samples will be given away and there will be drawings BY MELANIE HEMMINGER Graduate Extension Education Are your ewes ready for the breeding season? The leaves on the trees will soon change colors and the days will become shorter, sig naling the start of the fall breeding season. However, between now and the start of the breeding sea son, several items should be accomplished. First, check the condition of the ewes. They should be in good con dition, but not overly fat or exces sively thin. In the past, experi ments have shown that for every 10 pounds or above or below an optimum weight, twinning rate decreases by six percent. This can mean a lot of money next spring when you sell the lambs. Second, ewes should be drenched about two to three weeks before the breeding season starts to control parasites. In addition, you may want to trim the ewes’ feet at this time. After drenching, the ewes should be moved to a new pasture. This also helps control parasites, but choose the pasture species carefully. Clovers and tre foil have an estrogenic effect on the ewes and can cause a decreased ovulation rate which will mean fewer lambs bom in the spring. About two weeks before the ram is turned out, the~ewes should be flushed. The cheapest way to flush Red Meat for red meat products, Henning says. The traditional dairy and lives tock tent will return this year, com plete with commercial exhibits, breed association exhibits and edu cational exhibits from Penn State's departments of dairy and animal science, veterinary science and food science. One large exhibit this year will demonstrate different milk quality tests. Dairy and livestock specialists from Penn State will be on hand to answer questions from producers about nutrition, disease and lives tock management. As always, different breeds of cattle will be in pens at the tent, along with white-tailed deer used for ruminant studies at Penn State. Ag Progress Days is one of the largest outdoor showcases of uni versity programs and agricultural technology in the East. It is held at the Rock Springs Agricultural Research Center, nine miles south west of State College on Route 45, August 18-20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission and parking are free. is to turn the ewes out in a high quality pasture. This extra nutri tion flushes the ewe by increasing her ovulation rate. The most com mon way to flush ewes is by feed ing 'A to 1 pound of grain per head per day for the two weeks before the breeding season. However, if your ewes are over-conditioned, flushing has little benefit toward increasing production. Heat stress can be a big factor in decreasing production. Heat affects the number of lambs bom and the size of the lamb. You can prevent heat stress by keeping your ewes in proper condition and avoiding obesity, providing shade and avoiding excessive exercise. Shearing in early August will also help prevent heat stress. Another consideration at breed ing time is whether or not to breed the ewe lambs. Breeding ewe lambs increases a ewe’s lifetime production, however, bred ewe lambs have special nutrition needs and a higher chance of lambing difficulty compared to older ewes. For the latter reasons most produc ers breed ewes for the first time as Readings. With all these items accom plished, your ewes should be ready for the breeding season. With proper management throughout gestation, these items can increase your lamb, crop and ultimately your profits. Glenn Eberly (left) and Dale Rossman of the Meat Animal Evaluation Center check on some of the boars to be sold at the Performance-Tested Boar Sale scheduled for Wednesday, August 19, at 6:00 p.m. at the Penn State Ag Arena. Performance Tested Boar Sale BY MARY MAXWELL Centre Co. Correspondent STATE COLLEGE Fifty three performance-tested boars will go on sale Wednesday, August 19 at the Penn State Ag Arena according to Glenn Eberly, Director of the Meat Animal Eva luation Center. “It’s an exceptional group,” says Eberly, “the best over-all group we’ve seen at the Evaluation Center. Swine Management football coach Mike Ditka. «\i/u • *u- u • • • 10 „ Consumers generally don t eat vo.Sh? rr. “ b, ?A dea ? the large quantities of meat that y°. U c ™^ sk j Wel1 ’ t he ‘ Amen ' most livestock producers do. and casCut boneless pork chop guar- above ** they are very nutrition antees consistency, since criteria ~ ... . , . • . ... . 1 and health conscious. Look in the describing the cut are specific popular press and you’ll always enough to remove product varia- find one or two articles about nutri bdity. Currently the variations tion> health| fitness or exercise that can be found in a package of g ome Q f w hat y OU rea( j i s f ac t, chops is appalling. some is opinion and some even an Recently I bought several pack- educated quess. The sad part is that ages of center cut pork chops to a y jjj ese articles are read with keen grill. The variability of meatiness, interest and someone, somewhere and thickness surprised me. Thick- believes the information regard ness was about 'A inch or less and j ess 0 f j t > s validity, unsuitable for grilling. The pork industry needs three When you pill a thin pork chop, to succeed in latest diet . by the time it s cooked all the way B development . First and fore . toough, themeathasdnedoutand j con P sist in its product , become tough There s nothing Second is a good education,! prog case. worse than a tough pork chop. „ . ° . .... . r> u ,u Ti, ■ • rv»- u ram offenng accurate nutritional Consumers can purchase the The America s Cut is a chop ... .... , . ... ... . j intormation about pork, lo go America s Cut with the assur- thick enough to gnll without dry- . . , * B o ance that each individual boneless ing out. Without the bone and most . ,„. ’ , , uj.*,. chop will be as good as the last one of the fat, the entire chop is edible ° ° , * P h" n they bought and the next one meat, with enough fat for proper what they re getting when they eat they’ll buy. This is essential for cooking. $ we j d that nQ consumer acceptance and repeat The concept, of the “America’s „ mramn • 1; . , . CM " is a “8 P ,us f “ P»' k - S“he The cut will be available for industry and a wise use of checkoff AII . , restaurants in the next few weeks, funds. No other major commodity Pf, rs P 1 • t h nmmn H r ,ni >£** \ . Listed for sale will be 22 York shires, 18 Durocs, 10 Hampshires, 2 Berkshires and 1 Landrace. The boars have been evaluated on feed efficiency, average daily gain on test, fat thickness, percent of lean cuts, with their loin eye areas mea sured ultrasonically. A committee scored the boars on structural soundness plus underline and the University veterinarian staff exa rent control measures of major infectious diseases will be dis cussed relative to reproductive dis orders, Foot Rot, Mastitis Progres sive Pneumonia, Ovine (PPO) and internal parasite management. New medicines and their use in sheep health will be a topic of interest to many producers. So, plan now, come learn and profit from the latest information about topics that will help mike you a better informed sheep pro ducer. For more information leave your name and address by calling your county extension office. Program brochures will be avail able in mid-September. !? r mined the animals for breeding soundness. The boar sale will begin at 6:00 p.m., the Wednesday of Ag Prog ress Days. Food and trucking will be available. For more information or to request a sale catalog contact: Glenn Eberly, Director, Meat Ani mal Evaluation Center, 6SI Fox Hollow Road, State College, PA 16803. 814/238-2527. advertises while another group doesn’t, the advertising group is at an advantage. The pork industry has to stay on top of the advertising game to ensure their share of the market. That’s why the checkoff dollars you contribute every time you sell a hog are so important. The “America’s Cut” is a good indication that your dollars are well spent. It addresses one of the major problems that exists in the supermarket meat case-- predictable quality. Consistent products lead to con sistent sales, and the “America’s Cut” is a step in the right direction.