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<itHai
as well as in food retail stores. The group has registered premium cut
inlrodiiction occurred in a Chicago upload, pofa.hu I’m .«» Wl.
Sheepman’s Symposium Set
Selling Pork
Every now and then a commodi
ty group comes up with a really
good idea. In past columns you’ve
heard me criticize pork cuts at the
supermarket meat case. Pork
chops are too fat, too lean or cut too
thin.
The pork industry has just intro
duced the “America’s Cut”, a
boneless center single-cut chop
that’s one and one quarter to one
and a half inches thick with a maxi
mum one quarter inch of exterior
fat.
The whole idea for the “Ameri
ca’s Cut” was developed by the
National Pork Producer’s Council
and has a registered trademark. It’s
the pork industry’s answer to
inconsistent quality in the meat
‘The theme for the Second
Annual Sheepmans’ Symposium
will focus on two important topics,
sheep health and economics,” says
PSWGA President, Jim SheCdcr.
This year’s event scheduled for
December 4 and 5 will be hosted
by the Cumberland County Sheep
and Wool Growers Association at
the Embers Convention Center,
Carlisle.
Present to highlite sheep health
concerns will be Dr. Don Bailey,
practicing Veterinarian from
Rosebud, Oregon. Dr. Bailey has
been recognized internationally as
a leading authority on sheep dis
eases, care and management. Cur
ifSS
m-
S-r- .-•>
>£** \ .
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.