The problem

Since COVID, there has been a major spike in beef producers wanting to finish and sell their beef to the public. For Carroll County specifically there have been producers that have been wanting to expand their operation as well.

The educational program response

In response to this issue, I have worked with Dr. VanValin, Dr. Rentfrow, and Trackside Butcher shoppe to put together a three-part series. The first program of the series is management of finishing cattle, the second is feeding cattle to finish, and the third is a deep dive into the carcass and cuts of meat. With our second classroom session, I would like to partner with our local KYFB agent to go over the ins and outs of what insurance is needed to sell freezer beef.

The participants/target audience

The participants and the target audience for this series is our local cattlemen as well as members from surrounding counties.

Other partners (if applicable)

Dr. VanValin, Dr. Rentfrow, Trackside Butcher shoppe

Program impact or participant response.

This series is ongoing! At the first program of the series, we had 22 farmers attend from 5 different counties! I received a comment from Joe Raisor who said, "I am very pleased with the start of this series, it is very interesting, and this is information that we have not heard yet!" At the second session of the Field to Freezer Program there were 12 people in attendance. This program went in depth on what is needed in a ration, and how to create a ration based on your operation. There was an overwhelmingly good response, and I am very excited to see how this program grows! In the third and final series, we took a group of 13 producers to Trackside Butcher Shoppe. We started off touring the facility and working through the processing process. Dr. Greg Rentfro then walked the producers through looking at the outsides of the carcasses to go over the nutritional component of the color of the fat, as well as marbling. Dr. Rentfro also went over feeding for grades as well as how to analyze meat to determine a grade. Overall, this program impacted many local producers as well as a local business. This program has not only brought more clientele that I may not have reached to extension, but it has given producers another outlet to make income on cattle they may not have been able to profit from.