Chef Rob talked about which cuts of meat could be used to make Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches and then demonstrated cooking the thinly sliced beef with onions. Colt assembled the sandwiches and distributed 100 samples to the folks watching the demonstration. See the recipe here.

Introduced Dr. Sean Birkel, UMaine Extension Climatologist who showed the wealth of information available on the Maine Climate Office website. You can access current and past weather information, climate data, weather predictions, climate reports and research. For more information contact berkel@maine.edu

We were treated to a virtual farm tour of Heartstone Farm in Charleston. Dan Kaplan talked about how he started and expanded his grass fed beef farm during the pandemic focusing on providing high quality beef by mail order through their website. Herd manager Percy Lorette talked about their intensive pasture program and weighing animals regularly. They are working with nearby farms to increase the number of animals they can process.

Maine Beef Association Annual Meeting followed with Awards Presentations and Elections.

Heartstone Farm, Charleston

In her role as University of Maine Cooperative Extension Professor, Donna has provided dedicated support to all Maine beef producers throughout her career and has been especially valuable to the MBPA leadership in the last decade. Her advice and assistance in developing educational programming plus always staying current on the most up to date beef topics were extremely helpful. Her initiation of and dedication to the production of the Maine Beef Newsletter as well as Co-coordinating BQA training along with 2021 HOF Honoree Cindy Kilgore informed beef producers and helped make us all better.    

Maine Farm Receives USDA Rural Development Value Added Producer Grant - assists agricultural producers seeking to establish or expand markets for their value-added agricultural products. Apple Creek Farm LLC will use the working capital grant funds to expand processing, marketing, and sales of their certified organic eggs, beef, chicken, sheep, goats, and sheepskins. This project will allow for an increase in customer base and revenue and will add two employees. Full description of VAPG grant recipients can be accessed here.

The Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant (MPIRG) program assists currently operational meat and poultry slaughter and processing facilities in obtaining a Federal or State Grant of Inspection. Five Maine farms and/or poultry processors received grants under the MPIRG program. Congratulations to Olde Haven Farm LLC, Fork Food Lab, Hatch’s Custom Meat Cutting, Nest and Mullen LLC, Rooney’s Meat Shop. Full description of these grant recipients can be accessed here.

USDA Ag Marketing Service - Local Food Program Grant assists projects that develop, coordinate and expand local and regional food business enterprises that engage as intermediaries in indirect producer to consumer marketing to help increase access to and availability of locally and regionally produced agricultural products. Smithereen Farm received a grant Harnessing Maine’s Local Farming & Fishing Economy through the Minke Kitchen Food Hub, Full description of grant recipients can be accessed here.

Our factsheet How Maine Farmers Can Determine if They Have Enough Hay and Forage for the Winter walks you through steps to estimate how much you need and how much you have in storage.

Our YouTube video Got Livestock – Need Hay features Rick Kersbergen, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Professor, who shares information on how to assess what you have for feed, assess how much feed you will need for the next six to seven months, and strategies to consider if you don’t have enough feed.

Maine Hay Directory - if you need hay or have hay to sell check out this site.

The MBPA website has information about the association, the board of directors, and forms for awards, activities, and sales. 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

The Maine Beef Producers Association has a Facebook page. Like and follow to get the fastest information from Maine Beef Producers Association. Facebook

The Maine Beef Producers Association is accepting dues for the 2022 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

You can join the association online and pay by credit card on a secure site or 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 at 1457 River Rd., Clinton, ME.

USDA Ag Marketing Service publishes beef cattle prices for a number of locations throughout the US.

This report shows the Weekly average steer price for this year, last year and the 5-year average. Get the full pdf of this National Weekly Cattle and Beef Summary.

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 (wholesale $4.39/# - direct to consumer $7.97/# to $9.15/#.)

Vermont Monthly Local Beef Report - includes carcass prices as well as retail prices (direct to consumer) per cut for locally raised beef. Dressed beef carcass value for October 2022: $325/cwt.