Beef Advisory Council Minutes

Hammond Research Station

April 11, 2011

Attending: Dale Cambre, John Curtis, Lennie Wales, Hank Schumacher, Dick Covington, Ross Pruitt, Karl Harborth and Kenneth Sharpe.

Dinner was served at 6:15 p.m.

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. All members were introduced.

The purpose of the advisory council was described as a way to get user input into extension programming. Members were encouraged to express problems and concerns of their own and their peers and make suggestions for programming from their vantage point.

Minutes were approved as mailed out.

Situation of Livingston, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa animal agriculture was present from 2010 Ag Summary. Livingston has 275 producers and 7200 cows with a value of $4.1 million, St. Tammany has 80 producers with 3,960 cows for a value of $3.5 million, and Tangipahoa has 473 producers with 17,844 cows for a value of $9.4 million.

Dr. Karl Harborth said that on a state wide basis the beef industry consisted of 558,000 cattle and calves on 11,000 farms and ranches with a gross farm income of $411 million.

Dr. Ross Pruitt then gave a presentation on the Beef Industry Economic Situation. Dr. Pruitt said that we are in a supply and demand market and that the higher cattle prices are supported by low inventories. He told the group that from what we can see now the prices should be good for at least 3 years and that the key to financial success was to be as efficient as possible now because prices would not stay up. Eventually the cow herds would expand and the supply will not be as tight which will put downward pressure on prices.

New Business

Dr. Pruitt said that he was continuing to pursue getting benchmark data from cattlemen and would be interested in working with producers who would like to confidentially share their farm records.

When asked to identify roadblocks to beef production the committee listed high inputs and cost of land as deterrents. They noted that a person has to be born into land in our area to get into the cattle business. Land values are too high to purchase for a new comer to get into the business and be profitable.

Producers said that we need to increase public awareness about animal agriculture. Many people are moving to the rural areas and do not know where beef comes from and do not understand the production practices necessary to raise beef. Particularly noted was that we need to educate the younger children since they are several generations away from the farm.

It was also noted that programs like where we bring businessmen from town to the farm may help bridge that gap. Any form of agricultural interaction with the committee would be positive.

When asked where we can target programming to increase producer efficiency and profitability, producers indicated that conception rates and winter feeding were the two areas that would have the largest impact.

The committee was asked how they want to get information. They said that they like meeting but ones where they can go see a practice being implemented are best. Tours are also good way to learn. They also said that they liked the Quarterly Newsletter. Some liked the idea of an area type education meeting although they noted that previous attempts were good but not well attended. Dr. Harborth said that some states charge for meetings and the idea is that producers feel like it is a higher quality program if they have to pay and may be more willing to attend.

When asked if any of the committee members used social media as a way to get information, none of the producers indicated that they did. Most had email but someone else checked that for them. They indicated that most cattlemen were of an age that they did not believe that social media was a way to reach them.

Another suggestion for educational programming was on how to interpret a soil sample report. The producer said that he could not afford to put the amount of fertilizer recommended on the report but wanted to know how to fertilize to get the most bang for his buck.

Sharpe told the producers that last year they talked about getting a smut control product and that Dupont had received a label upgrade on its herbicide, Velpar, allowing 0 days grazing restriction for smut grass control, which made it more of a viable option.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.