Winter Beef School Webinars to Focus on Meeting Local Demand

The Ohio State University Extension Beef Team will be hosting its annual winter webinar series in 2024 on the third Thursday of each month, January to April. This year’s series will take a deeper dive into production practices and factors that impact quality and profitability when it comes to producing beef to be marketed directly to consumers.

The session topics and speakers are as follows:

January 18
Genetic Selection: What Matters
Allen Gahler, OSU Extension Sandusky Co.
Planned Calving to Meet Demand
Dean Kreager, OSU Extension Licking Co.

February 15
Feeding to a Harvest Date
Garth Ruff, OSU Extension, Beef Cattle Field Specialist

March 21
Selling Retail vs Wholesale
Yield and Added Value

Lyda Garcia, OSU Extension Fresh Meats Specialist

April 18
Producer Roundtable
What Works, What Doesn’t?

Krysti Morrow – Rocky Knob Farms
Brad Berry – Berry Family Farms
Lindsey Hall – Maplecrest Meats & More
Dale Phillips – Phillips Meats

To wrap up the program in April we are excited to feature a producer roundtable with a variety of experience and varying approaches in marketing beef to local consumers.

Krysti Morrow of Rocky Knob Farms in Morgan County along with husband Levi launched Rocky Knob Meats in 2022. They sell retail cuts and mixed boxes of their beef and lamb to customers across Ohio and the nation. They have shipped grass-fed, grain-finished meats direct to customers’ doorsteps.

Brad Berry of Berry Family Farm in Pleasantville Ohio is a 7th generation farmer. Berry Family farms offers a variety of beef products at farm markets across central Ohio. They offer grass fed beef as well as grain feed beef finished on non-GMO grains.

Lindsey Hall of Maplecrest Farms in Hillsboro. Maplecrest Farms is a family-owned operation with a lifetime of experience breeding Angus cattle. In addition to selling freezer beef (wholes, halves, quarters), in 2021 Maplecrest Meats & More was opened as a retail location selling beef, pork, deli, and grocery items. In 20223 Maplecrest Meats & More became part of Certified Angus Beef® brand’s Ranch to Table program.

Our last April panelist represents the meat processing industry here in Ohio. Dale Phillips of Zanesville is the owner of Phillips Meat Processing, a family-owned and operated business that has been established since 1974. Phillips operates under full federal inspection and is part of an USDA pilot program started early in 2023 to provide virtual grading to small packing plants. Phillips provides fresh cuts of both beef and pork and an array of smoked products and lunch meats that are made and cooked in-house. They offer custom processing/slaughter, wholesale, and retail as well.

To register for the 2024 OSU Extension Beef Team Webinar series visit go.osu.edu/beefschool24

There is one Registration Link for all 4 Sessions – Questions? Contact: Garth Ruff, ruff.72@osu.edu

Details about all winter beef programs can be found in the Event Calendar at beef.osu.edu

 

This article was originally posted at Winter Beef School Webinars to Focus on Meeting Local Demand | Ohio BEEF Cattle Letter (osu.edu)

2023 Small Farm Conference and Trade Show

Ohio State University Extension is hosting a Small Farm Conference in Mansfield Ohio on March 11, 2023.  The theme for this year’s Mid-Ohio Small Farm Conference is “Sowing Seeds for Success.”

Conference session topics are geared to beginning and small farm owners as well as to farms looking to diversify their operation.  There will be five different conference tracks including: Farm Office, Horticulture and Produce Production, Livestock, Agritourism/ Marketing, Natural Resources.

Some conference topic highlights include: How to purchase our family farm, food animal processing, bee keeping, sweet corn, blueberry and pumpkin production, small ruminant nutrition, agritourism laws, fruit tree pruning and cut flower diseases.

Anyone interested in developing, growing or diversifying their small farm is invited to attend including market gardeners, farmers market vendors, and anyone interested in small farm living.

Attendees will have the opportunity to browse a trade show featuring the newest and most innovative ideas and services for their farming operation. The conference provides an opportunity to talk with the vendors and network with others.

The Conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Mansfield OSU Campus in Ovalwood Hall, just minutes from I-71 and US Rt 30.

For conference and registration call OSU Extension Morrow County 419-947-1070, or OSU Extension Knox County 740-397-0401.

Please follow this link for conference details and to register: https://go.osu.edu/2023osusmallfarmconf

Starting a Food Business Webinar Series being offered by OSU Extension

Direct food marketing in Ohio is hot. The latest USDA survey identified 7,107 Ohio farms with direct food sales–third highest in the nation.  That might be why our program receives more legal inquiries about food sales than any other area of law.  And that is also why we’re hosting a three-part webinar series on “Starting a Food Business,” providing an introduction to what a producer needs to know about selling home-based and farm-raised foods directly to consumers and retailers.

The free webinar series will be from 7—9 p.m. on January 24, February 28, and March 28 in 2023

More details and original Article at: Starting a Food Business Webinar Series being offered by OSU Extension | Ohio Ag Manager

The webinar series is free, but registration is necessary.  Find details and the registration link at go.osu.edu/foodbusiness

Farm Office Live Winter Edition

“Farm Office Live” returns virtually this winter as an opportunity for you to get the latest outlook and updates on ag law, farm management, ag economics, farm business analysis and other related issues from faculty and educators with the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.

Each Farm Office Live will start off with presentations on select ag law and farm management topics from our experts and then we’ll open it up for questions from attendees on other topics of interest.  Viewers can attend “Farm Office Live” online each month on Wednesday evening or Friday morning, or can catch a recording of each program.

View the full slate of offerings here

Direct link to registration

Previous Farm Office Live Recordings

Extension News Highlights Oct 26

Online Mortality Composting Certification | Ohio BEEF Cattle Letter 

Forage Focus: Baling Hay at Farm Science Review | Ohio BEEF Cattle Letter 

Extended Drydown in Corn | Agronomic Crops Network 

Stalk Rots Showing Up in Some Corn Fields | Agronomic Crops Network 

Ohio Corn, Soybean and Wheat Enterprise Budgets – Projected Returns for 2021 | Farm Office 

Freezer Beef Sales Explode During Covid19 Pandemic……Will Your Customers Be Ready to Buy Again? | Ohio Ag Manager 

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2.0 | Ohio Ag Manager