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Mission Statement:
To provide
leadership, service
and educational programs
for the promotion of
North Carolina Angus cattle. |
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North Carolina Angus Association Enjoys Beautiful Weather for 2010 Spring Tours
DAY ONE
submitted by Suzanne Brewer, Executive Secretary
 2010 Spring Tours were held during two beautiful North Carolina spring days. 2009 we had rain, rain, rain; 2010 we had abundant sunshine and absolutely the best possible weather!!
Joe French, Superintendent of the Upper Piedmont Research Station was our host for our first stop. The Upper Piedmont Research Station in Reidsville is the home of the Spring Fever Sale. Joe had lined up a bus to take us on a tour of the Station. We usually are only involved with the cattle, but there is so much more to see and learn about. They grow tobacco, have a small vineyard, host a local farmer’s market and have done research on canola for biofuel production. There is a 1.5-mile trail that winds along the borders of the station and the plantation grounds and is open to the public. The farm consists of over 800 acres and is adjacent to the historic Chinqua-Penn Plantation and the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Camp
The UPRS is conducting research projects on beef cattle production and efficiency of growth using a historic herd of Black Angus cattle. The efficiency studies are funded by the American Angus Association and are collecting data to identify cow families that produce feed efficient progeny. The North Carolina Angus Association helped start the Upper Piedmont Research Station/Cattle Drive Endowment, which is also supported by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and North Carolina State University. The beef cattle research efforts should lead to the discovery of a gene or genes responsible for efficient feed conversion in beef cattle. Understanding these genes could decrease the cost of beef production and revolutionize the beef cattle industry.
There are many historic buildings on the station, but a newly constructed building fitted with Calan gates is being used for the beef cattle study. Dr. Joe Cassidy, Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science and lead researcher on the feed efficiency research team gave us an overview of the cattle in this research project and how the cattle are fed and evaluated. Joe is also the newly elected executive director of the Beef Improvement Federation. Currently the barn houses heifers for the feed efficiency test. Animals are fitted with a sensor around their neck that will only open one gate. Daily the sensor will read how much feed the animal has consumed, any left over feed will be cleaned out and that amount subtracted from the intake of that animal. Bull calves born here are taken to the Butner Bull Test Station where they are feed efficiency and developmental tested. The bulls are weighed every two weeks, ultra sounded and scrotal circumference measured at the beginning, mid test and the end of testing. Joe Hampton, NCAA member and Vice President of American Angus said that feed is 60% of the cost of producing cattle. Joe was one of the leaders in getting this research project started here. AAA funds this project to help us all identify cows that better utilize their feed----gain more on the same amount of feed. EPD on feed intake start here at this facility.
Thanks to the three Joes; French, Cassidy and Hampton for being leaders in the research project right here in North Carolina and for taking the time to make this an educational stop on our tour.
From the North Carolina Auxiliary cook book “Feeding the Herd”; Elaine Scarlett had prepared a wonderful pot of Brunswick stew for our lunch. The tour itinerary said we would eat in the loft over the sale barn; instead tables were set outside and we enjoyed the beautiful spring day. Thanks Elaine for a wonderful lunch.
Everyone loaded up and we headed along county roads to Oakview Farms, Bobby Aldridge’s Farm in Yanceyville. Bobby, wife Kathleen, their family and friend Larry Whitt greeted us and showed us some of Bobby’s cattle.
Bobby had on display part of his Spring Fever Sale consignments. Bobby has been in the Angus business since 1946 when his father gave him a heifer as payment for that years work. Though rough at times, Bobby has enjoyed working with cattle. Grandchildren make the forth generation involved with the farm.
Bobby had back surgery last June and his sons have worked to keep everything running smoothly. He said the cows might not be in the best condition, but they’ve had a rough winter with all the snow and wet, cold weather. He particularly likes the In Focus, Final Answer, Image Maker and Objective calves. Mama cows are brought in beginning in mid December to begin breeding. Bobby said that this year with the rough winter, conception has been lower and they’ve spent more time rebreeding. When asked how many chances he gives the cow, his reply was “just depends on how good a cow she is”.
As we looked at mature cows across the road we noticed a little country church way over the hill, Kathleen said this is the church they attend and the name is Oakview Presbyterian Church. We enjoyed cookies and drinks before we returned to the road. Thank you to the Aldridge family for your hospitality.
Next stop was Baldwin Family Farms in Burlington. Jim Scarlett and Mr. Baldwin are long time friends and co-workers. When “Mac” was 10 years old, he purchased his first calf and gained a passion for cattle. In 1969 he and his wife Peggy rented her family’s farm and bought two registered Charolais heifers. In 1981 he bought a 331 acre farm in Yanceyville. Over the years he developed an intensive year-round grazing system using winter and summer annuals so his heifers and steers would always have nutritious grazing. Today, owning 800 acres and another 1,200 leased acres of pasture he has over 400 Charolais brood cows.
In 2001, he had 15 steers left from a truck load lot and sold them locally and realized there was a market for direct marketing beef. His beef is processed nearby in Siler City, in a modern USDA-inspected facility. The sides age three weeks in a huge chill room and are vacuum –sealed with the Baldwin Charolais Beef label. He has opened an on-farm store and sells at the nearby Carrboro Farmer’s market. He also sells to the Whole Foods market chain, which has seven stores in the Piedmont regions of North and South Carolina. They also have an online store where they ship their beef weekly to costumers throughout the United States using dry ice and insulated packaging, usually arriving within three days. They offer a variety of packages that included various cuts and quantities of beef. They currently slaughter over 500 steers per year and anticipate direct marketing over 1,000 Charolais steers annually within 5-6 years-it’s just a matter expanding the cowherd and finding the grassland to accommodate them, Mr. Baldwin said.
Beside the growing beef operations, they are a contract poultry producer who has about 75,000 birds that produce over 12 million hatching eggs per year. They use the poultry litter as a low-cost, organic fertilizer for the pastures grazed by the cattle.
We were taken on a tour of the farming operations were we saw a group of heifers just brought in for breeding and a group of dry cows. We saw pastures that were over seeded with rye grass and saw his feeder steers. We saw the yard where he stores his cotton and peanut by products, which he mixes with brewer’s grain, and other products for feed. Mr. Baldwin talked about the problems caused by buzzards and coyotes that are native to the 20,000 acres of Uwharrie Game Land surrounding the farm.
Mr. Baldwin is very active in several farming organizations. He is very passionate about Extension Service who he credits with teaching him about that first heifer he purchased at 10 year old. He said the Extension “agent” as they was called back then, took a personal interest in him and even though he wasn’t raised on a farm saw the potential to become the cattleman he is today.
Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Baldwin for a very interesting tour and the snacks you provided as we departed. Next stop is the “Cutting Board” restaurant in Burlington for supper and Dr. Matt Poore’s talk on grazing.
Most everyone is familiar with Dr. Matt Poore, Ruminant Nutrition Specialist with North Carolina State University and his work on forages. Dr. Poore writes an article for the Carolina Cattle Connection called “Amazing Grazing”. Dr. Poore has done extensive research on pasture management and stockpiling fescue.
After the fall and winter of 2007-2008 which was probably the driest we’ve seen in years; followed by the 2009-2010 winter which was probably the coldest, wettest and snowiest winter most of us can remember, we all learned that we need to have a better grazing management plan to help us get through both types of conditions.
By turning out cattle earlier to graze and moving them around more quickly, cattle will eat the tillers that are due to make seedhead first and that will make for more vegetative growth the next time in our rotation. By using stockpiled grass we can reduce the length of the winter-feeding season. It is easier to move cattle from pasture to pasture than it is to put in hay, especially during conditions like we’ve had this past winter. By using temporary fencing, we can fence out grasses until we need them for grazing and then move the fences to encourage cattle to make the most of new grass.
Hay is an expensive and sometimes wasteful part of a cattle management system. Hay stored outside unprotected over the winter can result in up to a 28 percent loss. We all know that the cost to construct a barn for hay storage is considerable. Many producers store hay outside (some flat on the ground and some elevated on pallets or tires) covered with plastic; though not as good as barn storage, still better than uncovered. By reducing the waste on the bales we’re reducing the number of bales needed to feed our cattle for the winter.
Dr. Poore also suggested that by moving our feeding areas, we’re spreading the inexpensive fertilizer, because manure is fertilizer; we’re reducing disease, and we’re keeping our calves healthier because the cow utters are not caked with mud making the calves more prone to scours.
Dr. Poore is a wealth of knowledge regarding our grasses, grazing, pastures and hay usage and storage. We appreciate him taking the time to spend his Friday evening with us. Before the evening closed, he entertained us with a few songs accompanied by guitar.
Thank you, Matt for an educational, entertaining evening.
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This
site is sponsored by... |
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NC Angus Association, Inc.
Suzanne Brewer, Executive Secretary
3942 North NC Hwy 150 • Lexington, NC 27295
Phone/Fax: 336-787-NCAA(6222) • Email:
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