Dr. Gregg Rentfrow, University of Kentucky Meat Science Specialist, visited Maine to help with the Maine Meat Cutting School. While he was here, we sat down in my office to discuss what it takes to set up a commercial meat processing facility and what it takes to get setup processing animals for yourself and family.

Gregg started out as a retail meat cutter, then entered academia earning a BS, and MS in Animal and Meat Science from the University of Illinois and PhD in Meat Science and Muscle Biology from the University of Missouri while coaching the meats judging team and serving as the interim meat lab manager. He joined the University of Kentucky as the Extension Meats Specialist in 2006, with an extension/teaching appointment. Dr. Rentfrow received the university’s highest extension award, the M.D. Whiteker Award for Extension Excellence, in 2017. Rentfrow recently received the prestigious Animal Industry Innovation Award from the American Society of Animal Science. He lives in northern Madison County, Kentucky with his wife, Sheila, and their daughter, Brooke.

Dr. Gregg Rentfrow - https://afs.ca.uky.edu/person/gregg-rentfrow

Maine Meat Cutting School - https://extension.umaine.edu/food-health/food-safety/meat-cutting-school/#instructors

Guide to Designing a Small Red Meat Plant - https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/13058

Maine Depart of Conservation, Agriculture and Forestry Meat Inspection - https://www.maine.gov/dacf/qar/inspection_programs/red_meat_poultry_inspection.shtml

On this week’s episode of the Maine FARMcast, I am joined by Ashley Wright, an area assistant livestock agent with the University of Arizona. We recorded this podcast in my hog barn in Garland, Maine, so you may hear some barnyard noises in the background.

Ashley joined us in Maine for a week to help deliver a series of in-person seminars on getting started with poultry.

As a Livestock Area Agent with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, I provide leadership in extension programs focusing on livestock production and management across both large and small-scale operations in Cochise, Pima, and Santa Cruz Counties. My programs cover a diverse array of topics crucial to the livestock industry, including herd health and management, nutrition, reproduction, genetics, and marketing. While much of my program focuses on cow-calf operations, I also work extensively with Arizona's growing population of backyard chicken enthusiasts, especially those in areas who have recently relaxed zoning regulations to allow for urban chicken keeping. The educational content I produce covers an array of topics such as raising health chicks, poultry diseases, coop design, heat stress, nutrition, egg production, and egg safety. I live in Vail, AZ, just outside of Tucson and maintain a small backyard flock of laying hens.

Ashley Wright ‘s Information - https://extension.arizona.edu/person/ashley-wright

If you would like to know more about raising poultry in Maine, please visit the University of Maine Cooperative Extensions Livestock Website - https://extension.umaine.edu/livestock/poultry/

On the fifth episode of the Maine FARMcast, Dr. Colt W. Knight, Associate Extension Professor and State Livestock Specialist for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, meets up with Dr. Derek Bailey, Professor Emeritus for New Mexico State University, and Dr. Colin Tobin, Research Animal Scientist at the Carrington Research Station for North Dakota State University, to discuss some of the new technology emerging in livestock behavior and precision grazing including sensors to pick up location and activity, virtual fencing, and cameras that measure and weigh livestock in near real time. I attended the Society for Range Management (SRM) National Meeting in Sparks, Nevada this January where Dr. Bailey received the SRM Sustained Lifetime Achievement Award to take part in the Precision Livestock Management and Virtual Fencing Symposia. I was able to corner Dr. Bailey and Dr. Tobin to discuss their research and visions for the future of livestock production.

To learn more about Dr. Derek Bailey’s research visit –

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Derek-Bailey-2

To Learn more about Dr. Colin Tobin please visit –

https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-home/directory/colin-tobin