Invitation to Piedmontese Field Days in Nebraska

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Vicki Johnson

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If you are interested in learning about raising all-natural beef for a premium from branded beef marketers like Laura's Lean Beef and Montana Ranch Brand, the Piedmontese Field Days June 5 & 6th in Nebraska would be a great place to visit producers, tour the USDA MARC at Clay Center, NE, visit a feedlot with certified Piedmontese crosses on feed at Overton, NE, and tour a large ranch operation utilizing the breed at Riverton. Pre-registration fees are $60./adult, which covers both lunch and dinner both days: pre-register by May 10.Visit http://www.piedmontese.orgfor further information. Everyone is welcome !
 
Thanks for the funny comments, gentlemen !
Actually, the average premium per Piedmontese-cross from recent loads to Laura's Lean Beef are $60./head and up (over market)
For years producers have been getting load averages of between $60 - $92. per head in premiums from LLB or Montana Ranch Brand for the Pied-crosses.
(LLB yield grade averages of YG1.3 to YG1.8)
Quote from Don Knore of Laura's Lean Beef, April 24, 2009 "All of us will benefit if the number of commercial Piedmontese cattle can be increased in North America."
If profitability is of interest to open minded producers, attending the Field Days is a great way to learn more and then decide for yourself if raising all natural Piedmontese is a fit for your program. The presentations from the USDA MARC during Field Days will cover the results of the years of Germplasm Evaluations comparing Piedmontese to most other mainstream sire breeds - good un-biased information that confirms the breed calves equally as easily as Angus/Hereford as a terminal cross, and consistently produces the highest percent of retail product, and beef that is also improved in tenderness levels.
Quote from USDA MARC "These results indicate that mh/mh Piedmontese bulls could be used as terminal sires to produce mh/+ progeny with improved tenderness in at least four muscles, resulting in a substantial increase in carcass value in addition to the previously demonstrated advantage in yield of saleable product." Montana Ranch Brand certified Piedmontese beef will be served at the Field Days for dinner on June 5th, and the pre-registration policy is there so that all four meals can be properly catered. (The $60. fee equals a cost of $15/meal .... ) Again, everyone is welcome to attend, but unfortunately if you do not pre-register then you may have to find lunches and dinners on your own both days.
 
We were just playing Vickie. Thanks for having a sense of humor. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Can we finance the $60 fee over 60 months with Mexican Pesos if we put $1.00 down just so we can eat? If so, if there a prepayment penalty? Also, what interest rate? :shock: :shock: :shock:
 
Yes, pretty funny - reminds me of Wimpy from the old Popeye cartoons - "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today !"
I'll ask the caterers if they'll let us pay in pesos over a year period...

In 20+ years with the breed, I've heard many negative remarks about Piedmontese, and they have all been from people who haven't tried them first hand or investigated any of the research. And to me, that is always funny.

The ranch at Riverton we will be touring on June 6th has about 850 brood cows, of which some 250 head are dedicated to producing Piedmontese breeding stock (many solid black & polled) with the rest contracted to produce composite breeding stock for the Leachman program. There are maps and details posted at the website
http://www.piedmontese.org so for folks who can't attend during the actual Field Days, you could always set up a visit to these producers on your own time frame... and buy your own meals along the way ;-)
 
Vicki Johnson":2grvvh1a said:
Yes, pretty funny - reminds me of Wimpy from the old Popeye cartoons - "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today !"
I'll ask the caterers if they'll let us pay in pesos over a year period...

In 20+ years with the breed, I've heard many negative remarks about Piedmontese, and they have all been from people who haven't tried them first hand or investigated any of the research. And to me, that is always funny.

The ranch at Riverton we will be touring on June 6th has about 850 brood cows, of which some 250 head are dedicated to producing Piedmontese breeding stock (many solid black & polled) with the rest contracted to produce composite breeding stock for the Leachman program. There are maps and details posted at the website
http://www.piedmontese.org so for folks who can't attend during the actual Field Days, you could always set up a visit to these producers on your own time frame... and buy your own meals along the way ;-)

Black and polled pieds? Sounds like a nother watered down breed.
 
Yes, definitely, the LLB gtid rewards lean carcass performance, whatever the breed.

The black & polled Piedmontese being developed are not "watered down" versions of the breed...
The fullblood Piedmontese are homozygous for the specific inactive myostatin gene that naturally evolved in this breed - the gene that is responsible for all of the positive carcass traits.
So, the way the registry works is that crossbred Piedmontese can be recorded when they carry one allele of this gene, and then registered when they carry 2 alleles for the gene (homozygous). The crossbred Piedmontese are registered in their own category called "Naturalean".
Many breeders are crossing Piedmontese with black or red Angus, and other breeds, to add the polled traits and solid color while they bring forward the inactive myostatin gene for carcass performance.
We have registered cattle that are 50% or less Piedmontese-blood, but that carry 2 alleles of the specific gene ... and these bulls will pass forward the gene to every calf, the same as a fullblood Piedmontese.
The North American Piedmontese Assoc. is the first registry to base it's requirements totally on a gene. It cost $15. to test for the gene, and cattle that don't carry it are in-eligible for registry or recordation.
The USDA has researched the Piedmontese-specific myostatin gene in detail, and their summary is that the gene is responsible for all of the improvement in carcass performance and in beef tenderness.
Therefore, the association encourages these crosses, verifies the gene's presence and producers are devloping some very good black & polled or red & polled Naturalean Piedmontese.
 
One of our largest breeders (in South Dakota) is focused on building a solid red line of Naturalean Piedmontese - and doing a great job of it ! They've been crossing 1-allele red Piedmontese-crosses back and forth, and have a homozygous red bull now that gained over 5 lbs/day on test.
He also runs fullblood Piedmontese, feeds out thousands of crosses each year, some going to LLB and some to Montana Ranch Brand.
When crossed with british breeds the marbling scores are good, with the huge ribeyes, and MRB markets alot to restaurants so the Pied X British beef is ideal for that.
 
Here is a picture of a solid red polled Naturalean Piedmontese bull, featured on the cover of the 2008 Tri-State Journal, with a feature article called "Two Ways To Profit".
The whole article can be read at this webpage:
http://www.piedmontese.org/NewsArticles.html

TriStateSpring-08-CJCOVER.jpg
 
Just heard a May 2009 group of 14 Piedmontese slaughtered for Laura's Lean Beef generated an average of $107. per animal in bonus payment, and a base price average of $1.7066 per pound.
There were 9 heifers and 5 steers in the group.
Not bad !
 
Speakers on the Saturday tour as part of the Piedmontese Field Days will include a specialist on cloning and ET from Trans Ova Genetics of Iowa.
Visit http://www.piedmontese.org to learn more ....

Field Days in Nebraska, June 5 - 6th, 2009.
 

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