Recorded in front of live studio audience. On this episode of the Maine Farmcast, Colt and Glenda set up shop on the main stage of the the Maine Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta, Maine on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 to record a live show with Kevin Woltemath of Pineland Natural Meats to discuss his journey through agriculture, his work with beef producers in the Pine Tree State, his involvement with the Maine agricultural industry over the last 20 years and his thoughts on the future of agriculture in Maine. Kevin is an active member of the Maine Agricultural Community working with Ag Com, the Maine Beef Producers Association, Agricultural Fairs, the University of Maine and much more.
Correction - I mistakenly said Mr. Woltemath received the MBPA Hall of Fame Award but he was too polite to correct me during the podcast. He actually won the MBPA Service Award.
In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability physical or mental, genetic information, or veterans or military status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 5713 Chadbourne Hall, Room 412, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5713, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).
Chapters
Recorded in front of live studio audience. On this episode of the Maine Farmcast, Colt and Glenda set up shop on the main stage of the the Maine Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta, Maine on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 to record a live show with Kevin Woltemath of Pineland Natural Meats to discuss his journey through agriculture, his work with beef producers in the Pine Tree State, his involvement with the Maine agricultural industry over the last 20 years and his thoughts on the future of agriculture in Maine. Kevin is an active member of the Maine Agricultural Community working with Ag Com, the Maine Beef Producers Association, Agricultural Fairs, the University of Maine and much more.
Correction - I mistakenly said Mr. Woltemath received the MBPA Hall of Fame Award but he was too polite to correct me during the podcast. He actually won the MBPA Service Award.
In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability physical or mental, genetic information, or veterans or military status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 5713 Chadbourne Hall, Room 412, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5713, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).
Creators & Guests
Host
Colt Knight
Colt grew up in a coal mining family in West Virginia where they also operated a small family farm and show horse stable. During academic breaks and between schools, he worked in strip mines across the country. Colt earned his B.S. in Animal Science at the University of Kentucky, M.S. in Animal Science at Angelo State University, and his Ph.D. in Animal Science at the University of Arizona in 2006, 2012, and 2016, respectively. In the fall of 2016, he worked on a postdoc with Dr. Derek Bailey at New Mexico State University. Since 2017, Colt W. Knight works as an Assistant Professor of Extension for the University of Maine where he serves as the State Livestock Specialist. He teaches Introduction to Animal Science (AVS 145) and runs the Maine Grazing Behavior Lab. The core focus of the Grazing Behavior lab revolves around designing and manufacturing livestock tracking collars, engaging in applied grazing behavior research, and assisting other researchers with technology to interpret animal behavior. Dr. Knight’s research is broadly focused on selecting animals uniquely adapted to landscapes and promoting sustainable agriculture. Colt is the current chair for the Society of Range Management Livestock Foraging Behavior Committee, as well as, the North East Region Chair for the National Association of County Agricultural Agent’s Teaching and Educational Technology Committee. He also serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Ecological Processes. Colt is actively engaged in outreach and has delivered over 150 seminars on livestock production since starting his career at the University of Maine.
Host
Glenda Pereira
As the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Dairy Specialist, Dr. Pereira conducts applied research and develops educational programs for dairy and livestock producers across the state of Maine and New England. While the Holstein breed is near and dear to her heart, Dr. Pereira admires the Normande breed and her favorite dairy products are sour cream and ice cream.
Host
Rachel White
Rachel is a Sustainable Agriculture and Livestock Educator based out of Hancock county. Her objectives include education, research, and programming about agriculture in Washington and Hancock counties and with small ruminants and poultry across the state. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Maine researching risk of parasite transmission from wildlife to small ruminants and risk reduction methods, including pastured poultry. Her social science work looks at farmer and veterinarian knowledge, attitude, and practice for small ruminant health management and the challenges they encounter with this topic. Rachel is also involved with the University’s One Health and the Environment NRT program. She is plans to include a One Health framework into her programming to address human-animal-environmental health challenges in Maine’s agricultural community. On her farm, Rachel has Finn sheep, laying chickens, seasonal broilers, pigeons, horses, and various fruits.
What is Maine Farmcast?
The Maine Farmcast features weekly conversations with experts from across the country sharing insights and advice for both new and seasoned farmers running operations of any size. Hosted by three livestock specialists from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the show brings you world-class expertise paired with practical advice about how to apply cutting-edge research to improve the efficiency and sustainability of your farming operation.
Glenda Pereira:
Welcome everybody to the Maine Farmcast. This is your host, Dr. Glenda Pereira. Today, we are at the 2025, Maine Agricultural Trades Show. We are here, in Augusta, at the Civic Center. And the introduction you just heard, was Dr. Colt Knight, playing his guitar.
Glenda Pereira:
So, for those folks that are here live, you just got a little concert, from Colt. So thanks Colts, for that concert. That was, really awesome. We do have a awesome, featured guest today, Kevin Woltemath. So we'll introduce that later.
Glenda Pereira:
But first, Colt, how was your driving here this morning?
Colt Knight:
I fed pigs, and then I got stuck in traffic in Newport. And then it was pretty easy from from there on out. My major concern, though, was making sure that all these microphones were getting nicer Yeah. And they were not tripping over wires, sounding like idiots.
Glenda Pereira:
Yeah.
Colt Knight:
I mean, that's pretty much a given at this point, Right.
Glenda Pereira:
But I've
Colt Knight:
embraced the idiocracy of listening to myself on a podcast.
Glenda Pereira:
Remember, folks like this type of content, and remember I told you in couple of previous episodes, we need more of this. Right? We kind of get straight to business. We we need more of this. Folks really enjoy.
Glenda Pereira:
Get to know get to know us a little bit more. Right?
Colt Knight:
Yeah. I
Glenda Pereira:
Yes. You the the
Colt Knight:
fans are already extension folks out in the audience. Yes.
Glenda Pereira:
We have some groupies here today. Thanks, guys. Shout out to our extension colleagues. So we have Tayla, we have Tory, we have Jaime, we have Leslie, and then we have Cara as well. If I missed you in the corner over here, I'm sorry I can't see you, but a shout out to those folks.
Glenda Pereira:
So cool. Who do we have on the podcast today?
Colt Knight:
Today, we have mister Kevin Woltemath from Pineland Natural Meats. Kevin does not like titles. I I have had Kevin on so many of my programs, and every time I'm like, Kevin, what's your title so I can put it in there? And he's like, nah. I'm just Kevin.
Glenda Pereira:
So Kevin, can you tell what what is your official titles?
Kevin Woltemath:
Yes. Thank you very much. So I work with procurement and compliance for Pineland Farms Natural Meats and have done that now for, 20 years. And we started our company at Wolfs Neck Farm, but after several years of financial struggle as a non profit, the Libra Foundation stepped in and and, agreed to become our major company financial supporter. And we joined, the the Nate renamed the company Pineland Farms Natural Meats and and relocated our offices to to the Pineland Campus in New Gloucester, Maine.
Kevin Woltemath:
And, so since then, one of the reasons that I'm probably a little challenged as far as my title, when I joined the company, I became the 4th employee and, was the sole person working with cattle supply for our meat marketing program. So I, I was in charge of making sure we had the cattle on hand, so that our sales people could market the beef. We've grown dramatically in the 20 year period. I now have a 5 total of 5 people working on the product supply side with the cattle producers. So I still do some cattle procurement, but most of what I do is work with our farms, more than a 150 farms, throughout the eastern US, and my job is largely to help them through our 3rd party certification, which is the global animal partnership certification, which we, was actually developed, around 2008, 2009, and, we joined in 2010.
Kevin Woltemath:
The Global Animal Partnership was developed, by Whole Foods Market largely. And and since they are our largest beef customer, we needed to comply with the standards and and work with them to get our farm certified.
Glenda Pereira:
So what you're telling me, the reason why you can't give Colt a straight answer is because it would take 5 minutes every time.
Kevin Woltemath:
It's a long answer.
Glenda Pereira:
So Colt has you come to one of your pro his programs and he's like, Kevin, introduce yourself. And, you know, 10 minutes later, people are like, is this the program? Is Kevin's introduction?
Colt Knight:
Kevin needs no introduction in the beef industry in Maine. He's like the grand boo boo boo of the beef industry that we've got going on. He's constantly involved with the Maine Beef Producers Association, Agcom, the university, educational events. Fun fact, my first trip to Maine was in October in 2016. That's when I was doing an interview for this job.
Colt Knight:
And Kevin was on the interview committee. I don't know what he was thinking hiring me. Apparently, there was a void of hillbillies in Maine to talk about beef cattle, but he thought it was
Glenda Pereira:
a good idea. Yeah. Yeah. So, Kevin, I think that's a great transition. So what brought you to Maine?
Glenda Pereira:
Are you or are you a Mainer? A Maniac?
Kevin Woltemath:
So I'm a native of Lincoln, Nebraska. My, parents, were both from farm backgrounds, but, had moved to Lincoln, Nebraska before I was born. But we had a connection through the family to, ongoing farm operations in Southeast Nebraska. My uncle was a purebred Angus breeder and all of my 2 brothers and I, I've been the youngest, got involved working on that farm summers, weekends, joined 4 h and started exhibiting, our in the animals, and I became eventually continued on to the University of Nebraska where I got a degree in animal science. Unfortunately, in the early eighties when I graduated, it was a very challenging time in agriculture.
Kevin Woltemath:
And so had a little difficult time getting started, out in in the real world. But an opportunity came available in Massachusetts. That my brother was aware of. He was already living out here too. And, and so I I was hired by Jim Hill Farm in Groton, Massachusetts and relocated there, in January of 88.
Kevin Woltemath:
Continued at that farm as a herdsman working with purebred Angus cattle for a number of years until they eventually downsized. And and the herd is no longer in existence. At that time, I relocated to Maine and took a job at Aldamere Farm in Rockport, where I worked with the Belted Galloway's for several years. I I, had a great opportunity because I was hired, by mister a h Chatfield junior who was the founding owner of that farm. Unfortunately, you know, he he was elderly and and only lived a a several more years after I was hired.
Kevin Woltemath:
But during that time, he, gifted the the farm operation to Maine Coast Heritage Trust. So I was there through that transition. And, obviously, things were extremely well and they continue to operate very successfully and done done very well. I moved on to a job, I guess, that I felt was a little better suited to me physically. I had some ongoing back issues.
Kevin Woltemath:
So I was looking to get away a little bit from the hands on farm. They they did a farm operation and and get to a job where I can still support farms, help farmers be successful, and have been had that a good opportunity to grow with a very successful company that continues on to this point.
Glenda Pereira:
Yeah. And, so be so this is great. You've had so many roles that have helped, in the success, of the livestock industry in the state of Maine. So
Colt Knight:
So I've got a question
Kevin Woltemath:
for you
Glenda Pereira:
Go ahead.
Colt Knight:
Kevin. So you talked about moving from Nebraska to Maine, which is a which is a real agricultural culture shock going from a a standard commercial setting to the small scale direct marketing niche here in Maine. You went from a a black Angus herd to, you know, we've got a little of everything in Maine, and and people love their belties and their Scotch Highlands. And so what was the the biggest culture shock for you when you first got here?
Kevin Woltemath:
I guess I would say and I I'm I know my parents would back this up when they came to visit me, was that we don't have miles gridded out like like it is in the middle of the country. So, I can
Colt Knight:
get with you on that because I'm from West Virginia.
Kevin Woltemath:
You can give directions and say, you drive 4 miles east and 2 miles north and 1 mile west, and you're there.
Glenda Pereira:
Because you can see everything. Like, you can see the next farm because it's so flat.
Colt Knight:
When we would visit my relatives in Illinois, if you made 4 left turns, you would get back to where you started. And and so in West Virginia, if you made 4 left turns, you may end up in a holler somewhere 30 miles from where you started.
Kevin Woltemath:
I think the other adjustment was, Southeast Nebraska is somewhat similar, I think, in terrain to Arista County. There's a mixture of open land and and wooded area, but the rest of the state, you know, Maine being 89% wooded, is completely different from a large part of, the productive areas of Nebraska and the agricultural land. So, so, yeah, getting, getting used to the trees, they can be kinda handy when you wanna hide. But, but for the most part, it it certainly comes into play in limiting growth of, you know, livestock industry in Maine. We only have an available amount of open land to work with, and so it actually you know, it's a limiting issue for for all ag commodities in Maine.
Kevin Woltemath:
And so it's probably not gonna change. We're not, you know, gonna, be able to make many adjustments in that area. So we have to work with what we have.
Glenda Pereira:
But but that's still, but with what we have, so the lash like industry is still a significant part of the economy in this state of Maine. Is that correct? It
Kevin Woltemath:
is. I think I looked at the Ag Census information and and, they estimate as far as the value of Ag products sold in Maine to be somewhere shy of 900,000,000, of which over 300,000,000 is is in livestock. So we're about a third of the value in the farm sector, is in livestock.
Glenda Pereira:
Yeah. No. No. I would say that's significant. You kinda touched on this a little bit, but what are some of the practices that are unique to Maine, given those challenges, you know, that the amount of acreage we have available, you know, we're not significant producers of crops and grains, like the Midwest is.
Glenda Pereira:
So obviously, there's some limitations there, but but what are some unique practices that we can take advantage of, that make our products really attractive to, you know, people that live in Maine as well as other, states or even countries.
Kevin Woltemath:
Well, I think local interest is extremely strong and so there's a a great opportunity for farms to connect, you know, with their community, with their, you know, local consumers, opportunities to to, you know, sell products and and create value close to home, is is an extremely important thing. And I think it kind of balances with the amount of products that we can produce. Yes, there are certain commodities like potatoes and wild blueberries that we can produce enough of to export out of the state. But much much of our livestock numbers probably lend themselves more just simply to local marketing. And and that's very effective and and and probably I think in my years in the northeast, that's probably the biggest change I've noticed is, when I came here, like the farm I first worked for, they focused exclusively on raising purebred animals for seed stock.
Kevin Woltemath:
So, you know, they they were trying to produce breeding stock, so that to market to other farms, you know, to raise their own beef families. I think the transition now in many cases has been more diverse, to where if you're still raising seed stock, you're probably also marketing beef locally and and says freezer trade. I think many farms have have done that. And so so that's probably one of the biggest changes, even though in many cases, beef producers may focus just on beef cattle on their farm. They've tried to diversify their marketing.
Glenda Pereira:
Yeah. So I think, value added for for for sure for sure something I see a lot of farmers here, in Maine take advantage of, on farm. You you know, the first time that I saw a, on farm market where, like, you didn't have to pay a person that was standing there, the honor system type of payment was here in Maine, and I couldn't believe it that, you know, you Venmo, you leave money there, and there's this honor system here. So I I like you said, I think that the the community is certainly, a big, you know, supporter of the agricultural industries, here in the state of Maine. But I I wanna address this question because I think it's something interesting to think about.
Glenda Pereira:
What do you see as the challenges, or opportunities for a livestock farmers, in the state of Maine?
Kevin Woltemath:
I think that, we're limited by certainly the weather. We're limited by, in some cases, the ability to to transport our commodities outside of the state. And so, you know, building, regional markets and and participating in those or or national markets, and export, is a challenge. And again, our we're limited in agricultural land. So we can only, you know, try to do so much.
Kevin Woltemath:
But, I do think it it it gives us some opportunities, to to, you know, be a little more creative in terms of how how you market your animals. In in the beef production world, many farms don't would just concentrate on a certain segment. So they might have cat a cow calf operation that sells their calves either at weaning or or at yearling as feeder cattle to other farms. But I think, more and more we see the ability to, take animals all the way to finish and market them. Market them.
Kevin Woltemath:
I think, you know, certainly one of the limiting factors in in Maine is is processing. So, you know, one of the interesting things I I noticed in looking back at some of the ag census information was, the number of beef cows essentially have changed since 1987 was the last. And I kinda looked at that that year because that was the year I came to the northeast. And, so we have about the same number of beef cows. We have slightly fewer farms doing that.
Kevin Woltemath:
But it it kind of indicates to me that that's about what we what's capable the state's capable of as far as production. We probably trans, transition some next dairyman into beef production. The kinda makeup was for some of the other producers that we may have lost through the years. But, it it's kept the numbers pretty constant. And so there may not necessarily be enough to to to build a medium sized processing facility, for instance, to do, you know, do any more than that.
Kevin Woltemath:
I'm not sure we have enough livestock to do that, but we can certainly keep those existing processors full and at capacity, and I think that that's an effective goal.
Glenda Pereira:
Right. And, I'm gonna do a shameless plug for Colt. Colt has an upcoming meat cutting school, and I think, you know, you you've been a supporter of that program, Kevin, and as other organizations have. Colt, when is that meat cutting school? Because because that's another opportunity to increase processing if if farmers, maybe wanna do, you know, in house or learn more about, you know, what it takes to process their own, livestock, Colt?
Colt Knight:
Yeah. So our meat cutting school is coming up February 19th through 21st. So it's a 3 day cutting school. During the school, we do some education, not just on on meat cutting, but the regulations around opening your own facilities, selling your stuff. But, of course, you can't have that conversation without talking about food safety, sanitation, HACCP.
Colt Knight:
So we go over that stuff a little bit in that course. I mean, it's not comprehensive. You can't learn a trade in 3 days
Glenda Pereira:
Right.
Colt Knight:
But it's a really good primer to get into it. And then we actually do live demonstrations of meat cutting. And after the live demonstrations, we we turn the participants loose with knives and saws and and let them cut up their own carcasses, and then we package that. We do some secondary processing, sausage, bacon, that kind of thing, so they get some experience with that. But one of the other big factors, and we've just recently started incorporating this into our school, is what do we do with all the waste?
Colt Knight:
You know, you know, not too long ago, an animal's hide was very valuable.
Glenda Pereira:
Right.
Colt Knight:
And so all the processors saved all the hides, and they sold them to the local leather tanneries. Those hides are now virtually worthless in the leather industry here in the United States. And so there's been a a big thing like, what do we do with these hides? You know, that used to be a 30 to $40 value that the that the processor had. And so when they lost that value, they had to start it charging the consumer, you know, extra for processing Right.
Colt Knight:
Because they lost that value. But what do you do with all that? You know, and historically, we rendered that stuff. And that's basically like you throw all the leftover parts in a big vat, and you boil it down into some grease. And then you can use that for all kinds of fun stuff, cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, marshmallows, gelatin, stuff you don't really think of of having, you know, that that stuff in there, but it was really valuable.
Colt Knight:
There's not a lot of rendering capability here in Maine, but what we have found is that composting Mhmm. Is a very good way to get rid of that stuff and add value. You can compost that, and when done properly, there's no smell, there's no runoff, any of that kind of things. And then we have a valuable product that we can then sell for further agricultural uses. And people use it just for their gardens, commercial vegetable operations, fertilizing your hay fields.
Colt Knight:
The pot growers love it. That's a burgeoning industry here in Maine, and then they really like that natural compost for growing their product. And so now we have incorporated a a condensed composting school into the meat cutting school.
Glenda Pereira:
Oh, nice. Yeah.
Colt Knight:
Yeah. So that's the 3rd day is is all about composting. And in addition to that, we also get to go visit a licensed meat processing facility so they can see what all goes into it. They can ask questions to the folks that work there. They get to see the, the veterinarians and the inspectors on staff.
Colt Knight:
Yeah. They can ask them questions as well. That school fills up really quick. We'll be making the announcement here probably this week or next week on sign ups. So if you would like to sign up, you need to really jump on that.
Colt Knight:
And in a really exciting opportunity this year, the Maine New Farmers Project is offering scholarships, full scholarships to attend this $500 school if you are a new or beginning farmer, meaning that you have 10 or less years experience in farming.
Glenda Pereira:
Yeah. No. That's fantastic. So for folks listening, be on the lookout. If you follow our extension livestock newsletter or if you could email Colt, and get all that, then, you know, I'm there's a wait list, of course, because this is a popular program.
Glenda Pereira:
So, and then there's if you're a main new farmer, there's, money available to cover your admission fee. So, reeling us back in with with Kevin, but I thought, you know, that was super relevant. And and like I said, Kevin, you've maybe witnessed or been a part of that program previously, and it's just another way to expand, you know, what the livestock, farmers have access to and their even their training capacities and programs too. Like, you know, Colt's program is, but something that I'd like us to discuss before we have to wrap up here, with our time today, is what does the future look like for the state of Maine and specifically the livestock industry, and, you know, how can state and federal programs better support those, farms and farmers here in the state of Maine?
Kevin Woltemath:
Well, I think there's some presentations here at the AG Trade Show, you know, by, the FSA people that, you know, help address and be be a little bit more, you know, available to the to our producers to with programs that the producers may not necessarily be aware of. And so I think, that's an important education piece. I, yeah. Again, the noticing that essentially our our livestock numbers haven't changed a lot. I I would expect that, you know, there's potential for 30 to 40 years from now.
Kevin Woltemath:
The numbers will be very consistent with What will make that happened? You know, we'll be another generation of producers, another generation of of people working at the processors to keep those businesses going and and healthy. And, so I think there is a bright future for the livestock industry. I think we still have extremely good product. You know, there's opportunities for innovation and growth.
Kevin Woltemath:
And, you know, I think the value added part pieces will continue to be, you know, provide some differentiation, for consumers. And, I think, they will continue, to to support that.
Colt Knight:
So, Kevin, when we start talking about the future of the industry, there are various producers groups like the Maine Beef Producers Association, and we have got some educational events coming up for new and beginning beef farmers, swine people, dairy, and everything. But I thought it would be cool if we could talk about some of the stuff that we had planned this year for the, Maine Beef Producers Association. The Maine Beef Producers Association has made a commitment to the University of, Maine Extension. They are donating some funds so that we can buy a artificial in simulation simulator so that we can start offering AI classes to the general public on a fairly regular basis instead of just once a year that's limited. So I Kevin was instrumental in in helping getting those those funds secured along with, the president of the Maine Beef Producers, Jesse Caron.
Colt Knight:
And then we've always got our Maine Cattlemen's College, where we discuss a variety of topics and people are invited. Kevin, what what do you think about some of the low stress handling demos that we've done and the the Cattlemen's Colleges and the upcoming AI Clinics?
Kevin Woltemath:
Again, all that education is extremely important. I think we need to, you know, continue to expose producers to, all the new opportunities. We we can't cut any corners as far as as animal welfare training. So, you know, people need to be aware of and and you know, conscious of of the care of the animals at all times. Continued education with beef quality assurance to make sure that you know, all meat products are are, you know raised extremely well and and of highest quality.
Kevin Woltemath:
I think that's so important, to the ongoing success of our industry. I think we need to continue to help farms market and provide some advice and and so, hopefully, the Maine Bee Produce Association can kinda continue to, help support programming, to do, you know, the marketing piece is needed, as as well as the education. And and, I've been very proud to be part of the Maine Beef Producers Association. For the years I've been in Maine, I think it's very important to give back to the industry. I've been very fortunate to live in this wonderful place and have great employment and I and, and I've enjoyed it extremely well.
Kevin Woltemath:
And I've, you know, really got a lot out of giving back to the Maine Beef Producers Association and will continue to do so.
Colt Knight:
Well, I know the beef producers of Maine really appreciate everything you've done. I would like to mention, Kevin is a member of the Maine Beef Producers Association Hall of Fame.
Glenda Pereira:
Congratulations, Kevin.
Colt Knight:
And you mentioned beef quality assurance, and we actually have a beef quality assurance certification coming up, February 11th at the Bangor Extension Office. We're gonna talk about bale grazing, the efficacy of different types of dewormers for beef cattle, and we're gonna go through beef quality assurance training.
Glenda Pereira:
So Kevin, is there anything you would like to add to our discussion today that, you you thought about?
Kevin Woltemath:
Well, I think that that will continue to be innovations, you know, for the cattle that we own, you know, for instance, electronic identification, are, is something that we are doing, to help us keep track of the animals that our company owns. I think there there those are, you know, there I I encourage producers to, you know, stay abreast of of, you know, modern technology and and, and I look, you know, I I would encourage producers to to join the Maine Beef Producers Association. I think, membership is important and it will it will guarantee the ongoing success of that group and I think it that it's an important group and and, so I've really enjoyed my time here and I and I look forward to, you know, continuing to work with farms and and to help them be successful.
Colt Knight:
Kevin, we really enjoyed having you with us here at the Ag Trade Show and here on the Maine FarmCast. We would like to remind our listeners that if you have questions, comments, concerns, suggested episodes, Glenda, tell them where they can reach us.
Glenda Pereira:
Yes, Colts. Folks can reach us at extension.farmcast@main.edu. But they can also reach us on our Facebook page, or, you know, our direct emails. But I wanted to say thank you, Kevin, and thanks for the folks tuning in here live at the Ag Trade Show. You've been a fantastic audience, and we look forward to seeing you on the next episode or, you know, hearing from us on the next episode.
