October 2019 Articles

Archives by Months

Arkansas beef cattle industry: 2017 self-assessment

Arkansas beef cattle industry: 2017 self-assessment Source: Gadberry, M. S., et al., University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Ser vice, Department of Animal Science Applied Animal Science 35:357-370; https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2019-01859 (August 2019) A previous cattle industry assessment for Arkansas indicated increasing production cost, animal disease , consumer confidence, product demand, and opportunity to pur chase additional land w ere common challenges among small commercial cow-calf, large commercial cow-calf, purebred, stocker operators, and t he allied support industry. The survey also revealed newsletters, extension print publications, on-farm demonstrations, and one-on-one consultation were the most preferred methods for receiving information. Objectives of this study were 2-fold. The first objective was to gain new insight into the strengths, weaknesses (limitations), opportunities, and threats (SWOT) for 6 segments of Arkansas’s beef industry including small commercial cow-calf (<50 cows), large commercial cow-calf, purebred, stocker, allied industry, and education support. T he second objective was to evaluate educational preferences including met hods for receiving information and group meeting participation. • During phase I of the assessment, leaders from each segment participated in listening sessions and generated a list of SWOT comments. During phase II, up t o 100 industry representatives from each segment were randomly selected to complete a survey. • Results: The SWOT assessment revealed eight universal grand challenge areas including markets and marketing, land availability and cost , technology adoption, cattle genetic merit and health, government regulation, animal activism, labor , and next generation of producers. Printed extension publications was a method for receiving information among producers and industry. Group meetings and workshops were only moderately preferred among producers and industry. Based on meeting day preference response rate, stocker operators were least likely to attend meetings. • Implications: Industry assessments establish awareness of the challenges producers and supporters face and reveal opportunities in programming to advance industry sustainability. Visit our web site at: http://www.uaex.edu