AMHERST, Mass. — Regional universities and technical schools are updating their programs to make sure that our future beef farmers have the knowledge, skills, and training experiences needed to meet region-specific demands and challenges in the beef industry.
We need the input of practicing beef farmers in a 20-minute New England Beef Farmer Skills Survey — a vital contribution to the future of the industry in New England.
We expect survey findings to benefit our region’s beef cattle industry by creating a greater pool of well-prepared young farmers. (Photo: Judith Gibson-Okunieff/University of Massachusetts-Amherst)Participation is voluntary, and personally identifiable information is not collected with responses.
We expect survey findings to benefit our region’s beef cattle industry by creating a greater pool of well-prepared young farmers: (1) to serve as apprentices or employees, (2) to expand the infrastructure of the beef industry in New England, and (3) to purchase land, animals and equipment from farmers considering retirement without family successors.
To participate in this survey, please go to www.vasci.umass.edu and click on the link for the New England Beef Farmer Skills Survey. We recommend doing the survey on a computer rather than a cell phone. If you would prefer to complete a paper survey, please contact Dr. Katie Beltaire, DVM, DACT in the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst at (413) 545-2428 or kbeltaire@umass.edu.
–University of Massachusetts-Amherst
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