A New Meat School Coming to a Town or Computer Near You!
Are you interested in learning more about production, processing and selling high quality meat through diverse market channels? Would you like new ways to manage risk in your livestock business and improve your profitability? If the answers are yes, then you’ll want to check out the Western Meat School.
The Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network (NMPAN), an Extension program housed at Oregon State University, is collaborating with Colorado State University and other institutions to offer this 6‐week class. Funded by Western Extension Risk Management Education grants and the Globetrotter Foundation, the Western Meat School is an accessible and affordable way for farmers and ranchers to learn the most practical aspects of producing and marketing meat while deepening their understanding of the full niche meat supply chain. You can attend classes at one of 4 sites in Colorado: Montrose, Rocky Ford, Pueblo or Colorado Springs, or from your own home computer.
All speakers will be brought to you via the Zoom webinar platform. Classes cover
marketing, production, and processing topics ‐ all critical for direct marketing high‐quality meat. Classes will also include a live beef animal evaluation and yield analysis
demonstration with Nathan Parker of the Oregon State University Clark Meat Science
Center, and similar “hoof to rail” demonstrations on pig and lamb carcasses at the
University of Wyoming Meat Lab. Participants will receive a text and gain access to a
resource guide, recorded videos, and optional add‐on modules: one on hogs (breeds,
forages and finishing) and another on meat pricing.
The Western Meat School builds on a pilot project offered by Colorado State University Extension in Fall 2019. One Colorado grassfed beef producer had this to say about the school:
“Outstanding use of my time, rich learning experience, very targeted to the pressing
questions and needs of my small, growing grass‐fed beef finishing and direct
marketing operation. [The speakers] were obviously people who had direct, lived,
relevant expertise. Their presentations were very professional.”
Registration is open now, with scholarships available until September 30th. Deadline
to enroll is October 28th. Classes begin on November 4th and run every Wednesday evening through December 16th (skipping Thanksgiving week).
Visit the Western Meat School website to learn more and enroll.
For more information, please contact Martha Sullins, Colorado State University Extension, at martha.sullins@colostate.edu.