ADDING VALUE TO WEANED BEEF CALVES BELONGING TO SMALL AND LIMITED RESOURCE PRODUCERS IN THE BLACK BELT OF ALABAMA

Overreaching goal: Improve the value of weaned beef calves marketed by small, socially, and economically disadvantaged beef producers utilizing a unique marketing strategy.The below objectives must be accomplished for us to achieve the overreaching goal.Objective 1: Effectively demonstrate the necessary management practices to producers through workshops and farm visits across the Black Belt of Alabama.Objective 2: Increase calf health and quality through herd health, fixed-time artificial insemination, and cover/ breeding bulls that meet the industry demands.Objective3: Establish additional clusters/ calf pools of small producers willing to work together to formulate marketing strategies to increase their returnsObjective 4: Train graduate and professional students on value-added beef production and marketing.Objective 5: Demonstrate the price difference experienced by the clusters for the value-added marketing strategy via an economic analysis and presentation of the results at workshops across the Black Belt of Alabama.