CALF News Aug./Sept 2018

36 CALF News • August | September 2018 • www.calfnews.net NEWYORK BEEF Continued from page 35 Wisconsin. Most of New York’s 1.48 million head (as of January 2018) are dairy oriented. But there are hundreds of small beef herds that take advantage of the state’s lush pastures. Most are of European decent and handle the frigid winters with ease. “My family has been in the registered Hereford business since the 1950,” says Kriese, who retired this summer as a vo-ag teacher some 33 years after earning a bachelor’s from Kansas State University and a master’s from Cornell University, the Ivy League’s ag school. “One of my best experiences was while I attended K-State, at the ‘Little Apple’ in Manhattan. I learned that diversi- fied operations can help improve profit potential. We run fewer than 100 cows, which include Herefords and Angus we got into in the 1980s. We added Red Angus about 15 years ago.” Kriese is like many New York pro- ducers. He sells a lot of beef at regional farmer’s markets.“So many of us are small operators,” he says.“It’s hard to put together a large number of calves and ship them to feedyards in the Midwest. We have to make sure we produce qual- ity beef consumers will buy and come back for. I often enter my bulls in a Penn State University bull test to measure their performance consistency.” As president of the state producers’ association, Kriese contends,“the eco- nomic pressures of the Northeast dairy producers are not just their problem. As beef producers, we must understand that at least 20 percent of the ground beef on the market is derived from the dairy industry. As fluid milk prices continue to struggle, there will be more cull cows heading to market. “But I see great opportunities for our state industry,” he explains. “More John Kriese tests his Branchport, N.Y., bulls at Penn State University. dairy guys will probably liquidate. But when you’re a cowman, you’re a cowman, whether it’s with Herefords or Holsteins. “The diary operations have good forage and the operators know how to grow it. I think we’ll see guys show interest in breeding dairy cows to Angus or other beef bulls.” (Such a program worked several years ago when drought caused a shortage of beef cows in much of Texas, Oklahoma and the Southern Plains.) “I see opportunities in the stocker business. We have a lot of grassland here. There may be a good opportunity for 350-pound calves to go to grass. Overall, I think we’ll see a better demand for beef in our part of the country.” Kriese stresses the importance of his state’s producers to support the Beef Checkoff and do all they can to connect more consumers with beef. Whether it’s at one of dozens of fine-dining steak- houses in NYC, a Times Square $25 burger (fries are extra), or the hundreds of street food venders offering beef, he wants beef in New Yorker diets. It’s Beef for The Big Apple all the way. For more on New York beef, visit www.fortheloveofnybeef.com .  Quite a contrast to Park Avenue, Upstate New York pastures produce great forage for beef. “Overall, I think we’ll see a better demand for beef in our part of the country.” – John Kriese