Beefmasters on the Road: In Georgia and Panamá

By Lance Bauer, Field Representative

The past couple of weeks have been full of travel. I have gone from Athens, Ga. for the Beef Improvement Federation conference and to David, Chiriqui, Panamá for Feria De La Carne Bovina (Cattlemen’s Convention). In Athens, there were academics, as well as producers, represented and many informative presentations were presented about the future of the cattle industry in the United States. It was very evident from these presentations that we need to produce more efficient and maternal cattle. There was also a big push to use crossbreeding and take advantage of hybrid vigor. I believe that all three of these topics are strengths of the Beefmaster and make us a viable option for producers.

In Panamá, I visited the government operated experiment station called Instituto de Investigación Agropecuaria de Panamá (IDIAP) and learned about their crossbreeding projects. They have recently incorporated Beefmasters into this project and are very pleased with the results. IDIAP eventually wants to have a maternal line, based on the Beefmaster breed. I visited with Roderick of IDIAP and he told me that across Panamá people are buying Beefmaster and Beefmaster-cross cows because they have seen how well they perform in the tropical environment of Panamá. To conclude my trip, I presented at Feria De La Carne Bovina about Beefmaster cattle and hybrid vigor, which generated several good questions from the audience. I was interviewed for a television program where I also spoke about how Beefmaster could be beneficial in Panamá. It was a good trip and I believe it is the beginning of more demand for Beefmaster genetics in Panamá.