Hello everyone! Thank you for tuning into the Barnyard Broadcast! We were so lucky to have a few producers on for this episode to talk about how they sell retail or wholesale meat! The producers were Jason Scott from Scott’s Roasting, Jodi Gauker from Gauker Farms, and Rob Hess from Bow Creek Farm. Please check out their bios below! As always, if you have any questions about selling retail or wholesale meat or any other livestock topic, please reach out to your local livestock educator or visit extension.psu.edu.

Please keep an eye out for our next episode!

Guest Bios

Jodi Gauker- Jodi Gauker is a Business Development Extension Educator for Penn State Extension based in Chester County. In addition to her education at Penn State and Texas A&M Universities and work experience, Jodi brings practical knowledge to her position - she and her husband, Lee, are the 9th generation to continue Gauker Farms in Fleetwood. Berks County. On the weekends, you may find her at a local farmers' market or teaching 10th-generation, Callie, all about life on the farm. Jodi is Chair of the PA Beef Council and a director of the Berks County Planning and PA Farm Link boards. She is a member of AgConnect’s Industry Partnership, Berks Southeast Cattlemen's Association, Penn State Stockmen's Club, Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, and Berks Agricultural Resource Network.

Rob Hess- Rob Hess is a Pennsylvania cattle producer who, with his wife, Amy, operates Bow Creek Farm near Hershey, breeding Red Angus cattle and connecting consumers with locally raised beef through an on-farm store and restaurant partnerships.

Jason Scott- Scott's Roasting was started in 1995 by George and Brenda Scott. Their farm, Sylvan Acres Farm, is located in Bellefonte.

Meat Calculator

Hello everyone! Welcome to another episode of The Market Minute with Mattie! These episodes are smaller segments of the Barnyard Broadcast. It will give listeners an overview of the late March, early April numbers and insights into the current markets. If you want to access the reports referenced in this episode, please visit the links below! As always, please get in touch with your local Penn State Extension Livestock educator or visit our website at extension.psu.edu. Thank you for joining me for this month’s installment of the Market Minute with Mattie!

Updated reports can be found on the USDA Market News website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/livestock-poultry-grain

This week's reports:

3/29/26 – 4/4/26 Pennsylvania Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Livestock Futures Settlement 4/8/26

New Holland Sheep and Goat Auction 4/6/2026

National Sheep Summary 4/3/26

New Holland Slaughter Hog Auction 3/31/26

National Daily Hog and Pork Summary 4/7/26

Welcome back to a new season of the Barnyard Broadcast, which is Penn State Extension Livestock Team’s podcast! We are celebrating the new season with a brand-new segment titled the Research Update. The focus of this segment is to bring the research that is being done at Penn State University Park to all our livestock producers. Join us as we interview the people behind the research and hear all about their hard work!

Our first Research Update will focus on the research being done by Dr. Tara Felix and Ingrid L. B. Fernandes. Their published papers and bios are available below!

The association of lung consolidation in beef × dairy cattle at weaning with feedlot growth performance, carcass characteristics, liver health, and liver microbiome diversity

The association of lung consolidation and respiratory pathogens identified at weaning on the growth performance of beef-on-dairy calves

Ingrid L. B. Fernandes - Ingrid has a degree in Animal Science with experience in beef cattle production, traceability, and management, with international experience in Wisconsin, USA. Currently, she is a Graduate Student at Penn State, studying beef x dairy crossbred cattle for meat production. Her studies bring more information on the long-term impacts of diseases in cattle. She believes that science drives industry improvement and that this must be done with ethics and purpose.

Dr. Tara Felix - Dr. Tara Felix is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Penn State University and the state Extension Beef Specialist. Dr. Felix joined Penn State University in 2016. She received her Master's in ruminant nutrition from the University of Florida and her PhD in feedlot nutrition and management from the Ohio State University. She served on the faculty at the University of Illinois prior to her appointment at Penn State. Her research emphasis is on ruminal metabolism in beef cattle fed grain-based diets. Since joining the faculty at Penn State, Dr. Felix has compared and contrasted the metabolism of Holstein and Angus steers.