Livestock Biotech Summit Address Care And Use In Animals

Jul 18, 2014

Scientists and researchers are actively engaged in finding ways to improve the care and use of animals in biomedical applications and food production. Programming at this year’s Livestock Biotech Summit will address new methods for ensuring optimal care and use of agricultural animals for a range of applications. The 2014 Summit will be held September 16-19, 2014, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.

“Can you imagine a time when cures to life threatening diseases are developed faster and at less cost or when technologies to improve the environmental footprint of animal agriculture are common place? These achievements are within reach through biomedical and food animal biotechnology applications,” said Cathy Enright, Executive Vice President of Food and Agriculture at BIO. “We know consumers have questions and we know consumers have questions about the care and use of these animals. This year’s Livestock Biotech Summit programming will stress how researchers are mindful of the care and use of animals for biomedical applications and for food production.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.