By Chabella Guzman
The Colorado State University Department of Animal Sciences will host the 28th Range Beef Cow Symposium, Dec. 13-14 at The Ranch in Loveland, Colo. The symposium has been a partnership event between Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming universities since it began in 1969. Rotating around to each state every year.
“All four states face similar beef production challenges, so symposium topics, trade show vendors, and networking opportunities can be more regionally focused,” said Ryan Rhoades, Colorado State University associate professor and extension beef specialist. “Rotating around allows each university to showcase their research projects and provides producers in the hosting state closer access to attend the event.”
The symposium will have around 50 vendors with products and services on display throughout the event. Along with the networking opportunities will also be the popular Bull Pen sessions.
Rhoades likens the Bull Pen sessions to baseball and how teams utilize bullpen sessions to work on the mechanics and try out new techniques. “We’re bringing back another powerful bunch of sessions to the Range Beef Cow Symposium this year. Each day’s speakers break up into smaller groups focused on specific topics where producers can ask questions and participate in productive discussions with valuable takeaways.”
As the host college, CSU will bring some hot topics to producers, including Dr. Tim Holt, Colorado State University DVM Clinical Sciences, with a chute-side demonstration of how a PAP score is measured and other insights into high altitude disease. CSU AgNext feedlot specialist Dr. Pedro Carvalho will demonstrate how they use Greenfeed technology to measure cattle emissions on pasture. A brief overview of policy changes, effective strategies, and land-use goals will be discussed during the “Public Land Grazing: Dealing with the Public” session. Attendees will also participate in a hands-on learning experience about sensory and taste testing, consumer preferences, and beef nutrition.
“We’ll also hear more on product regulations, marketing strategies, and consumer utilization during ‘The Business of Direct Beef Marketing’ panel breakout session. There will be a session on ‘Wolf Reintroduction,’ with updates, potential mitigation strategies, and compensation plans moving forward,” Rhoades said.
The day before the symposium, a special add-on will be the BQA Certification Workshop from 1-5 p.m. at The Ranch Complex in Loveland, Colo.
The biennial symposium, sponsored by the Cooperative Extension Service and Animal Science Departments of Colorado State University, South Dakota State University, University of Nebraska, and University of Wyoming, offers an exclusive program of practical production management information specific to the region’s cattle producers.
Source : unl.edu