MU Extension Conference For Farm Women Set For Sept. 11-12

Aug 21, 2015

By Mary Sobba

A University of Missouri Extension agriculture business conference for women is set for Sept. 11-12 at Windermere Conference Center at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Keynote speakers are Katie Dilse, Farm & Ranch Guide’s 2014 Country Woman of the Year, and Texas A&M agriculture economist Jason Johnson.

Topics include a crop and livestock marketing outlook, how to start an ag tourism venture, Missouri fence laws, livestock health, home energy efficiency, meal planning for families on the go, identity theft, insurance, investments and more.

“Throughout the course of our classes for farm women we have had several women express the desire for a conference where they could meet other farm women from across the state,” says Mary Sobba, MU Extension ag specialist and a state coordinator for Annie’s Project. “This is another great forum for women in agriculture to get together to learn about the business of farming and network with others in like situations.”

MU Extension and USDA Risk Management Agency sponsor the conference.

Source:missouri.edu

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.