Farms.com Home   News

Register Now to Attend 21st Annual Southern Plains Beef Symposium


Register Now to Attend 21st Annual Southern Plains Beef Symposium

ARDMORE, Okla. – Cattle producers looking to place their operations in the best possible position to prosper should register now to attend the 21st annual Southern Plains Beef Symposium on Aug. 13 in Ardmore.

“Today’s beef industry is faced with stratospheric cattle markets and volatile input costs, making producer decisions relative to management and long-term sustainability more important than ever,” said Dave Lalman, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension beef cattle specialist and a member of the symposium program committee.

The symposium will take place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Ardmore Convention Center, located at 2401 N. Rockford Rd. between exits 32 and 33 off Interstate 35.

Admission is $25 per person if pre-registering and $30 at the door. The fee covers the cost of all symposium materials, access to the event’s trade show and a prime rib lunch.

Participants also will be eligible for the Grand Door Prize drawing of a Priefert cattle chute, model S04, a value of $4,421 made possible through donations provided by Priefert Ranch and Rodeo Manufacturing and the Stillwater Milling Company.

“Although everyone is welcome, we’re asking participants to pre-register to ensure we have sufficient food, refreshments and symposium materials on hand,” said Leland McDaniel, Carter County Extension director and program committee member. “Having a head count really does make a difference in helping us provide as enjoyable and informative an event as possible.”

To register, contact Denise Menke of the Carter County Extension Office at 580-223-6570.

Morning sessions will focus on production agriculture and regulatory environmental issues, led by Frank Mitloehner of the University of California at Davis, and identifying opportunities for surviving in the today’s industry climate, led by Brent Keuhny of Dollar K Cattle.

“Dr. Mitloehner is an internationally renowned authority on agricultural air quality, animal-environment interactions and environmental engineering,” McDaniel said. “Brent Keuhny’s Dollar K Cattle operation is a 4,000 head pre-conditioning and growing feedyard in Elmore City.”

Afternoon sessions will focus on a global perspective of external influences affecting the U.S. beef industry, led by Dan Halstrom of the U.S. Meat Export Federation; cattle market outlooks and issues, led by Jim Robb, director of the Livestock Marketing Information Center; and three major obstacles to expanding the national cow herd, led by Stan Bevers, Texas AgriLife Extension economist.

“Prior to joining USMEF in July 2010, Dan Halstrom worked 28 years on the staff of Swift and Company, now called JBS,” McDaniel said. “He heads up USMEF’s global marketing and communications efforts.”

Robb is known to many U.S. producers and agribusiness operators through his hundreds of articles in the popular press and newsletters covering a variety of agricultural marketing and cattle industry topics.

“We’re very pleased to have Stan Bevers on hand to share his insights,” McDaniel said. “Stan is an alumnus of Cameron University in Lawton and an experienced Extension economist well-versed in agricultural issues of the south-central United States, plus he and his family are all involved in their farming and ranching operation in Knox County, Texas.”

Sponsors for the 21st annual Southern Plains Beef Symposium include AC Nutrition/Bluebonnett Feeds, Allflex USA Inc., American National Bank, Boehringer-Ingleheim Animal Health, Carter County Cattleman’s Association, Cattle Stats/Idexx Labs, Citizen’s Bank and Trust Company, Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma, First National Bank and Trust of Ardmore, Frontier Feeds, Hargrove Ranch Insurance, Hitch Enterprises, Merial Limited, MicroBeef Technologies, National Livestock Credit Corporation, Oklahoma Beef Council, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, Pennington Seed, Pettit Machinery Inc., Pfizer Inc., Silveus Insurance Group and Stillwater Milling Company.

Source: Oklahoma State University, U. S. Department of Agriculture


Trending Video

Exploring Pork's Potential

Video: Exploring Pork's Potential

llinois pork producers tour four different retail stores in Chicago and discover the differences in how pork is uniquely merchandised in each store to meet the needs of different consumers.