Iowa Beef Center director column
January 2023
Educational Events in January
Are record feed prices here to stay? When will decreased cattle numbers translate into higher cattle prices? What are my options for dealing with narrow margins and high costs? What’s new in cattle health and welfare? What new technologies are available that may improve sustainability and profitability? What’s new in the carbon markets for beef operations? What’s new in cattle genetics and genomics that can move my herd forward? These questions can’t be answered in this column but will be discussed at one of several of our major educational events to be held in of January.
The Iowa part of the 2023 Three-State Beef Conference will be held Jan. 11 and will focus on adding value to the calf crop, mineral supplementation of the cow herd and water quality issues during drought. Speakers are Mary Drewnoski from the University of Nebraska, Dan Loy from Iowa State University and Miranda Meehan from North Dakota State University The Iowa event will take place at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield with registration beginning at 5:30 p.m. Contact the Adair County Extension Office to for more information or to register. This event is hosted by the Iowa Beef Center, the University of Missouri and the University of Nebraska.
Feedlot Forum 2023, scheduled for Jan. 17 in Sioux Center, features adding income to the feedlot enterprise. The speaker lineup includes Zach Smith, Assistant Professor of Animal Science at South Dakota State University; Wes Gentry, Nutritionist for Midwest PMS; Dan Anderson from ISU (Dr. Manure); and Caitlyn Grudzinski, Account Executive, Commodity and Ingredient Hedging. For more information, contact Beth Doran or the Sioux County Extension Office. This event is brought to you by the Sioux, Lyon and Plymouth County Cattlemen’s Associations along with IBC and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association.
This year’s Driftless Region Beef Conference will be held Jan. 26-27 at the Grand River Center in Dubuque. Carbon markets, direct marketing of beef, cover crops and cows, feeding systems, feed processing, low stress cattle handling and changes in animal health regulations are just a few of the topics to be covered. Derrell Peel from Oklahoma State University will wrap up the conference with a market outlook. For more information and to register, check out the website. The Driftless Region Beef Conference is sponsored by Iowa State, University of Wisconsin and University of Illinois.
The 51st Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conference will be Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa. The conference offers free admission and is preceded by the KIIC Farm Show on Friday afternoon. Keynote speakers will be Randie Culbertson, Extension Cow-calf specialist from ISU, Darrell Peel from Oklahoma State University, speaker Damion Mason and Tim Parks from Merck Animal Health. The afternoon breakout sessions include lots of good information as well. More information is available at the website.
Please take advantage of these educational opportunities. Also, look for other local programs in your area throughout the winter including Calving Clinics in Southwest Iowa (contact Erika Woolfolk) and BQA certification programs. Speaking of calving, we still have a supply of our newly updated calving books. Let us know if you need one or stop by our booth at events throughout the winter. And as always feel free to reach out to any member of our IBC team.
The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can also follow @iowabeefcenter on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram and now AgFuse.
