News Update

News Update
March 19, 2007

Kansas Cattle $en$e Meeting Set

The Kansas Cattle Sense meeting will focus on successful beef production and ranching and will take place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., March 22 at the Trego County Fairgrounds in Wakeeney.

Barry Dunn, executive director of the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management, and Chef Victor Matthews of Colorado’s Black Bear Restaurant will be featured speakers at the meeting, sponsored by Kansas State University (K-State) Research. It will include several presentations on a balanced approach to ranching, including:

• Key Indicators of Successful Ranching: A Balanced Approach — Barry Dunn, King Ranch

• Wastewater Runoff Demon — Stacie Edgett-Minson, K-State Research and Extension

• Pasture Rental Rates and Cost-Returns for the Breeding Season — Kevin Dhuyvetter, K-State

• Getting Cows Ready for the Breeding Season — Twig Marston, K-State

• Cattle Market Outlook — Jim Mintert, K-State

• What’s the Beef: A Chef’s Perspective — Victor Matthews, Black Bear Restaurant

The registration fee, which includes a steak supper, is $15. More information is available by calling the K-State Research and Extension Trego County office at 785-743-6361.

— Release provided by K-State Research and Extension.

NIAA Meeting Offers Tour Opportunity to West Coast Ag Professionals

The Annual Meeting of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA), in Sacramento, Calif., April 2-5, provides a unique opportunity to learn about the latest science, technology and industry issues for animal agriculture professionals from California and surrounding states. A tour of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California-Davis is also scheduled.

The special tour of the UC-Davis veterinary school comes after the close of the Impacts of Animal Production Safety Practices on the Food Supply Symposium. The tour will begin at 1:30 p.m. The school is a 25-minute drive from downtown Sacramento, and transportation will be provided.

Symposium registration is available online. You can register for the symposium until March 21 for $195. You can also register onsite for $225. Everyone registered for the entire Annual Meeting is admitted at no extra charge to the symposium.

Student registration is also available. One-day registration fees ($25 per day) include seminars and committee meetings and banquets/functions held on that day. Entire meeting registration fees (at $100) include Opening General Session, Symposium, Seminars & Committee Meetings, “Welcome to California” Reception, and the NIAA Annual Membership Meeting and Recognition Banquet.

Attendees can register for the entire meeting or for specific days. For registration and more information visit www.animalagriculture.org.

— Release provided by NIAA.

Beef 101 Course Scheduled

The North Dakota State Unviersity (NDSU) Extension Service three-session program “Beef 101: From Calves to Carcasses” will be April 3 and 17 in Lisbon, N.D., and April 10 in Enderlin. The program runs from 2 to 7 p.m. each day and will include a meal. Participants should plan to attend all three sessions.

The course is for cow-calf and seedstock producers, feedlot operators, those involved in the custom processing and meat marketing industries, agricultural educators, representatives of related industries, and anyone else interested in beef cattle and beef carcass characteristics. Topics covered, include:

• Session 1 — quality and yield grade calculations, market beef evaluation techniques, live animal evaluation, applications of ultrasound technology, and a demonstration of ultrasound technology;

• Session 2 — beef carcass grading and pricing, conversion of muscle to meat, palatability and carcass evaluation, and a review of quality and yield grade calculations; and

• Session 3 – pricing cattle on grids, management strategies for improving carcass quality, and genetic tools that cow-calf producers can use to increase carcass quality.

The third session will include a dinner taste panel and course review. Instructors include NDSU Extension beef specialists and faculty from NDSU’s Department of Animal and Range Sciences.

The registration deadline is March 23. The cost is $30 per person or $50 for two people from the same operation. The program is limited to 50 participants.

Make checks payable to the NDSU Extension Service and mail them to Lisa Pederson, 2718 Gateway Ave., Suite 104, Bismarck, ND 58503. For more information, contact Pederson at 701-328-9718 or lisa.pederson@ndsu.edu; or Brian Zimprich at 701-683-5823, ext. 128, or brian.zimprich@ndsu.edu.

— Provided by NDSU.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.