News Update

Industry Events
Aug. 3, 2007

OSU Summer Workshops
August-October, Ohio

The Ohio State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Team will sponsor a series of tours and workshops throughout the summer, including:

• Aug. 28, Soil Health and Quality Workshop in Wood County — Agricultural Incubator Foundation, 13737 Middleton Pike Rd. (state Route 582), Bowling Green, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., $25 (includes lunch and books). For farm families, crop consultants, Extension educators and others. Hands-on activities to assess, measure and improve the overall health and quality of farm soils. Call Alan Sundermeier at 419-354-9050 by Aug. 18 to register.

• Aug. 30, Organic Grain Research Field Day — West Badger Farm, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), 1518 Barnard Rd., Wooster, 1-4 p.m., free, 330-202-3528. Presented by scientists with OARDC’s Organic Food and Farming Education and Research program, now in its ninth year. Tour organic grain plots and compare different production methods.

• Sept. 27, Soil Health and Quality Workshop in Wayne County — Fisher Auditorium, OARDC, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., $25 (includes lunch and books). See Aug. 28 details. Call Alan Sundermeier at 419-354-9050, by Sept. 17 to register.

• Oct. 10, Organic Livestock and On-farm Biodiesel Production — Mike and Dawn Roberts farm, 7203 Waynesburg Rd. N.W., Waynesburg, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., free, 330-866-2132. A certified-organic, grass-based operation that milks Normande cattle using an all-forage diet in a managed grazing system, produces and direct-markets pasture-raised beef and poultry, and recently received a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant to develop an on-farm biodiesel system to refine used cooking oil and use it to power the farm’s equipment.

Visit http://sustainableag.osu.edu to download the schedule, along with the schedule of summer tours and workshops offered by Innovative Farmers of Ohio, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, the Ohio Grassland and Forage Council, and the Small Farm Institute.

For more information, contact Mike Hogan, Carroll County office, OSU Extension, 32 W. Main St., Carrollton, OH 44615; (330) 627-4310; hogan.1@osu.edu.

TAMU alternative energy field tour
Aug. 8, Bushland, Texas

Texas A&M University (TAMU) Extension will host a field day Aug. 8 featuring agriculture’s role in the energy industry.

Themed “Alternative Energy Sources from Agriculture” this year’s summer field tour will be at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service (USDA-ARS) research facilities west of Bushland.

The research farm has long been known for its non-traditional windmills, and wind energy will be discussed at the field day. Other research projects that will also be discussed are: feedlots and bioenergy; solar energy; and potential ethanol production from perennial wheat, sorghum, dryland corn and grass mixtures.

Mark Hussey, Experiment Station director, will be the keynote speaker. He will outline the statewide Experiment Station research program and future directions in biofuels.

Registration will begin at 9 a.m., and the tours will start at 9:30 a.m. A noon meal will be served.

For more information, contact Kay Ledbetter, Experiment Station communications specialist, at 806-677-5600.

Alfalfa Workshop
Aug. 9 in Farwell, Texas

Crop producers, cattle raisers and grass farmers who are interested in alfalfa should mark Aug. 9 on their calendars. That is the date for a regional alfalfa workshop in Farwell, sponsored by Texas Cooperative Extension and New Mexico State University.

Topics will include variety selection, fertility and irrigation to weed control, entomology and forage quality. Participants will also visit a nearby alfalfa field.

The workshop will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. at the Farwell Community Center, 207 Ninth St., two blocks south of U.S. Highway 84. The program will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch is included with registration.

An overview of alfalfa production, followed by a session on weed control is also planned.

Registration costs $20 per person and includes lunch and an alfalfa crop book containing Extension, New Mexico State and National Alfalfa Alliance information.

Those who plan to attend are encouraged to preregister by Aug. 7, by calling the Extension office in Parmer County at 806-481-3619. Participants will qualify for continuing education units approved for Texas and New Mexico.

For more information, contact Calvin Trostle at 806-746-6101; Mark Marsalis, New Mexico State agronomist in Clovis, at 505-985-2292; or the Extension office in Parmer County.

K-State Beef Conference
Aug. 9-10, Manhattan, Kan.

The two-day conference will take place at Weber Hall at Kansas State University’s (K-State’s) Manhattan campus and will focus on adding value to calves. The event will include presentations aimed at increasing efficiency and profit on cattle operations. Nine presentations are scheduled for Thursday, followed by three more the following day.

The conference will begin with registration at 9 a.m. Thursday and end at 6 p.m. The conference will begin at 8 a.m. Friday and end at noon.

Lunch and dinner will be provided on the first day of the conference. Breaks will be provided both days. Registration fees are $150 per person and are due by Aug. 3.

For more information visit www.asi.ksu.edu/beefconference or call Larry Hollis at 785-532-1246. Call Linda Siebold at 785-532-1281 for questions regarding conference registration.

2007 Kansas Angus Tour
Aug. 10-11

Angus breeders and enthusiasts of all ages are invited to experience “Angus on the Santa Fe,” the 2007 Kansas Angus Tour, Aug. 10-11.

This year’s Kansas Angus Tour involves a mix of family fun and fellowship along with educational experiences. The two-day event highlights 10 Kansas Angus breeders and cattle operations, including tours of the following three ranches: Bohi Land and Cattle Co., Wellsville, Kan., Sankey’s 6N Ranch, Council Grove, Kan., and Clay White Ranch, Peabody, Kan. In addition, “Angus on the Santa Fe,” features guest speakers and several sponsor exhibits. An array of authentic cowboy experiences, including delicious meals and entertainment, will also contribute to an enjoyable event.

The 2007 tour begins with registration on Friday, Aug. 10, at Bohi Land and Cattle Co. In addition to a ranch tour, attendees can meet with the following featured Angus breeders serving as cattle display hosts: BAX Maternal Beef Genetics, Sund Farm, and May-Way Farms. Friday’s events also include guest speaker, Bill Bowman, American Angus Association vice president of information and data programs and director of performance programs. Bowman will discuss new heifer pregnancy (HP) expected progeny differences (EPDs). The evening concludes with a steak dinner, entertainment and youth activities.

Good food and entertainment begin Saturday’s events, as registrants enjoy a breakfast of biscuits and gravy at the oldest restaurant west of the Mississippi, the Hays House Restaurant. Entertainment includes Josh Hoy’s Chuck Wagon Experience and Cowboy Coffee, cowboy balladeer and author Jim Hoy, and Christian horseman Rex Buchman.

Saturday ranch tours begin at Sankey’s 6N Ranch. In addition to a ranch tour, participants have the opportunity to experience more industry sponsor exhibits and visit the following herd gathering displays: R & L Angus, Hedgewood Prairie Angus, Vohs Angus Farm and Trademark Ranch.

Youth attendees have the exciting opportunity to partake in the “Lil Cowboy and Cowgirl Ranch Rodeo” featuring stick-horse barrel and pole bending races as well as a much anticipated straw bale calf roping competition.

“Angus on the Santa Fe” concludes with a third ranch tour of Clay White Ranch, sightseeing of a historic three-story stone barn, and lunch.

There is no registration cost for the Kansas Angus Tour; however, tour participants are responsible for their own lodging reservations and cost of lodging. Registrants are also responsible for transportation between tour stops.

You may register online at www.kansasangus.org. Registrations and additional event information may be obtained by contacting Anne Lampe, Kansas Angus Association secretary/manager at 5201 E. Rd. 110 Scott City, KS 67871; 620-872-3915; or kansasangus@wbsnet.org.

Tour lodging headquarters are at the Cottage House Hotel and Motel in Council Grove, Kan. Call 1-800-727-7903 to make reservations. Attendees may also make reservations at the Comfort Inn, located in Ottawa, Kan., near Bohi Land & Cattle. Call the Comfort Inn at 785-242-9898 to make reservations.

— Information provided by the American Angus Association.

Wheat, Stocker Cattle Conference
Aug. 14, Wichita Falls, Texas

Area producers can update their knowledge of wheat production and learn more about stocker cattle at an Aug. 14 conference. The event will be presented in Room 5 of the Multi-Purpose Event Center, 1000 Fifth St., in Wichita Falls.

The program will begin at 4 p.m. Registration costs $10 per person, and includes materials and a steak dinner.

A wheat market outlook and a summary of this year’s wheat variety trials is planned. Bob Hunger, Oklahoma State University Extension plant pathologist, will give an update on wheat diseases. Topics will also include dual-purpose wheat management and cattle budgeting and risk management for stocker operations.

For more information contact the following Extension offices: Wichita County, 940-716-8610; Archer County, 940-574-4914; Clay County, 940-538-5042; or Wilbarger County, 940-552-5474.

K-State Risk and Profit Conference
Aug. 16-17, Manhattan

Two nationally-prominent speakers will highlight the 2007 K-State Risk and Profit Conference Aug. 16-17 at the K-State Alumni Center in Manhattan.

Keynote speakers will be Elwynn Taylor, a professor of agronomy and Extension climatologist at Iowa State University, and Sarah Fogleman, an Extension agricultural economist at K-State and an expert in farm and ranch human resource management.

The theme for this year’s conference, which is sponsored by K-State’s Department of Agricultural Economics, is “Wild Weather, Policy Politics, and Energy Equilibriums.” Other presentations will focus on topics pertinent to today’s farming and ranching operations, including an update on biofuels by K-State Research and Extension grain marketing specialist Mike Woolverton and a presentation on disaster aid and crop insurance by K-State farm management specialist Art Barnaby.

The conference will feature presentations on other topics of interest to the agricultural community. Attendees can choose to attend up to eight different sessions from among such topics as:

• Disaster aid, crop insurance and whole-farm revenue insurance update;
• Update on the 2007 Farm Bill;
• Effect of government subsidies on rural development;
• Biofuels update;
• Interrelationship of ethanol, DDGs and cattle;
• Ethanol production in Brazil;
• Higher Land Values;
• Higher Land Rents?;
• Autoguidance equipment: Does it pay?;
• Grain handling and transportation in western Kansas;
• No-till efficiency;
• Cattle feeding return risk;
• How U.S. agricultural products appeal to Japanese consumers;
• How to be more web savvy; and
• Results from a water quality trading experiment conducted in 2006.

Registration begins Aug. 16 at 10 a.m., with lunch served at 11:30 a.m.

On Aug. 17, the conference begins with breakfast from 6:45a.m.-7:30 a.m. followed by in-depth livestock and grain outlook presentations. The conference ends late Friday afternoon.

Registration fees are $180 for the initial participant in a group and $160 for each additional person, if postmarked by Aug. 8. Fees for late registrants are $200 for the first person and $175 for each additional participant. The fees include four meals (two lunches, one dinner, and one breakfast), a compact disc containing the conference proceedings and a parking pass.

More information, including downloadable registration forms, are available at www.agmanager.info/events/ or by calling  785-532-1504.

Missouri Angus Tour
Aug. 24-26

The Missouri Angus Association will host a tour of northeast Missouri, headquartered in Hannibal.

The tour, which includes meals and bus transportation, costs $75 per person and does not include hotel accommodations.

Quality Inn & Suites in Hannibal will serve as the host hotel. Rooms start at $76.95 or $86.95 for suites. Call 573-221-4001 to make reservations. Ask for the Missouri Angus block of rooms.

All tour entries should be sent to Kris Graupman, 4152 CR 230, Palmyra, MO 63641. Be sure to include the names of each tour participant as well as $75 for each person. Make checks payable to the Missouri Angus Tour.

For more information contact Graupman at 573-769-2956.

MU beef field day
Sept. 15, MU South Farm, Columbia, Mo.

Adding value to Missouri feeder calves is the theme of the annual beef field day at MU South Farm, Sept. 15.

Beef herd owners will hear several ways to capture more value from their feeder calves during the event, which will feature beef research and Extension programs at the Beef Research and Teaching Farm, off Highway 63, south of Columbia.

Topics will include adding value to calves by backgrounding, the value of preconditioning and evaluation of BVD (bovine viral diarrhea) effects, beef marketing and retained ownership.

Keynote speakers at noon will include Mike John, manager of MFA Health Track and past president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). John, a rancher from Huntsville, Mo., will give a “Beef Industry Update.”

The effects of genetics on adding value in beef cattle will also be discussed.

There will be continuous demonstrations at the beef barns. Topics include feed-intake research, use of coproduct feeds, use of timed artificial insemination (AI) and stockpiled fescue grazing.

There will be pasture walks on the newly established beef grazing paddocks.

Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. Demonstrations start at 9 a.m. and run until 4:30 p.m.

A free lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. Reservations are required; to reserve a meal, call Judy Burton at 573-882-7327. Commercial exhibits will be on display in the barns.

Additional information can be obtained from farm manager Phillip Brooks at 574-823-7930. The MU farm is located 2.6 miles south of the AC exit on Highway 63. It is on Old Millers Road, behind the KOMU-TV tower.

Purdue agribusiness conferences, seminars
Oct. 22-26; Nov. 13-14

Purdue University will conduct two conferences and seminars aimed at those in agribusiness. An agrimarketing seminar will take place Oct. 22-26, and a National Conference for Agribusiness: “Re-Thinking Service Strategies: Innovations that Drive Profit” is scheduled for Nov. 13-14.

For more information about these conferences and seminars, contact Purdue’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business at 765-494-4247 or agbusinessinfo@purdue.edu.

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