The Iowa Cattle Industry Convention at the Holiday Inn Des Moines-Airport Conference Center is right around the corner. The theme for this year's conference, December 8-10, is "ICA: Hands On – Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow," a reference to the organization's continuing efforts to provide Iowa's cattle producers with the information they need as they need it.

TIMELY TOPICS: The first two days of educational sessions and keynote speakers at the Iowa Cattle Industry Convention will provide a chance to learn the latest on timely beef-related topics, including sustainability, estate planning, pasture management, and feedlot performance.

The first two days of the event will feature keynote speakers and educational sessions on a range of topics, from estate planning to measuring feedlot performance to cover crop grazing to managing fescue toxicosis. The Iowa Beef Industry Council and Iowa Cattlemen's Association will hold their annual meetings on the final day on December 10.

Here's the full schedule of the three-day event:

Day 1 – December 8, 2014: Zoetis' Cattlemen's College

9:00 a.m. Registration opens– Iowa Exhibition Hall Foyer

10:00 a.m. Welcome Address – North & Central Ballroom
Matt Deppe, Iowa Cattlemen's Association CEO

Session 1 – Three Concurrent Sessions

10:30 a.m. Livestock Marketing That Sells - Paige Wallace, Ranch House Designs
Whether you have 1 head or 100 head to sell, learn the Ranch House Designs secrets for success in livestock social media, print advertising, and web design. Ranch House Designs is a full service graphic design and advertising firm based in Wharton, Texas, owned and ran by multiple livestock producers.

10:30 a.m. The Road to Sustained Profitability- Warren Weibert, Feedyard Consultant
See how serious cattlemen have benefited by retaining ownership through this Kansas feedlot by objective evaluation and targeted genetic changes.

10:30 a.m. Managing Cover Crops with Cows - Wade Dooley, Albion
I'll talk about our operation, successes and failures, and what we've learned from them. Also will talk about those around us who we've learned valuable lessons from, and a bit of data on cover crops, grazing, and feed savings.

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11:30 a.m. Lunch & Awards – North & Central Ballroom
2014 Seedstock Producer of the Year and 2014 Commercial Producer of the Year

11:30 a.m. General Session: U.S. and Global Beef Update - Brett Stuart, Global AgriTrend
Around the world look at beef markets.  U.S. expectations as we move into 2015, as well as global implications of tight supplies and higher prices.  A discussion on China as the largest beef importer and India as the potential largest beef exporter globally. 

Session 2 – Three Concurrenrt Sessions

1:30 p.m. Fertilizer Price, Manure Value and Farm Sustainability - Dr. Alfredo DiCostanzo and Nicole Kenney, University of Minnesota
Manure has become an increasingly valuable component of integrated crop and livestock operations and an important factor to evaluate as a component of total farm profitability/sustainability and when considering feedlot expansion. This session will highlight information from a multi-year research study on the impact of feedlot facility design on manure nutrient composition, the fertilizer value of manure, and the role manure plays in total farm sustainability.

1:30 p.m. Fescue Toxicosis in Beef Cattle: Understanding and Managing the Problem – Scott Flynn, Dow AgroSciences
Since being released in 1943, KY 31 tall fescue has become a component of nearly 40 million acres of pasture in the US. Unfortunately its expansion in acreage has also brought along several animal disorders such as fescue toxicosis, bovine fat necrosis, and fescue foot which drastically reduces herd performance and health. Because tall fescue had been around so long, many of today's cattle producers have accepted low weight gains, poor conception, and heat stress as the norm while never understanding that fescue pastures are the culprit.

1:30 p.m. Speaking Up for Agriculture – panel of Justin & Corinne Rowe – Dallas County, Sara Ross, Pottawatamie County Justin & Jennifer Dammann Page County, and Kristen Porter – blogger at Food and FamilyandIowa Girl Eats
These producers talk about the reason they take time to work with the media and through social media to talk about beef production on the farm.

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Session 3 – Three Concurrent Sessions

3:15 p.m. Stewardship: A Philosophy of Life, Culture and Business– Gerald Stokka, North Dakota State University
The lecture will include a definition of the term stewardship, and a discussion of the values, culture and experiences that makes livestock agriculture unique.

3:15 p.m. Opportunity and Risk with Record Cattle Prices- Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University
Record cattle prices offer opportunity and challenges for cow-calf producers.  Along with unprecedented revenue potential, record high cattle bring additional risk to cattle producers.  This session will analyze increased financial risk components, including market risk and production risk, and considerations for risk management and marketing calves at record prices.

3:15 p.m. Cattle Building Best For You – A Panel of Peter Westra, Hull Co-op; Mike Sexton, Twin Lakes Environmental Services; Jim Knuth, Farm Credit Services of America; and Alan Friederichsen, Ida County
If you're thinking about putting up a cattle building, this panel talks about the financial, environmental and operational considerations that need to be considered.

4:00 p.m. SafeBeef©- For County Grills - Dr. Cathy Strohbehn, Iowa State University Extension  
A discussion of the fundamentals of safe handling of beef for county grilling events. Attendees who successfully complete a short quiz after this presentation will receive a SafeBeef© wallet card certificate of their knowledge and commitment to serving a safe beef product.

5:20 p.m. Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds

6:30 p.m. Welcome & Awards - Ed Greiman, Iowa Cattlemen's Association President
2014 Young Cattlemen's Leadership Program; County Membership Awards; 30^th Anniversary of Beef Quarters – John Mortimer; Environmental Stewardship Award – Nichols Farm, Dave, Phyllis & Lillian Nichols

7:30 p.m. Entertainment & Social
Barn Owl Band

Day 2 – December 9, 2014: Policy Day

7:00 a.m. Registration & Tradeshow Opens

8:30 a.m. General Session – Sustainability Roundtable, Bill Couser, Emcee; Sara Place, Oklahoma State University; Susan Forsell, McDonald's; Cameron Bruett, JBS of North America; Maggie Monast, Environmental Defense Fund

A frank discussion about the actions beef wholesalers and retailers are taking to market beef products consumers want.

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Session 1 – Two Concurrent Sessions

10:30 a.m. Policy – Beef Products Committee

10:30 a.m. Intergenerational Transfer and Estate Planning- Kelvin Leibold, ISU E&O Farm Management
Estate planning often refers to federal estate taxes, inheritance taxes and gift taxes. Dealing with these three issues are usually much simpler than dealing with the other three critical questions: what do you have, who do you want to get what you have, and when do you want them to get it. The session will give a basic overview of the taxes and then focus on the three critical issues. Leibold will provide information on how to start the process of developing a plan and resources to help guide you through the process.

12:00 p.m. Lunch & Awards – Brand Wall Ceremony; Best Burger Award; BQA Awards

Session 2 – Two Concurrent Sessions
1:30 p.m. Policy – Cattle Production Committee

1:30 p.m. Beef in International Trade - Dean Black – Producer from Somers, IA,

Session 3 – Two Concurrent Sessions

3:30 p.m. Policy – Business Issues Committee

3:30 p.m. Thinning Cash Fed Cattle Trade: How Thin is Too Thin & What to Do About It? -  Stephen Koontz, Colorado State University
The volume of cash trade in fed cattle markets is getting smaller.  How small is too small?  At what point is price discovery impacted? This has implications for producers as to where to get cash market price information.  And then what can the industry do about it?  If left up to the market then the fed cattle industry will look like other commodity industries with less public price information.  But there are some alternatives that can improve price discovery if members of the cattle industry are willing to act and support industry initiatives.

6:00 p.m. Dinner - Ballroom
Youth Beef Team Scholarship Recipients; Ronald McDonald House of Charity Award to ICA & IBIC; Hall of Fame Award

7:00 p.m. Iowa Cattlemen's Foundation Auction

9:00 p.m. Entertainment  Showing of the movie, Farmland

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Day 3 – December 10, 2014: Annual Meeting

8:00 a.m. IBIC Annual Meeting – North & Central Ballroom

8:30 a.m. ICA Annual Meeting – North & Central Ballroom

Kristina Butts & Craig Uden, NCBA

Registration for all three days is $75 if registering by December 1, which includes convention meals and entertainment. After December 1, registration is $125. For those who can only attend either the Monday or Tuesday events, the cost is $50 for registration by December 1, which allows for all sessions, convention meals, and entertainment on that day. After that, the one-day registration cost is $75.

The Convention program and registration are available at www.iacattlemen.org, or by calling the ICA offices at 515-296-2266.