With the theme "Foundation and Future," the 2017 Montana Nutrition Conference and Livestock Forum is set for April 11-12 at the GranTree Inn in Bozeman, Mont.

The two-day event is filled with a range of useful education information, starting off with a cattle market outlook from Eric Belasco, an associate professor in Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, Montana State University.

This is a full market-focused meeting with information on best practices for health and marketing, managing gut health, vaccination programs, cow-calf management for return on investment and other nutrition practices.

Conference highlights
A highlight of the meeting is a rancher roundtable that include three ranchers: Turk Stovall, Stovall Ranch; Fred Wacker, Cross Four Ranch; and Brandon Mosher, Vermilion Ranch.

Stovall ranches with his family southeast of Billings, Mont., on a diversified operation that includes cow-calf, yearling, hay production and feedlot divisions.

Wacker is a fourth-generation Montana rancher who operates Cross Four Ranch and Choice Livestock LLC near Miles City. Cross Four Ranch has a commercial cow-calf herd, runs grass yearlings and operates a backgrounding feedlot. Choice Livestock LLC then finishes the cattle in feedlots in Colorado and Nebraska, and markets them directly to packers.

Mosher is general manager of the Prior Creek unit of the Vermilion Ranch near Billings. He has experience with artificial insemination, ranch management and confinement feeding in the Montana livestock industry.

Another highlight of the opening day is a talk from Tim DelCurto about developing a research program for the Montana beef industry. DelCurto holds the Nancy Cameron Endowed Chair in Animal and Range Sciences at MSU. His position is focused on sustainable beef production systems research, with a 60% research, 30% teaching and 10% service appointment.

You can learn more about the event and register by visiting bit.ly/2nn19T9conference.