8 a.m. - Register & load

8:15 a.m. - Depart - Opening Discussion on State of the Industry for Dairy Beef (on the bus), led by Warren Rusche, SDSU Extension Beef Feedlot Management Associate & Beth Doran, ISU Extension Beef Specialist

9:15 a.m. - Binford Farms - Luverne, Minnesota: Binford Farms is a family operation owned by Grant & Rebecca and Eric and Shari Binford. Binford Farms is a farmer feeder operation with management divided between Grant managing the cattle feeding and Eric managing the farming and trucking aspects of the business. The operation has primarily fed Holsteins since 2002 from 350 pounds to finish with some Holstein calves in the mix.

10:45 a.m. - Depart for second stop - Introduction of sponsors and bathroom break included 

11:45 - 12:30 p.m. - Lunch at Tri-State Livestock Auction in Sioux Center, Iowa    

12:30 pm - Tri-State Livestock - Sioux Center, Iowa: Mike Koedam, co-owner and cattle buyer will provide his insights regarding the buying and selling of dairy beef. Tri-State Livestock auction market sells all classes of livestock specializing in dairy cattle. They believe that true market value of your livestock can only be achieved through competitive bidding which only an auction can provide.

1:45 p.m. - Depart for third stop

2 p.m. - Rock River Feeders - Rock Valley, Iowa: Rock River Feeders is a family owned and operated feedlot in Sioux County, Iowa. Kent and Sylvia Pruismann, along with other family members, have taken great care to develop the feedlot with special attention to animal well-being, environmental sustainability and the incorporation of new technologies. The feedlot houses 3,500 head of cattle in outside yards meeting all federal and state manure management regulations. Kent is a member of the National Cattlemen's Beef Board, so it is no surprise that Beef Quality Assurance is the normal mode of daily operation.  All cattle are tagged upon arrival with an electronic identification tag, which is used to track animal origin, health and movement.  Placement weight of incoming calves averages 270 pounds. The feedlot rations are a TMR consisting of earlage, corn, wet distillers grains and mineral supplementation.  They market their dairy steers on a high energy grid to JBS in Wisconsin.

3:15 p.m. - Leave for Sioux Falls

4:30 p.m. - Return to Sioux Falls Denny Sanford Premier Center