Beef producers yearning to hear the latest research information provided by Washington State University can are signing up for a program tomorrow and Thursday in Pullman.

Billed an "intensive beef industry workshop" the three-day program is designed for livestock producers as well as educators, veterinarians, beef marketing interests and restaurant chefs who want to learn more about beef.

A Washington/Idaho beef conference will open in Pullman, Wash. Tuesday. Registration costs $250 per person, and includes meals, class materials and parking costs.

The WSU Pullman campus conference only has room for 32 participants, and signups at this time will cost $250 per person. You can register on line at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/632882. Registration was open in early May, so interested participants should sign up as soon as possible, since the program begins on Tuesday.

Forms are also available at http://tinyurl.com/Beef300/.

WSU/University of Idaho program, called WSU/UI Beef 300, is labeled as a comprehensive educational approach involving professionals from all segments of the beef industry from ranch to plate. The program is a mix of lectures, presentations, demonstrations and hands-on instruction.

Topics include the following:
•Genetics
•Feeding for quality beef
•Animal evaluation (live)
•Harvesting procedures for beef
•Environmental factors relating to carcass merit
•Carcass aging
•Grading and fabrication
•Food safety
•Quality issues
•Pricing
•Tenderness/palatability evaluations
•Carcass and beef box values

At the course presentations will be nationally known professionals such as John Unruh, who grew up on a diversified livestock and row crop ranch in central Washington and now chairs the food science program for undergraduates at Kansas State University.

For more information, contact Jan Busboom, WSU meat specialist, at (509) 335-2880, or email at [email protected]. Sarah Smith, WSU regional animal science extension specialist, is also available for questions at (509) 754-2011 or online at [email protected].

The program is a collaboration between the WSU and UI departments of animal sciences and extension programs.