The Iowa Beef Center and Iowa State University Extension are teaming up with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Nebraska Beef Council to offer a Feedlot Roundtable session at five Iowa locations Feb. 9. ISU Extension beef program specialist Erika Lundy says these webinar sessions are offered for the benefit of cattle producers and a cooperative arrangement between the two state universities offers Internet access for Iowans to the afternoon session.

Topics and speakers for this year’s session
This year’s roundtable session runs from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. with the following discussion topics and speakers:
• “Environmental effects on bovine respiratory disease” — Brian Vander Ley, Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center
• “Options for marketing fed cattle, and what fed cattle exchange entails” — Steve Sunderman, a cattle producer who serves on the Nebraska Cattlemen Committee
• “Facts and fiction regarding livestock and climate change” — Frank Mitloehner, University of California-Davis

This webinar is part of an agreement between Iowa State University Extension and UNL Extension to share livestock educational resources and programs.

“New this year for the Iowa locations, we’ll host an Iowa State feedlot research update at the Ames location that will be broadcast to the other four Iowa locations via an Internet connection,” Lundy says. “This update will feature information from trials on trace mineral supplementation levels to implanted and non-implanted steers, effects of sources of trace minerals on steer recovery from mineral deficiencies, and a five-year summary of feeding efficiency research. It will be presented by Emma Niedermayer, a graduate student; Sarah Hartman, a graduate student; and Dr. Stephanie Hansen, an ISU associate professor of animal science.”

See the program flier with information for all five Iowa locations by clicking here.

The $10 fee is payable at the door and covers materials and refreshments. Please preregister for the location you will attend by Feb. 7 using the following contact information. Location and contact information is as follows:
• Delaware County Extension, 1417 N. Franklin St., in Manchester; Denise Schwab, [email protected], 319-472-4739
• Hancock County Extension, 327 W. Eighth St., in Garner; Russ Euken, [email protected], 641-923-2856
• Howard County Extension, 132 First Ave. W, in Cresco; Sue Barnes, [email protected], 563-547-3001
• ISU Hansen Ag Student Center, 2508 Mortensen Road, in Ames; Iowa Beef Center, [email protected], 515-294-2333
• Webster County Extension, 217 S. 25th St., Suite C12, in Fort Dodge; Linda Cline, [email protected], 515-576-2119

More information is available from the Iowa Beef Center website at iowabeefcenter.org, and your local county Extension office or Iowa State Extension and Outreach beef program specialist. 

Beef producers interested in software to help with balancing rations will want to check out IBC's newly updated Beef Ration and Nutrition Decision Software (BRaNDS) ration balancing software. ISU animal scientist Garland Dahlke recently completed this update and says the new version is more user-friendly and reflects recently updated guidelines in the "Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle."