Farm Progress

Missouri Livestock Symposium set for Nov. 30-Dec. 1

Livestock Symposium offers beef producers information on marketing and feed cost.

November 21, 2018

2 Min Read
ALTERNATIVE FEED: Cattle producers are looking for ways to extend and cheapen feed costs. Some are turning to grazing cover crops. Farmers will learn of other options at the Missouri Livestock Symposium later this month.

Beef producers will learn how to capture added value in marketing at the 19th annual Missouri Livestock Symposium, says Garry L. Mathes, chair of the event. The symposium is scheduled for Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the William Matthew Middle School in Kirksville, Mo.

Eric Bailey, state beef extension specialist with the University of Missouri, will moderate a panel of nationally known experts that will tell how to prepare cattle for sale to capture more value.

Corbitt Wall, of DVAuction, headlines the panel stacked with years of cattle marketing and animal health expertise. “Marketing is a powerful tool to producers who use it to their advantage,” Wall says.

Additional panel members include Tom Frey, Livestock Marketing Association president and owner of Creston Livestock Auction; Dave Bryan, order buyer; and Tom Kent, regional Zoetis representative.

Zac Erwin, MU Extension Livestock Specialist and symposium vice-chairman, says, cattle producers faced extreme drought this year which led to short feed supplies and high feed costs. So Eric Bailey, University of Missouri Extension nutritionist, Columbia, will present “Winter Feeding with Expensive Hay.”

The afternoon beef session features speakers on confined cattle feeding. Phillip Lancaster and Nichole L. Busdieker-Jesse, assistant professors at the Darr College of Agriculture, Missouri State University, Springfield, Mo., will tell how the university retrofitted an existing building into an under-roof cattle-feeding facility.

A second panel discussion will follow on confined cattle feeding with speakers from the University of Missouri, Missouri State University, Missouri Soil and Water Conservation District and NRCS. The focus of the talks will be on facility design and cost-share sources on barn construction.

The Missouri Livestock Symposium is open 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Nov. 30, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 1. The Missouri Livestock Symposium also has a sold-out agricultural trade show open during the two days.

In addition to sessions on beef, there are also sessions on horses, sheep, market goats, forages, stock dogs and farm succession planning. Multiple tracks go at the same time. Find details on our webpage at missourilivestock.com, or by calling the MU Extension Center in Kirksville at 660-665-9866.

The program is free, with no advance registration. The event offers a free beef dinner, at 6 p.m. Friday and free lunch Saturday. Meals are coordinated by the Missouri Department of Agriculture and sponsored by Missouri commodity groups.

Source: Missouri Livestock Symposium

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like