The statewide Ohio Beef Cattle Field Day is returning. Field days have long been a great educational tool used to show farmers new technologies and management practices. Ohio State University Extension is excited to offer the Ohio Beef Field Day program, which will be hosted July 16 in Muskingum County.

To see several aspects of beef cattle production, the event begins at Muskingum Livestock, 944 Malinda St., Zanesville, where participants will gather before departing on a multiple-stop tour in the Adamsville area.

The tour will depart with attendees driving their own vehicles. Carpooling is recommended as much as possible because of limited parking at one of the tour stops.

The tour stops are Michel Livestock, Shirer Brothers Processing, Hatfield Farms and Fencing, and Roger’s Auction Barn.

Michel Livestock is a diversified farm operation, where Dennis Michel manages the cattle-feeding operation. On the farm, they maintain about 150 beef cows, feed nearly 700 head of cattle at any one time, and farm several hundred acres of row crows. The focus of this stop will be facility design and cattle receiving. Michel Livestock maintains a near continuous flow of purchased cattle into their receiving barns and markets fat cattle on a weekly basis. The Michel family also owns and operates Farm Supply Center in Zanesville, where the mix and sell feed and fertilizer.

Shirer Brothers Processing is one of several small meat processors in Muskingum County. The business recently transitioned principal operators, as Seth Scheffler has taken over operations from the Shirer family. At this stop, discussion will focus on the local meat industry and address questions attendees may have regarding direct-to-consumer meat sales, with Peggy Hall, ag law field specialist for OSU Extension, in attendance.

Hatfield Farms and Fencing is operated by Wade Hatfield and his son, Wesley. From having a small herd of cattle and a fencing business, the Hatfields were able to grow the cattle enterprise when Wesley returned to the farm. They maintain nearly 200 cows, including several that calve in the fall. When it comes to raising beef cattle, they have experimented with different management strategies. The Hatfield will discuss what works well, what they would do differently, and provide some tips on proper fence-building techniques.

Roger’s Auction Barn, a local landmark owned and operated by Roger and Dianne Kreis for many years, will be the last stop of the tour. The Muskingum County Cattlemen will be preparing lunch. During lunch, representatives from the Ohio Beef Council will be highlighting some recent programming and share some insight into consumer trends. The day will conclude with Justin Kieffer, clinical veterinarian at the OSU Department of Animal Science, discussing herd health updates and anaplasmosis management.

Registration for the program is required and can be completed at go.osu.edu/2022beefday by July 7. The program fee is $10 per person to cover costs. An information folder, refreshments, lunch, and Beef Quality Assurance certification will be provided to all attendees.

If there are any questions regarding the program, contact Garth Ruff, beef cattle field specialist, at [email protected] or 740-305-3201.

Ruff is a beef cattle field specialist with OSU Extension.

Source: OSU Extension, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.