Mike Bumgarner, vice-president for the Center for Food and Animal Issues, Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation, will be keynote speaker for the newly created Cattle Trails Stocker Conference July 24 at the MPEC Center, 1000 5th Street, in Wichita Falls.

The vision of the conference planners is to create an annual conference that will provide wheat producers and/or stocker cattle operators the most up-to-date information on topics that influence wheat and stocker cattle profits, said Stan Bevers, Extension Economist. In effect, the conference will assist those producers in driving their cattle to profits.

This conference is a joint effort between Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and will alternate between Texas and Oklahoma each year, Bevers said. The conference is named to represent the vast area of agricultural production between the Chisholm Trail and the Great Western cattle trails of the late 1800’s, both of which started in south central Texas and moved up through central and western Oklahoma.

Bumgarner will discuss a constitutional amendment passed by Ohio voters in November 2009 creating the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. The bill requires the board to adopt rules governing the care and well-being of livestock in Ohio, including best management practices, and establishes the amount of civil penalties to be assessed against people who violate the rules.

Additional speakers include faculty from both Oklahoma and Texas. Important topics of marketing and outlook, animal health, wheat pasture research and wheat production will be covered.

Industry sponsors will display their products during the event.

The conference will begin at 8 a.m. with registration and end at 4:30 p.m. Registration is $20 per person and includes educational materials, a copy of the Cattle Trails Stocker Conference Proceedings, a noon meal and refreshments. Additional information can be obtained at http://agrisk.tamu.edu.

Producers can register by contacting their local Texas AgriLife Extension county agent, their Oklahoma Cooperative Extension county educator, or by contacting Karen Thompson at 940-552-9941, ext. 217 or by e-mail at [email protected].