Driftless Region Beef Conference January 26-27

With nearly 2.5 million cattle in four Midwest states, university extension services in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are teaming together to offer the Driftless Region Beef Conference. The fifth annual event will be held Jan. 26-27, 2017, at the Grand River Convention Center in Dubuque, Iowa.

The driftless region in these states contains rolling hills, streams and karst soil topography. Since soil and water conservation is best accomplished when much of this land is seeded for forage and livestock consumes those forages, the conference will focus on efficient and economic forage and beef production.

The conference will begin at 1 p.m. Jan. 26 with a program concentrating on production and marketing risk management. An evening discussion on intensively managing cows will feature a producer and veterinarian panel. The Friday morning agenda features Michelle Miller, the ‘Farm Babe’, six breakout sessions for feedlot operations and cow-calf producers followed by a market outlook.

Key speakers include: Miller; Carl Babler and Karen Voights from Atten Babler in Galena, Illinois; Doug Bear, Iowa Beef Industry Council; Tyler Dohlman, Lee Schulz and Patrick Gunn, Iowa State University; Gene Schriefer, University of Wisconsin; Nicole Rambo and Alfredo DiCostanzo, University of Minnesota; Jay Soloman, Cliff Shipley and Travis Meteer, University of Illinois; and Mary Drewnowski, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The registration fee increases after that January 13. More information on topics, speakers and lodging is available at www.aep.iastate.edu/beef. Online and mail registration forms are available on the conference website.

The Driftless Region Beef Conference is sponsored by ISU Extension and Outreach, University of Illinois Extension, University of Minnesota Extension, and University of Wisconsin Extension. For more information or to receive a brochure, contact Denise Schwab, beef specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, at 319-472-4739.