Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Ted McCollum, 806-677-5600, ft-mccollum@tamu.edu
CLAYTON, N.M. – The Southwest Beef Symposium, jointly hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service, is set for Jan. 9-10 at the Clayton Civic Center, 124 N. Front St. in Clayton, N.M.
“This is the 10th year of the Southwest Beef Symposium,” said Dr. Ted McCollum, AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist in Amarillo. “We continue to address issues of concern to the industry at large, but also at the ranch level.
“This year we are focusing on aspects as the industry hopefully turns a corner and begins to stabilize the national cow inventory and as the weather hopefully turns a corner and allows ranchers to continue the recovery from the drought conditions of the past few years.”
Individual registration is $70, which includes a steak dinner on Jan. 9, lunch on Jan. 10, refreshments and symposium proceedings.
Registration forms are available at http://aces.nmsu.edu/register/swbeef/. Registration and payment can be completed online or via regular mail. If registering by mail, checks should be made payable to: NM State University and mailed to: Southwest Beef Symposium, Box 30003, MSC 3AE, Las Cruces, N.M. 88003.
Although registration will be available onsite, those planning to attend are asked to complete registration by Jan. 3 to aid in meal planning, McCollum said. Late registrations cannot be guaranteed a meal.
The opening session from 1-5 p.m. on Jan. 9 will address big-picture emerging issues in the global beef industry, he said.
Leann Saunders of Castle Rock, Colo., co-founder and president of Where Food Comes From Inc. and chair-elect of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, will open the symposium with a discussion on the Effects of Global Meat Exports on U.S. Beef Producers.
Additional afternoon sessions include: changes in agriculture lending policies, Larry Fluhman, president of Farmers & Stockmens Bank in Clayton; emerging beef sustainability issues, Tom McDonald of JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding in Dalhart, Texas and Ben Weinheimer with Texas Cattle Feeders Association in Amarillo, Texas; and a weather outlook by Brian Bledsoe, chief meteorologist for KKTV News in Colorado Springs, Colo.
On Jan. 10, Cooperative Extension Service and AgriLife Extension specialists and university faculty from Kansas State University and New Mexico State University will provide strategies and considerations on rebuilding regional beef herds specifically focused on the economics of re-stocking, defining current pasture lease rates and effectively selecting and managing the nutrition and health programs for stocker calves and cows.
The symposium will wrap up with a panel discussion by regional ranch managers on their individual perspectives of rebuilding regional cattle inventories.
Shuttle service is available from all lodging locations to the Civic Center. Transportation also will be available from the Civic Center to the museum for the social hour.
For more information, go to the Southwest Beef Symposium website http://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/swbeef/ or contact McCollum at 806-677-5600 or ft-mccollum@tamu.edu.
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