Cattle herd rebuilding strategies to be discussed at BIG Conference

Writer: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, b-fannin@tamu.edu

WACO – It can be a costly experience when rebuilding cow herds, but beef cattle producers can learn about strategies to consider at the 51st Blackland Income Growth Conference Feb. 4-6 in Waco.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist Dr. Stan Bevers from Vernon will be featured at the conference to be held at the Extraco Events Center.

“We will be discussing economic considerations when rebuilding cow herd inventory as well as what the trend prices will be in the next five years,” Bevers said. “I’ll give an overview of how we got into this situation with low inventory numbers and talk about how it wasn’t just the drought that contributed to this.”

On Feb. 5, Bevers will also give producers a better understanding of how much they can afford to pay for replacement cows, herd productivity levels, operational costs and price projections for the year. He will also discuss breed types, longevity, culling rates and other topics.

Overall, the conference will offer sessions on a variety of commodities – beef, grain, horticulture, cotton, forage, wildlife and more.

“We think we have something for everyone, and producers will take home plenty of strategies they can incorporate into their operations,” said Ron Woolley, conference coordinator and AgriLife Extension regional program director at Stephenville.

The annual conference is sponsored by AgriLife Extension and the Waco Chamber of Commerce.

Registration for the main Blackland Income Growth Conference on Feb. 5 is $20 per person and includes lunch. Several sessions will award continuing education units. Producers are encouraged to download the brochure at  http://stephenville.tamu.edu/blackland-income-growth/conference-information/ to see specific continuing education credit allocations, sessions and speakers.

The keynote luncheon speaker Feb. 5 will be Dr. James Kroll, also known as “Dr. Deer” and is the Henry M. Rockwell Chair in forest wildlife and director of the Institute for White-tailed Deer Management and Research at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Kroll is a nationally known resource for excellence in research in deer biology, management and economics, Woolley said. Most recently, Kroll was appointed by Gov. Scott Walker as the nation’s first deer trustee for Wisconsin and given the authority to investigate and develop solutions to long-standing public issues related to the management of white-tailed deer in the state.

For additional information, contact the AgriLife Extension agent in your county or call 254-968-4144.

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