High Plains Dairy Conference brings industry to Amarillo March 5-6
Global perspective, carbon markets, future of industry highlight agenda
The High Plains Dairy Conference is scheduled March 5-6 at the Embassy Suites, 550 S. Buchanan St. in Amarillo. Conference chairs expect 400-500 dairy farmers, managers, consultants, academics and industry representatives from across the U.S. to attend.
The two-day conference, jointly coordinated by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and New Mexico State University Dairy Extension, as a part of the educational activities provided by the U.S. Dairy Education and Training Consortium.
The main High Plains Dairy Conference will begin at 1 p.m. March 5 and conclude at 5 p.m. March 6.
The conference has partnered with the Texas Animal Nutrition Council and the Dairy Reproductive Council to offer two preconference workshops on nutrition and reproduction concurrently held on Tuesday morning March 5 at 8:30 a.m.
General registration before Feb. 26 is $350 for the first registrant, with a $250 registration fee for other people from the same dairy. Registration options for students, one-day attendance and extra workshops can be found at https://tx.ag/HighPlainsDairyConf.
A new event for this year’s High Plains Dairy Conference, based on requests from producers, is a separate Middle Managers Training Workshop conducted in both English and Spanish, which will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 7. Registration for this event is also available at the High Plains Dairy Conference website.
Another new event is a poster presentation during the Tuesday evening reception with posters from both graduate and undergraduate students from regional universities, highlighting some of the dairy research going on in the region and providing a platform for the students to interact with producers and allied industry.
Information-packed agenda
“The High Plains Dairy Conference is producer-oriented and provides practical, cutting-edge knowledge for them to consider applying at their farms,” said Juan Piñeiro, AgriLife Extension dairy specialist and assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Animal Science, Amarillo.
Robert Hagevoort, Ph.D., co-coordinator and Extension dairy specialist at New Mexico State University, said this year, the conference is taking a global look at the dairy industry, as well as discussing hot topics such as carbon markets and artificial intelligence use on future dairies.
Dairy producers from Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado are expected to attend, said Jennifer Spencer, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension dairy specialist and assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science, Stephenville. She said over 450 attended past events, including dairy producers, academics, allied industry representatives, veterinarians and nutritionists.
The agenda and speakers include:
Nutrition Pre-Conference Workshop
– The Value and the Role of Sugars in Dairy Rations – Gabriela Varga, Ph.D., Penn State University professor emeritus.
– Current State of Transition Nutrition – Jesse Goff, DVM, Iowa State University professor.
– The Cow’s Perspective on Transition Health and Herd Longevity – Phil Cardoso, Ph.D., DVM, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign associate professor.
Reproduction Pre-Conference Workshop
– Timing of Artificial Insemination with AI Protocols Utilizing Sex Sorted Technology – Ben Voelz, Ph.D., ST Genetics.
– Looking Beyond the Basics of Monitoring Technology to Improve Reproductive Efficiency – Luis Mendonça, DVM, Merck Animal Health.
– Producer Panel: Using Data to Make Management Decisions and Improve Reproductive Efficiency. Cody Kirby with Caprock Dairy, and Clint Anderson with Ag Oasis Dairies.
Main High Plains Dairy Conference
– World Dairy Outlook, Markets and Trade, a panel discussion – Phil Plourd, Ever Ag Insights president; Dan Basse, Ag Resource Co.; and Lucas Fuess, Rabo AgroFinance senior dairy analyst.
– Will Exports Continue to Lead the Way? Krysta Harden, U.S. Dairy Export Council president and chief executive officer.
– Science, Technology, Health and Wellness Lead to Increased Innovation and Sales, Paul Ziemnisky, Dairy Management Inc. executive vice president of wellness, insights and innovations, and Eve Pollet, Dairy Management Inc. senior vice president of strategic intelligence.
– Beef on Dairy Is What’s for Dinner: A Focus on the End Product, Dale Woerner, Ph.D., Texas Tech University.
March 6 agenda
– Actionable Technologies to Reduce Emissions, Capture Nutrients and Monetize Carbon – Kaitlyn Briggs, DVM, DMI; Jim Wallace, Ph.D., Sustain RNG LLC; and Deanne Meyer, Ph.D., University of California-Davis.
– The Changing Landscape of Monetizing Manure and Carbon – Mark Stoerman, Newtrient CEO.
– Update on Markets and Incentives for Manure-Derived Renewable Gas: West Coast Focus – Sam Wade, RNG Coalition director of public policy.
– Transition Cow Management: Solutions to Optimize DMI in Transition Dairy Cows – Gustavo Schuenemann, DVM, Ph.D., The Ohio State University.
– Dairy Has a Bright Future – Corey Geiger, CoBank lead economist-dairy.
– Dairy Cattle Lifespan: New Perspectives and Roundtable Discussion – Matt Sattler, Diamond V.
– Future Dairy: Data Integration, Where Are We and Where Is It Going: Industry Perspectives.
– Future Dairy: Where Is AI in Dairy Today and Where Is It Going? – Joao Dorea, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison.
For more information, contact Piñeiro at 806-679-0440 or juan.pineiro@ag.tamu.edu; Spencer at 254-968-4144 or Jennifer.spencer@ag.tamu.edu; or Hagevoort at 806-786-3421 or dairydoc@nmsu.edu.
