AMES, Iowa -- Registration is now open for the Agricultural and Food Traceability Conference, jointly sponsored by the Value-Added Agriculture program, the Iowa Beef Center and the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative.

The two-day conference will be held June 9-10 at the Renaissance Savery Hotel in Des Moines. An additional workshop will be held June 11 for those who are interested in the specific details of the profitable integration of traceability protocols into food and agricultural businesses. Both events will feature speakers from business, research and regulatory environments. Program content will emphasis three major topics:

• Risks and rewards of adopting traceability in business operations
• Standards, legislative actions and other compliance factors related to traceability
• Processes and management strategies that could assist businesses in the implementation of  traceability protocols

The conference will serve as a state-of-the-art information source on traceability and supply chain management of agricultural commodity products and demonstrate how traceability can meet many of the needs of modern food businesses.

Registration information and additional details on both events are available at www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/traceability/home.html.

The Iowa Beef Center at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, was established in 1996 with the goal of supporting the growth and vitality of the state’s beef cattle industry. It serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers and is comprised of faculty and staff from ISU Extension and the colleges of agriculture and life sciences and veterinary medicine. Together, the Iowa Beef Center’s members work to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information regarding the beef cattle industry. For more information about the Iowa Beef Center, visit www.iowabeefcenter.org.

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