DUBUQUE, Iowa -- 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 sixth annual event will be held Jan. 25-26, 2018, at the Grand River Convention Center in Dubuque.
The driftless region in these states contains rolling hills, streams and karst soil topography. Because soil and water conservation is best accomplished when much of this type of 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. 25 with a a program concentrating on cover crops and mycotoxins in feed. An evening discussion on success with cover crops features a producer panel. The Friday morning agenda begins with Jamey Kohake from Paragon Investments and six breakout sessions for feedlot operations and cow-calf producers. These are followed by a market outlook.
Key speakers include Kohake; Morgan Hayes, Kentucky University; Jim Johnson, Noble Research Institute; Trevor Smith, University of Guelph; Alison Robertson, Dan Andersen and Chris Clark, Iowa State University; Dan Schaefer, University of Wisconsin; Josh McCann, University of Illinois; and Geoffrey Brink, USDA-ARS-Dairy Forage Research Center.
The early registration fee is $85 per person and must be received prior to midnight, Jan. 12. The price increases to $115 after that date. 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 ISU Extension and Outreach beef specialist Denise Schwab at 319-472-4739.