The I-29 Moo University will host its Dairy Beef Short Course Tour on Tuesday, March 27. The tour is an educational pre-event associated with the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, and all dairy beef and milk producers plus industry and students are encouraged to attend. The tour includes stops at two feedlots and one auction facility that deal with dairy steers. The $30 registration includes noon meal, educational materials and bus transportation.
The bus will load at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls (1201 N. West Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104) and leave by 8:15 am. The first stop will be Binford Farms Feedlot near LuVerne, Minnesota. Grant and Rebecca plus Eric and Shari Binford have seven children between the two families ranging in ages from 15 to 4 years of age that they hope will become the next generation in agriculture. Binford Farms is a farmer feeder operation with management divided between Grant managing the cattle feeding and Eric managing the farming and trucking aspects of the business. The operation has primarily fed Holsteins since 2002 from 350 pounds to finish with some Holstein calves in the mix.
Lunch will be provided at the Tristate Livestock Auction Café. Tri-State Livestock in Sioux Center is a diversified auction market selling all classes of livestock and specializing in dairy for over 80 years. Co-owners are Mike and Roger Koedam, Duane Rus plus Jason Spykerboer. The barn is affiliated with Sheldon Livestock and Sioux Falls Regional Livestock. Mike and Rus will outline what they need in the ring to get “top-dollar” for producers selling dairy beef.
The third stop will be Rock River Feeders north of Sioux Center, Iowa. Kent and Sylvia Pruismann, along with other family members, have taken great care to develop the feedlot with special attention to animal well-being, environmental sustainability and the incorporation of new technologies. The feedlot currently houses 3500 head of cattle in outside yards meeting all federal and state manure management regulations. Kent is a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Board, so it is no surprise that Beef Quality Assurance is the normal mode of daily operation. All cattle are tagged upon arrival with an electronic identification tag, which is used to track animal origin, health and movement. Placement weight of incoming calves averages 270 pounds. The feedlot rations are a TMR consisting of earlage, corn, wet distillers grains and mineral supplementation. They market their dairy steers on a high energy grid to JBS in Wisconsin.
The tour will return to the Denny Sanford Premier Center at 4:30 p.m.
Registration by March 23 will guarantee a spot on the bus. Registrations with digital payment should be made at iGrow.org.
The I-29 Moo University is a consortium of Extension Dairy Specialists from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Now in its 13th year, the consortium provides resources and education to enhance a sustainable dairy community along the I-29 corridor by focusing on: best management practices, utilization of research-based expertise and resources, and ag-vocating the benefits of a vibrant dairy community. For more information on the dairy beef tour or other I-29 Moo University programs contact your state Extension Dairy Specialist. In Northwest Iowa, contact Fred M. Hall at 712.737.4230 or email at fredhall@iastate.edu. Read more about I-29 Moo University Dairy Beef Short Course Tour
A list of the breakout sessions discussing dairy beef, nutrition of wet calves, nutrition: growing and finishing, housing and management, feedlot nutritional management, breeding, genetics and grazing, markets and risk management, health and disease management, meat quality and industry perspective and implant strategies. The conference was help November 2, 2005. 
Ever thought about going organic or moving to a grass-fed operation? Currently on a grazing system in need of fine tuning? This page contains videos on raising heifers on pasture and a series on beginning grazing to help improve operations. 