Purebred and Commercial cattle industry leaders are gathering for the first industry “type” conference in a quarter of a century as they hope to assess the current status of the US Beef Cattle Industry- and discuss where to point the ship in the weeks and months and years ahead.
The two day meeting will not just talk about cattle production and topics like Genomics and breeding traits- but because the world has changed compared to the 1980s and 1990s- outside influences that demand attention. The agenda includes a look at soil health as it relates to the ranch, the need to be sustainable, the need to prioritize animal well being in how we raise our animals, what the consumer is thinking when they decide to buy beef or another protein for their family and even show ring ethics.
The Wednesday evening keynote speaker is the Greenhouse Guru- Dr. Frank Mitloehner of the University of California- Davis who will talk about the carbon footprint of our US Beef Cattle Industry- a story that he believes we can be very proud of.
The CEO of the American Angus Association, Mark McCully, will help set the table on Wednesday morning as he asks the question- Why Are We Here? He tells Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays that in prepping for his presentation that he looked back 25 years to a previous “type” conference and studied what former head of the Department of Animal Science, Dr, Bob Totusek, who said in 1998 that these type meetings help separate “truth from the trends.”
Click here for the webpages that tell more about the conference- and click here for the latest agenda.
Part one of our conversation with Mark McCully will be featured in the Wednesday May 24th Beef Buzz on this website.
