The annual Southwest Beef Symposium, jointly hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service, will be Jan. 22-23 at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 550 S. Buchanan St., Amarillo.
Exploring Beef Marketing Opportunities is the theme of this year’s conference. Registration is $75 by Jan. 19 and $85 thereafter and onsite. The registration fee includes a steak dinner on Jan. 22, lunch on Jan. 23 and refreshments.
Online registration is now open at https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/Beef.
“Cattle prices have adjusted downward after some very favorable years for cow-calf and stocker producers,” said Bruce Carpenter, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, Ft. Stockton. “Various segments of the industry are looking for opportunities to add value and income with improved marketing and/or production.”
Opening session topics and speakers include:
– The Future of Food: What’s in Store?, Stan Bevers, King Ranch Institute-Kingsville.
– Making Third Party Verification Systems Work for You, Lee Ann Saunders, IMI Global, Castle Rock, Colorado.
– Selling Calves Through Branded Genetics, Justin Kleghorn, Cactus Feeders-Amarillo.
– From Ranch to Restaurant: Marketing Beef Through the Service Industry, Jason McDonald, Fess Parker Ranch Beef, Hatchita, New Mexico and Los Olivos, California.
– Thinking About Estate Planning, Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, AgriLife Extension, Amarillo.
A round-table Question and Answer session will wrap up the afternoon, before a dinner sponsored by the Southwest Beef CAP Grant.
Day two topics and speakers include:
– Breed Type Comparisons of Foraging Behaviors, Andres Cibils, Ph.D., New Mexico State University.
– Fitting Cattle Genetics to the Environment, Jason Smith, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension, Amarillo.
– Meeting the Sustainability Expectations of Consumers, Sarah Place, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Denver, Colorado.
– National Beef Quality Audit, Chase DeCoit, NCBA.
For more information, contact Carpenter at 432-336-8585 or bruce.carpenter@ag.tamu.edu.
