Conference to focus on pasture, herd health

TEXARKANA, Texas — Even for old cowhands, each year brings new challenges in the cattle market.

The fifth annual Four States Cattle Conference will offer attendees the opportunity to learn about the latest advice for navigating that marketplace, from advances in forage recommendations to cattle-management methods and risk-protection instruments.

The conference, set for Thursday at Texas A&M University in Texarkana, will feature agronomists, researchers and market experts from throughout the region.

Paul Beck, a professor for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope, will chair the conference for the second time. Beck also chaired the inaugural conference in 2013. The chairmanship has rotated through participants from the conference’s other three states — Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma — in the interim years.

“Cattle health represents a significant cost to producers,” Beck said. “Learning even a few of the lessons put forth in these conferences can more than offset the cost of attendance.”

Speakers at the daylong conference include Vanessa Corriher-Olson and Brian Triplett, both from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service; JJ Jones, Derrell Peel and Barry Whitworth, all from the Oklahoma State University Extension Service; and Ryan Walker from the Noble Research Institute.

Although preregistration for the conference is closed, those interested in attending the conference can register on-site the morning of the conference. Registration will begin at 8 a.m., and the conference will begin with a welcome from Beck at 8:50 a.m. The cost, which includes lunch, is $45 for individuals or $70 for couples.

“Every year has been completely different for cattle producers in this country,” Beck said. “We try to have a program that fits the current problems we’re having. We’ve had severe-drought years, and some relatively good years — some years when the profit indicators were very good, and some when they were very bad.

“We expect the cattle industry to change every year, and it certainly has. We try to tailor this conference to help producers prepare for this changing environment.”

The conference will be held in the University Center Building, 7101 University Ave. in Texarkana. For more information, contact Amy Simpson at (870) 246-2281, or asimpson@uaex.edu.

To learn about cattle production in Arkansas, contact a local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.edu.