Industry Trends Highlight Beef Course Aug. 4-6 in College Station

By Kay Ledbetter

Record-high cattle prices, unpredictable weather patterns – including both droughts and floods – and the potential reappearance of the New World screwworm are the underlying themes of the 71st annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course on Aug. 4-6 in Bryan-College Station.

The event is hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Animal Science.

“A lot of the short course presenters will talk about ways to take advantage of these high cattle prices,” said Jason Cleere, Ph.D., conference coordinator and AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist in the Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station. “We want to make sure producers know what management steps they can implement now to get every pound from their calf crop.”

New producers, veteran producers and even youth will find three days of best management practice updates and education during the Cattleman’s College and the returning Youth Track, coordinated by the Veterinary Science Certificate Program, VSCP.

Cattleman’s College will include 50 hours of training and 30 courses covering new technologies and hot topics in beef cattle production.

Attendance on the rise amid high cattle prices

Cleere said the event is the largest beef cattle educational event in the world, with participant numbers up 10% over last year. More than 1,600 people have already registered to attend in person, and another group will join through the online offering. The youth track has only a few spots remaining, with a limit of 40 participants.