MU Extension Feedlot School set for March 22-23 in Kirksville

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — Missouri cattle producers interested in feeding out their cattle are invited to a two-day University of Missouri Extension Feedlot School, March 22-23 in Kirksville.

MU livestock specialists will cover nutrition and health management, the performance of calves fed by MU and harvested locally, and the economics of feeding cattle in Missouri. Participants also can tour three local cattle feeding facilities and hear from industry experts from across the country.

Topics include:

• Feedlot performance expectations
• Fat cattle marketing
• Financial models of feedlots
• Small- and medium-scale feeding operations
• Health management
• Feeding cull cows
• Handling facilities and stockmanship

In a press release, Eric Bailey, assistant professor of animal sciences and state beef nutrition extension specialist, said, “Missouri was once a top 10 state for feeding cattle, but much of that institutional knowledge was lost decades ago. With recent increases in packing plant capacity in Missouri, MU Extension identified a need to provide educational opportunities to farmers wanting to feed out cattle.”

This is the fourth Feedlot School offered by MU Extension in recent years.

“There has been considerable interest from beef producers in northern and, specifically, northeast Missouri to explore more diversified strategies within their operations,” said Zac Erwin, livestock specialist in Adair County. “Nearly a decade of slim to negative profit margins at the cow/calf level will cause producers to think about doing things differently.”

With the beef industry on a slow march toward becoming more vertically integrated, Erwin said, producers that are diversified are realizing they may hold a competitive advantage. Diversification is “the ultimate risk-management strategy,” he said.

The Feedlot School contributes to MU Extension’s goal of doubling the economic impact of agriculture production in Missouri by 2030 through educating farmers on all aspects of cattle feeding, said Bailey.

Cost is $400. Details and registration are available at www.cvent.com/d/zlqx37.

For more information, contact:

• Eric Bailey, call 573-884-7873 or email baileyeric@missouri.edu
• Zac Erwin, call 660-665-9866, or email erwinz@missouri.edu
• Shawn Deering, call 660-726-5610, or email deerings@missouri.edu
• Jim Humphrey, call 816-324-3147, or email humphreyjr@missouri.edu