Written by Megan Van Emon, Extension Beef Cattle Specialist
Each year Montana State University Extension and the Montana Feed Association host the Montana Nutrition Conference and Livestock Forum. Dr. Rachel Endecott has been, for the past several years, the conference coordinator and this year she passed the reins on to me. I want to thank Dr. Endecott for her support and developing this conference into such an excellent event.
This year we will continue this excellent conference with the theme “Drought Resource Management.” The drought in 2017 was one of the worst seen in the Northern Great Plains and we hope to provide additional resources for livestock producers, Extension faculty, and agriculture professionals. The conference will take place April 17 and 18 at the GranTree Inn in Bozeman, MT.
We have an excellent line-up of speakers from Montana State University, University of Wyoming, USDA-ARS Fort Keogh, and elsewhere. These speakers will focus on the resources available for decision-making and how to effectively use these tools during drought. Topics include a weather outlook for 2018, using alternative forages, hay storage, forage sampling and analysis, post-fire grazing, supplementation strategies, water quality, and production costs and available insurance programs.
On Wednesday morning we will have our annual Graduate and Undergraduate Student Poster Competition. This is an excellent opportunity to meet students in the Animal and Range Sciences Department and learn about their research.
We also have an excellent Keynote Speaker, Amberley Snyder, who will be delivering her compelling and dynamic presentation, There is No Future in Giving Up, during dinner on April 17.
We hope you will join us for this excellent conference. You can register online at https://www.montana.edu/nutrition/. A block of rooms at the GranTree has also been reserved for the event under the Montana Nutrition Conference and Livestock Forum.
Please contact me with any questions at 406-874-8286 or [email protected].
