Bozeman Magazine

The future of ranching will be the focus of this year’s Montana Nutrition Conference and Livestock Forum in Bozeman.
 
The conference will begin the afternoon of Tuesday, April 22, and run through the morning of Wednesday, April 23, at the GranTree Inn, 1325 N. 7th Avenue.
 
Speakers will cover a wide variety of topics, including water quality and mineral supplementation, the importance of mycotoxins in Montana, treating low quality forages to improve feeding quality, applying genomic selection, estate planning, the October 2013 blizzard in South Dakota, and the future of feed-grade antibiotics in livestock.
 
The Tuesday evening program will feature Carrie Mess, a Wisconsin dairy farmer and blogger, and Ryan Goodman, manager of communications at the Montana Stockgrowers Association, speaking on “Social Media: Understanding the Power of Reaching Our Customers.” Two scholarships sponsored by the Montana Feed Association will also be awarded.
 
The conference is organized by Montana State University Extension Beef Cattle Specialist Rachel Endecott in conjunction with the Montana Feed Association.
 
Cost to attend both days of the conference is $115. Attendees can register online with a credit card at https://www.montana.edu/nutrition/. A conference brochure is available at http://animalrange.montana.edu/conferences.htm
 
The schedule and speakers are:
 
Tuesday, April 22
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. -- Registration
12:30 p.m. -- Welcome
1 to 2 p.m. -- Water Quality and Mineral Supplementation. Mark Petersen, USDA-ARS Fort Keogh
2 to 3 p.m. -- Mycotoxins: Importance in Montana –Barry Jacobsen, MSU
3 p.m. -- Break
3:15 to 4:15 p.m. – Treating Low Quality Forages to Improve Feeding Quality. Tim Bodine, Performix Nutrition
4:15 to 5:15 p.m. -- Application of Genomic Selection: New Frontiers in Animal Breeding. Jennifer Thomson, MSU
5:30 p.m. -- Social
6:30 p.m. -- Dinner and program
     Scholarship presentations
Evening speakers:  Social Media – Understanding the power of reaching our customers. Carrie Mess, Wisconsin dairy farmer, and Ryan Goodman, manager of communications, Montana Stockgrowers Association
 
Wednesday, April 23
7 to 8 a.m. -- Breakfast, grad student poster judging
8 to 9:30 a.m. -- Think You Know Who Gets Your Property When You Die? Think Again…Even If You Have a Will! Marsha Goetting, MSU
9:30 a.m. -- Break
9:45 to 10:45 a.m. -- October 2013 Blizzard in South Dakota: What Are the Ramifications?  Ken Olson, South Dakota State University
10:45 to 11:45 a.m. -- Using Feed-Grade Antibiotics in Livestock: What Changes Should We Prepare For? Russ Daly, SDSU
11:45 a.m. to noon – Presentation of graduate student poster awards. Pat Hatfield, MSU
Noon -- Conference wrap-up