Ranching Opportunities, Feb 26 2015
Below is a list of our speakers and the subject of their presentation. There will be lots of time through out the day to visit with colleagues and experts. There will also be a number of booths set up with product demonstrations to be viewed during the breaks.
8:30 to 9:00 Registration
9:00 to 9:15 Welcome & Announcements
10:00 to 10:15 Coffee Break Tradeshow
8:45 to 10:00 AM
Dr. Mike Coffey, Genomic Evaluations in The UK
"Beef production must adapt to a global increase in demand but at the same time an increased awareness of environmental impact and resource use efficiency. In the UK, performance recording has not risen in line with expectations leading to a lack of phenotypes. To address this, phenotypes are now being gathered from abattoirs on carcass characteristics and used in genetic, and now genomic, evaluations. Genomic evaluations are likely to revolutionise the way the beef industry is organised in the UK and the opportunities for selection especially for difficult to measure traits such as disease resistance, meat quality and feed intake."
10:15 to 12:30 AM
Morning Breakout Sessions
Watering System Demo- there will be live displays of remote watering systems with the opportunity to talk to vendors.
Winter Grazing Alternatives- you will be able to visit live demonstrations of swath grazing, corn grazing and bale grazings and talk to experts utilizing them.
RFI- there will be a discussion of the soon to be completed 3 year Canadian Hereford feed efficiency trial. Dr Susan Markus will lead a hands on bull evaluation with recent graduates of the Olds College Bull Test.
Note: Each session lasts 45 minutes. Producers can attend 2 of the 3 sessions.
12:30 to 1:15 Lunch/Trade Show
1:15-1:30 BSE Surveillance, Dr Gordon Krebs
1:30 to 2:30 PM
Sean Royer, Executive Director Environmental Stewardship Division, Alberta Agriculture
"The beef industry is inherently sustainable… so how do we convince our opponents?"
2:30 to 2:45 Coffee Break/Trade Show
Concurrent Sessions
2:45 to 4:00 PM
Winter Watering Systems
Producer panel: Off-Site Watering Systems, do they really work?
2:45 to 4:00 PM
Kevin Schultz, Incorporating GE-EPD's on the Ranch
Sandhill Farms has been using, and measuring the results of using, GE-EPD's on their ranch. Listen as he shares his results with us.
A special thanks to the University of Alberta for sponsoring Dr. Mike Coffee and Mr. Kevin Schultz through the NSERC grant with the Canadian Hereford Project. A special thanks to the Canadian Hereford Association for there help as well, particularily in providing test sires for the break out.
